Passover Message for 5764
The Mishnah in Tractate Rosh Hashanah states that there are Four New Years. The most familiar one, of course, is at the beginning of Tishrei. There is another one is the beginning of Nissan, which co-coincides with Parshas Hachodesh.... So, as we see, there is a connection between Passover and the New Year as far as the calendar goes. How about regarding rituals?The month before New Year we begin the process of Teshuvo by beginning with introspection and ending with Forgiveness. The month before Passover- in other words right after after Purim - we begin the cleaning process ending with an inspection for Chometz
Thus, before New Year we clean out our misdeeds while before Passover we clean out all Chometz. Chometz is considered by our Rabbis as symbolizing ego or arrogance. Just as yeast causes dough to rise and to “puff up” so does arrogance cause our egoes to “rise above” others in our mind and to puff ourselves up. Matzo, on the other hand, is symbolic for humility.
If so, then why not then rid ourselves of Chometz all year? Well, we cannot function properly without SOME ego! Never would we adequately assert ourselves to do our daily tasks. Nevertheless, periodically, we need to clean it out and start from scratch.
Similarly it is impossible for humans not to sin once in a while over the long run. Therefore, we ritualize repenting once a year in order to keep ourselves from sinning habitually.
Best Wishes for a Sweet and Kosher Passover !
From the Wolpoe Family
From the Wolpoe Family
