The Pesach Mindset

The following are words of inspiration from Rav Yaakov Edelstein zt”l, the rabbi of the city Ramat Hasharon. This is how the Rav would conduct himself during these days: 

• While waiting in long lines, he would look at the masses of people and say with a smile, “How beautiful— the holy Jewish people are busy getting ready for Pesach.” 
• He emphasized how much this holiday is supposed to be filled with joy. Once he went to visit a woman who was feeling frazzled due to Pesach preparations. He talked to her until she was able to calm down and understand that all the preparations must be done with a desire for renewal—with a longing to eliminate chametz from your house, your heart, and the world.
• At the start of the Seder he would declare: “I’m about to conduct the Seder as my father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great grandfather did before me, generation after generation, since the days of Moshe Rabbeinu. When we sit at the Seder, we are connecting with our holiest and most ancient roots.” 
• Highlighting the significance of Pesach he would say: “There is intellectual awareness and emotional awareness. On Pesach, we take the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim and internalize it. The purpose of all the cleaning, preparations, and cooking is to enable the story to enter your heart and touch your soul.

Shout It Out!

There is one very important word in the Pesach Haggadah, especially this year: Vanitzak! (And we shouted). Look for it in the Haggadah and simply shout, adding your own prayers.

Our commentators say that tonight is an opportunity for us to shout for everything that we wish would change in the world: from Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran to personal matters in our own lives, including our negative traits. When someone knows how to shout and express what is bothering them, what is not alright — that is already half of the solution to their problems.

A magnificent and holy night lies ahead. We have an opportunity to shout about the hostages, antisemitism, and about everything that lacks perfection. This is the time for “leaving Egypt” in every area of life.

Start with the Basics

Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was one of the greatest rabbis, scholars, and halachic authorities of this generation. As Pesach approached, when asked what should be taught to kindergarten children, he would say, “Teach them that chametz is chametz.”

He would then explain this seemingly obvious thought. We speak at length how chametz represents the evil inclination, pride, and ego, and how matzah symbolizes simplicity and humility. We speak about getting rid of our internal chametz. This is all wonderfully correct, but first of all — chametz is chametz.

We must teach little children about bread and cookie crumbs, that they must be removed from their homes before Pesach, and that it is forbidden to eat them during Pesach. We need to begin from the foundation, from the explicit mitzvah as it is written in the Torah. Later on, it will be possible and even recommended to elevate the discussion and to add deeper meaning.

Sometimes we are so eager to look for profound and symbolic meanings that we forget the main concept. Whether this concerns children’s education, marriage or faith, before we try to find interpretations and extract deeper meaning, it is essential that we simply begin with what we are supposed to do.

Searching for the Good

As we embark on final preparations for the Holiday of our Freedom, we would do well to bear in mind the following words from the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l: When we search for the chametz, we must look in all the nooks and crannies. How much more so must we make an effort in our search for the good that is hidden within each and every Jew.

‘Don’t Return an Empty Pot’

Maayan Bar Yochai from the Education Department of the Sderot Municipality wrote to me about a meaningful outing for the local elementary school children just before Pesach. She writes: “There's a saying in Moroccan: 'Don't return an empty pot.' After completing a weeklong program on social and emotional resilience, we went to 'return a full pot,' to say thank you to everyone who helped us.”

The students went to the evacuation centers where they stayed after October 7, 2023. “This time, they arrived not as evacuees needing help, but as children coming to say thank you,” Maayan wrote. “We returned to the schools and hotels in Eilat, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Tel Aviv, and Netanya – and this time from a place of abundance, resilience, and strength. We bless everyone with the ability to always be able to return a full pot.”

We Are Truly Blessed!

Each year as Pesach approaches, I publish the following thought from Dr. Miri Kahana:

“While getting ready for Pesach, it’s important to remember that the arduous cleaning we must do is only because we are all truly blessed. Most of us live with our family in our own home. There is a separate room for parents, a kitchen, a shower and a bathroom. Our houses are full of furniture, clothes, appliances, and food. Our children have more than enough to eat, to the point where they forget unopened bags of snacks in their desk drawers and leave uneaten sandwiches in their backpacks.

How far we are from those distant halachic discussions regarding a public oven for several families, or the case of a poor person washing his only shirt on Friday, despite the general discouragement of doing laundry on this day.

I am certain that we all have at least one great-grandfather who would be overjoyed to see the prodigious prosperity in which his great-grandchildren live. Therefore, every once in a while, I remind myself to stop complaining about how much we still have to clean or how much we still have to cook, and simply focus on how much we have."

Sderot children visit the people who helped them in the aftermath of Oct. 7_1

Sderot children visit the people who helped them in the aftermath of Oct. 7_1

Rabbi Yaakov Edelstein, zt"l