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Category: Appointed Times

Unblemished & Unleavened

Tags:  bedikat chametz, crumbs, integrity, leaven, leavened bread, passover lamb, unblemished

O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity... (Psalm 15:1-2)

The biblical Hebrew word for "integrity" is tamim (תמים). It means "whole, sound, blameless, lacking nothing essential, consistent inside and out." It is the same word the Torah uses to describe a lamb suitable for a Passover sacrifice. "Your lamb shall be an unblemished (tamim, תמים) male a year old..." (Exodus 12:5) Men, as we prepare our hearts for Passover, it is time to become that unblemished male of which the Torah speaks. It is time to become men of integrity.

Integrity is a life without secret corners. It is a life where we are holy whether or not anyone is watching--yet knowing someone always is.

Integrity means living in such a way that our most idealistic statements about what is right and true are not embarrassed by the record of our life. It means that in our unguarded moments, we are the same as when the crowds are watching. It means that when others know what we believe, they can predict our actions. And observing our actions, they have an accurate read-out of our beliefs.

Casting Out Leaven

On the night before the Passover, there is a custom to search for any remnants of leavened items in one's home. It is a ritual search conducted after dark. According to a very old tradition, one uses a candle, a feather, a wooden spoon and a linen cloth to search the house, even creeping along the floor to find a single crumb of bread. Any leaven that is found is swept with the feather onto the wooden spoon. When the search is completed, the feather, the spoon, the candle and the leaven are all wrapped in the linen, tied up as a bundle and removed from the house, (m.Pesachim 1:1).

The next morning (usually before the morning prayers) the bundle is burned. Yet too often those of us who observe this ritual carefully search our homes for even the smallest...

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© 2009 First Fruits of Zion. All rights reserved. We encourage you to share this material with your friends for further personal study. However, This material may not be republished, in print, electronically, or any other form without our prior permission. Adapted from messiah magazine #90 .

For more information about this issue, click here.

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