Before Pesach we, we Jews, have the tradition and obligation to clean our house and our personal space of chametz. We also have to search our house for 10 pieces of bread (number according to minhag) that we distributed ourselves. What I have been talking about is the physical removal of chametz but the question is if this act has a deeper and more symbolical meaning.

According to me, the removal of chametz is not only removal of physical objects but also a cleansing of our spiritual self. Also, in the secular world, people clean their houses, as a action of spring, but only in Judaism I think that we also search for the jetzer hara and try to “clean” away the evil that may exist inside of ourselves through this action. In order to start experiencing what our forefathers experienced we have to prepare ourselves. Not only by cleaning our house of dirt but also ourselves. While searching for the 10 pieces of bread that we put out in our house, in the dark, we do not only walk around as an activity for the kids but also we show in a symbolical way that we are the ones in charge of our lives. How?

While walking in the dark we are the ones who hold the wax candle and we are the ones who search for the chametz. There is no one else who can remove this, only our physical body. In a spiritual way, we are walking in the dark, searching for the jetzer hara and only with us holding the wax candle we can guide ourselves to find the bad in ourselves and we are the only ones who can remove it by “burning” it away.

I hope that you will be able to find the “jetzer hara” and remove it in order for us to grow continuously. Not only for the growth during hachshara but also for the growth for the rest of our lives.

Daniel Blecher 


haggadah Section: Introduction