Every year it is the same thing. Scrubbing, scraping, boiling hot water, out with the puffy chametz and in with the humble matzah. Moving furniture to get in the remotest of corners and having a killer back ache afterwards.
Why all the fuss? How can anyone look forward to such a thing every year?
Well, I asked myself this very question as I was ready to throw my body into traction from all of the bending and picking up. Then Hashem provided me with the answer. It was rather simple, as most answers are, once we actually have the answer!
All people, all religions have very common ideas--treat others as you would want to be treated, give to the poor, do not murder etc...These are ideals between man and man. Even people who claim to have no belief in a god of any kind will many times have these morals, and be some of the kindest people in the world.
So how do we pay homage to our G-d? We can pray, sing and study but this only involves the mind (and let's face it, most religions do this). Not to belittle these things by any means, but G-d created us as physical beings, we need to also use our bodies to show our allegiance to our Creator.
As the expressions says put your money where your mouth is and talk is cheap. Do we want a spouse that says I love you but never does anything about it? Do we want kids who say I love you but never do what we ask? The same with Hashem. He would love to hear our praises but if we ignore His Torah, His instructions to us, then our talk is cheap.
We need to get the western ideals of all or nothing out of our head. Perfect is probably not happening. What is perfection anyway? Intent, desire, trying, doing our best..this is our trek through life.
So, when it comes to cleaning for Passover, I feel I am actually doing something for Hashem, not for man, but for G-d Himself, as it is written in the Torah to get rid of chametz. I want to please G-d and I do this for Him, not my neighbor.
I was raised in a loving home but not in an observant home as I converted later in life and have since discovered Jewish lineage. When I got into my late 20's and early 30's I felt I was not doing anything for G-d. Now I know why. All the goodness I was trying to hand out in G-d's name was for people. It represented G-d, but it was not something being done directly for G-d. Cleaning my house for Passover does not affect my neighbor; it affects my family as far as they benefit from it, but the main reason for cleaning for Passover is for Hashem, and only Hashem!
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