* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Rabbi Hagai Lundin from the city of Sderot writes as follows about the practical and spiritual preparations for the Pesach holiday that comes 30 days after Purim.
* What are we to do during these days? First of all, there is the physical chometz or leavened bread (and other baked goods) that we get rid of by cleaning our homes. Chometz is dough, whose value is in being the foundation of bread, but it puffs up when heated and takes up a lot more space than when it was just dough. Matzah, on the other hand, is dough that is baked for exactly 18 minutes and is nothing but a thin cracker-like substance, yet sustaining nevertheless.
* ‘Biur chometz’ or getting rid of chometz is code for cleaning our life of ‘leaven.’ This is our spiritual stance during these days: getting rid of the chometz — the damaging and self-sabotaging character traits — in our souls. Disposing of chometz is an Exodus from slavery to freedom.
* Both on a national and international level, we are finally getting rid of chometz. Both Israel and the United States are returning to a “matzah” perspective, to the simple truth, without any extraneous “puffiness.” The world’s forces of light have decided not to accommodate the forces of darkness — by getting rid of the chometz of depraved and evil people. In such a “ridding of chometz,” evil is defeated and good triumphs. This should happen not only on Pesach but today as well, with God’s help.
With prayers for besorot tovot.
