It’s hard to believe that Passover is just around the corner! We have a tradition in our home that as soon as it is Purim, our goal is to eat ourselves out of house and home, all in an effort to rid ourselves of all the chametz, forbidden food for Passover. Let’s just say, this is a high carbs eight weeks!
Then, it’s time for Spring cleaning – yes, we Jews had it first! Clean out the houses in Egypt in order to leave at the end of the tenth plague and head to freedom – now translated to – clean out the kitchen and house of all the chametz in order to fulfill the mitzvah of eating matzah and celebrating these holy days of commemorating our Exodus from Egypt and slavery.
Therefore, to help us prepare for Passover and answering, “so Rabbi, what do I do with all the chametz I have left in the house?” We sell it, or in our case, we donate it. There is the mitzvah, ma’ot Hittin (literally money for wheat), which commands us to give to the needy before Passover. As a congregation, we have been very busy with Mitzvah Meals and providing food for the hungry on a weekly basis. Passover is a great opportunity for us to bring in our unopened chametz so that it can be used by Mitzvah Meals.
Over the next couple of weeks, I would like to encourage all of us to go through our cupboards and collect all of the unopened chametz and bring it to the TBS kitchen. The shelves are becoming bare and we are in need of replenishing as much as we can. Please click here to view the flyer from Mitzvah Meals for what is needed and let us not only prepare for Passover by cleaning our own cupboards but by doing a mitzvah to fill Mitzvah Meal’s cupboards for those in need.
L’Shalom,
Rabbi Cohen
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