Teaching Team

Cleaning for Pesach: In Your Home and Heart

By Seth Dralle  | Comments (2) | Posted on April 1, 2008

This year, the Passover seder is eaten on Saturday night, April 19th. That means all of our chametz (leaven) must be searched out and removed by Thursday night, April 17th and burned the next Friday morning [1].

That gives us about three weeks until our homes must be chametz free. If you haven't already, it is highly advised that one start cleaning now. All leavened products should be eaten up. Grocery lists should have as many kosher for Passover products possible. Floors, cabinets, refrigerators, stoves, under large appliances, freezers, and countertops need to be wiped down and chametz free.

These areas are obvious. But chametz can be found everywhere. It can appear under couch cushions, in your bed, in the car, under the computer desk, or even in the keyboard. You'd be surprised where this stuff can be found when you start looking for it.

A good tactic is to plan early and attack one room at a time. When one room is cleaned, deem it "kosher for Passover." Then make it clear to everyone that food should only be eaten in the kitchen. The last week should be reserved for cleaning the kitchen.

Another good tip is to remember that dirt is not chametz. People sometimes spend so much time cleaning dirt and getting everything spotless that they waste all their energy on the dirt. But by the time it comes to cleaning chametz, all their energy is spent and it becomes a laborious burden. Don't weight yourself down. Just be sure to clean out the chametz; dirt is optional.

Remember to clean out the chametz of your heart as well. Chametz seems to creep in everywhere, just like sin. It takes deliberate reflection and action to clean out one's house. In the same way, repentance must be deliberate and well thought out. We are often blind to the sins in our lives. Chametz may seem small and hidden away, but when we take action to search it out, we see that it may be more widespread than we previously thought.

Also, chametz is contagious. It will spread and make otherwise unleavened food leavened. All it requires of us is for us to do nothing. In the very same way, unchecked sin in our lives will lead to sin in other areas as well. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Be proactive in cleaning your house and heart for Passover. All it will take for chametz to spread is to do nothing.

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Does Passover have you in a predicament? Download a free copy of our special Passover issue of messiah magazine. Click here for a free download!

Be sure to check back to the First Fruits' blogs for more helpful Passover articles from the teachers of First Fruits.

1. Typically, chametz is burned the day of Passover (Nisan 14th). However, it can't be burned on Shabbat. In years when Passover falls on Shabbat, the burning is pushed back to Friday, and thus the search is pushed back to Thursday.

About the Author: Seth Dralle is the fulfillment and shipping department manager and a research and teaching assistant for FFOZ. He is also a contributor to messiah magazine, the Monthly eRosh and the Torah Club Online Dictionary.

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