Passover Rule: Banish Leaven

As a congregational rabbi for more than 40 years many of the questions that I receive from congregants related to questions about the celebration of the holiday of Passover. 
Before the festival of Passover begins it is obligatory for households to remove all leaven from their homes, including any products that may have come into contact with leaven. No leaven or bread products are permitted, and all leaven is not to be kept in one’s possession, nor is it to be found, or even seen.
One is to receive no pleasure or benefit from it. In the strictest sense of the word, leaven is considered taboo!  There is even a pet company in Chicago that produces kosher for Passover pet food that is leaven-free for people who meticulously follow the rabbinic laws of Passover.
Throughout Jewish generations, preparations for Passover have been meticulous. Everyday dishes, pots, and utensils are stored away, replaced by special Passover dishes and utensils.
Cupboards are cleaned, floors scrubbed and every corner of the house is examined carefully to ensure strict compliance with the rules. On the eve of Passover, preparations are culminated with a room-to-room candlelight search that no crumbs of leaven remain.  And on the morning of Passover, any leftover crumbs are burned. Why, one might ask, are the laws of Passover so obsessed with leaven? With the youngest child at the Passover Seder, we can ask, “How is this night different from all other nights? On all other nights, we can eat leavened or unleavened bread (i.e. matzah).Why on this night only unleavened bread?”
What is it about leaven that sets it apart from the usual Jewish practice of eating whatever we wish according to the Jewish dietary laws of keeping kosher? 
The rabbis of bygone years identified leaven with the evil impulse in each and every human being. Therefore the rabbis saw in the ceremony for the search for leaven more than simple spring cleaning. 
Leaven has come to symbolize arrogance because bread raises itself above the level of the matzah, even though it is only filled with pockets of air. On Passover, we want to try to remove the leaven (representing our ego and excessive pride) from our hearts.
As many Jewish families have chosen to rid their homes of leaven, it would behoove everyone (whatever one’s religion or faith) to rid ourselves of personal, spiritual leaven.
We must delve into the darkest corners of our being to remove and destroy all traces of the “leaven in the dough,” taking a candle to our souls to remove all traces of our vanity and conceit.
Passover is called the Season of our Freedom, reminding us that once we were not free but enslaved in Egypt. Passover is a reminder that it was not through our own efforts that we were liberated and redeemed from slavery, but because of God acting in history.
Our vanity and conceit developed only when we had begun to forget what it was like to be enslaved. Passover reminds us that we are not masters of our own destiny and that our accomplishments and achievements are not necessarily the result of our own efforts.
It reminds us that we should not always be puffed up with pride of self-importance. It reminds us that we should not revel in ourselves at the expense of the greater community.
At this holiday season here are some questions for you to ponder:
•    When was the last time you volunteered to help someone?
•    When was the last time you restrained the impulse to say, “I’m really too busy to help out. Can’t someone else do it?
•    When was the last time you made a difference in another person’s life?
Micah was the Prophet that told us what God wanted of every person: Be kind, be just, and be humble. May all of us be granted the courage and the strength to persevere and to succeed.
The author is the interim Rabbi of Beth Judah Temple in Wildwood and can be reached on his website www.rabbiron.com.