A snippet from the Jewish Journal
(Photo: Rabbi Yonah and Rachel Bookstein)
Can we claim we don’t want something in our lives when we still own it?
When my wife Rebbitzen Rachel asked me to write something about selling chametz on Passover, I realized that if I don’t try to explain chametz in all it’s perplexing glory and ignominy, I would be letting down those who are determined to understand Passover and Jewish tradition better. So what follows is an exploration of our relationship with chametz – the good, the bad and the Holy.
Is it possible for us to believe our friend Jack who says he has sworn off alcohol for good — but we see two 40oz beers tucked into his back pockets? No, we’ll think Jack is still a lush, not serious about quitting or delusional.
If our friend Jill tells us she has broken it off for good with her boyfriend Jack — but she still has a picture of them together arm in arm on the beach in Malibu on her cell phone, Facebook profile, and car dashboard. Is she over him? Unlikely.
For us to believe that Jack has given up his boozing ways or that Jill has dumped her impaired beau, we are going to require they demonstrate a thorough elimination from their lives of alcohol and mementos of the past relationship. It’s not enough to say a relationship is over. The words ring hollow. You, as their friend, are going to require much more than just a verbal statement. You will want to see real and permanent action.
I hope this analogy of Jack and Jill will be helpful to teach about chametz, fermented or leavened grain products such as bread made from wheat, barley, spelt, rye and oats, that we cut out of our lives on Passover entirely. Hear me out; (and feel free to reassign the gender of the two main characters in the analogy if it bothers you, it makes no difference to the basic point of the story) For us to truly relinquish something from our lives, we can’t own it, or have it in our possession. We saw this with Jack and Jill and their disastrous relationship.
Integral to the mitzvah to eat matzah on Passover is to refrain from eating chametz for the duration of the holiday. You have to give up one for the other. In order to drive this point home, the Torah requires that we not only stop eating chametz, but that we cannot own or possess any chametz during Passover.
Why is it so critical that we don’t even own or possess chametz on Passover? Isn’t it enough that we just lay-off the beer and bread?
Apparently not.
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