To
My Dear Students,
Because
the Torah commands that we are to possess no leaven
during Passover, we make certain to remove any
traces of leaven from our homes.
This
removal is more than a household chore.
The effort to purge the house of what is forbidden
is a means to a higher end. Leavened products
rise due to the presence of yeast. Judaism
speaks of a person who has "risen" above
his fellow human beings. The search for
and removal of leavened products in the home inspires
an inner search for what "puffs us up,"
what allows and encourages feelings of superiority.
We cast out arrogance and replace this negative
trait with humility, symbolized by the flat bread
called matzah. Self-glorification and self-importance
are more appropriate to a Pharoah. We must
not remain fermented with the yeast of inflated
ego.
Just
as leaven in the dough allows it to ferment, making
it unfit for Passover use, so leaven in the person
makes us unfit for healthy relationships.
When we magnify ourselves and diminish others,
we violate Passover's spirit which teaches that
G-d is greater than we can imagine and we are
less than we want to admit.
A
young Rabbi came to his first pulpit, very self-confident
and smug. He knew he had what it took and
anticipated the praises that would inevitably
follow his first sermon. As he bdgan his
sermon, the words simply would not come out.
Humiliated, he fled the sanctuary, obviously humbled.
There were two ladies sitting in the front row
and one remarked to the other, "If he had
come in like he went out, he would have gone out
like he came in."
By
removing the leaven inside of us, we can enlarge
the spiritiual horizons of our vision beyond our
self. For it is only in humility that we
can "rise" to every occasion!
All
best for a Chag Kasher V'Sameach!
Your
Rabbi
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