Why Passover?

The Holiday of Passover has finally arrived and this is a special time for Jews as we prepare our houses for the Biur Chameitz or the removal of Chameitz from our house. Chameitz is the aspect of dough that makes it taste so good, the power of yeast to make the bread rise and add its familiar flavor and probably add to our waistline as well.
Bread is the source of strength in our society because it is the one food we use to stave off starvation and it is often the bare minimum of our nutritional existence. On Passover we are supposed to eat Matzah instead of bread. It is called the bread of affliction that gives us the same caloric intake as bread but without the yeast, the Chameitz that brings us pleasure when we eat it. It is similar to a giant saltine cracker without the salt. So as we approach Passover many ask, “Why do we do this to ourselves?”
The Torah actually commands us to make this a day of feast and celebration, not a day of affliction. The only aspect of affliction is the bread we are forbidden to eat. The power of the bread of affliction is so strong that in the biblical command on eating Matzah it is told in Exodus 12:14, “And this day shall be to you for a memorial; and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.”
Think about the power of this command to eat only Matzah for seven days. The penalty of eating Chameitz is to be cut off from Israel, that is a powerful law in our Jewish tradition. We Jews go a little crazy on Passover cleaning our houses and our kitchens trying to rid our homes of this leavened bread and any crumb of Chameitz in our presence.
Why is Chameitz so powerful to our soul that we risk being cut off from our people if it is eaten during this week? The nature of Chameitz is to “puff up” dough and this symbolizes arrogance, whereas, the flat Matzah represents humility. Humility is the beginning of breaking bondage from the past and is essential for all spiritual growth. This is because only a person who can recognize his/her shortcomings can submit to a higher wisdom, and by submitting to a higher wisdom, one becomes free of their own self-limitations. On Passover our goal is to rid ourselves of even the slightest “Chameitz” so we are able to connect better to God.
Chameitz is not evil in itself. We eat bread all year round but for these seven days we refrain from the one aspect of bread that brings us joy and I believe it is this change in dietary habits that we make on the Passover holiday that we need to project the holiness of God during this unique time.
Passover is not a time of affliction but a time of joy, the joy we receive in our freedom and thus we are asked to take one aspect of our lives that makes us feel important, the chameitz of bread but also the chameitz of our soul, and build our psyche to a holier aspect of our lives, the ability to find true freedom in our faith and our connection to God.
Passover is a fascinating holiday where we Jews are asked to imagine our lives as the slaves that left Egypt as we sit at our Seder table and retell the story of Moses, Pharoah, the ten plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea.
The mystical elements of Passover are intense during the preparation with the removal of Chameits, the cleansing ceremony for the last of the bread crumbs removed with a feather, and the burned with a candle. What I find most interesting is the mystical elements of the Seder and how it asks us to transform our psyche to put our souls in the bodies of our ancestors who stood before the whip of bondage and were released from suffering by the outstretched arm of God.
In looking inward, sometimes we tend to be the greatest critics of ourselves and often the least forgiving. Our own inner psychology knows our deepest fears and weakness and often we exploit them to keep from making important decisions in our lives. God saw what the people had done when, by making a golden calf to worship, they chose to run away from their own freedom in the fear of their growing independence and chastised them. He could forgive a rebellion against Him but not one where they rebelled against faith in themselves and their own ability to succeed.
Passover asks us to succeed in our faith and have strength in our ability to connect to God and experience joy in our lives and our holiday without the experience of Chameitz both in our bread and in our souls.
When we lessen our ego and see who we really are, we have the ability to experience great strength and also great joy in our holiday. This is true freedom that is taught to us in our Seder each year, to find the strength within our souls to see what true freedom means in our life.
Freedom is not an object that is attained. It is a spiritual path that takes effort to travel. It takes hope and faith in the future, a belief that life is meaningful and that tomorrow can be better than today. Once the journey starts, it takes continued determination to stay on the path.
That is the path of Kehilah, community, and that is what the Seder represents. We have a requirement to build a Kehilah, a community that is both physical and spiritual that all can feel welcome to enter. This Friday, we Jews open our homes, free of Chameitz, but our souls full of life as we embrace all who enter and feast on great food and wonderful family and friends and thus we find true freedom in our holiday.
Happy Passover
Rabbi Jeffrey Lipschultz is the spiritual leader Beth Judah Temple in Wildwood. He welcomes your comments at dvjewish@rof.net.