CLEANING DAY OR NIGHTĪs we said, bedikat chametz must be done at night, because that's the only time that artificial light is effective. This is important because there are specific rules for bedikat chametz.

So realize that when you start cleaning for Passover, you are doing bedikat chametz. Even if you stay up all night, chances are there are parts of your home you'll never get to. As a result, the ability to do bedikat chametz in a few hours on the night of the 14th is no longer feasible. However, our homes over the years have grown in size, and consequently are more complicated to clean. This way there is a set time every Jew does bedikat chametz on the night of the 14th. Why the 14th? The Sages said that if some people do it on the 12th and others on the 13th, you'd lose the power of the community reminding and encouraging each other. Why at night? Because in your home there are crevices and corners that have to be illuminated by artificial light – and artificial light works best at night. The mitzvah of bedikat chametz is to be done on the night of the 14th of Nissan, the evening prior to the Seder. The Sages say it is not enough to emotionally write the chametz off as 'dust' you must actually search out any chametz you can find – and physically destroy it. This mitzvah is known as bedikat chametz. So the Sages instituted a requirement to physically destroy chametz. It's quite easy to think you have considered everything 'null and void,' when in truth you can't wait for Passover to be over so you can partake of all those goodies! What goes on in your mind, no one knows except you and God. Now obviously we are dealing with something subtle and vague. The Torah commandment is that you can possess all the chametz you want, but in your mind it must be dust – ownerless and valueless. The Torah says: ' tashbisu se'or mibateichem' – make all your sour dough rest. Biur chametz is actually quite an easy mitzvah in terms of physical exertion. In cleaning for Passover, we are first and foremost fulfilling the mitzvah of biur chametz – getting rid of chametz. Cleaning for Passover can actually be easy, there's lots of room for creativity, and it's fun.

I want to share some tips that I've picked up over the years. But it's important to understand what is necessity and what is voluntary. There are so many Passover preparations that are done unnecessarily, where if you want to do them for extra credit, that's fine. In order to change our attitudes, two things are necessary. It's the most beautiful time of the year. I'd like to not only make Passover cleaning a little easier, but above all to change the attitude once and for all to stop being frightened. For some reason, though, the burden of all that cleaning often hangs heavy over us, and as a result we lose much of the joy of Passover.

The whole idea of re-doing your house – your environment – for the holiday should be a beautiful experience. Not too hot, not too cold.Įverything about the Passover season is beautiful. Not only was He interested in redeeming the nation, He wanted to do so at a time when the weather was just right. The Talmud notes that God was very thoughtful. God took the Jewish people out of Egypt in the springtime.

Make a pass over