Cleaning is one of those activities we have to do at some time or another. It is not usually what we think of as a task that raises our consciousness or makes us more keenly aware of our souls. Although, for many of us, getting that unsightly stack of unsightly papers in order (finally!) may be kathartic, or at least, comforting, we don’t usually consider cleaning to be as enlightening as a meditation retreat in the woods.
However, Passover cleaning is not your ordinary spring cleaning. In the Torah, Hashem commands the children of Israel to remove every trace of leavening from their homes. Why, all of the sudden, is bread, the very staff of life, expelled from the Jewish home for a week? What makes matzah crumbs on Passover any more virtuous than bread crumbs?
According to Chassidic philosophy, leavening corresponds to pride. A person who is conceited has too much leavening or pride in his or her “ingredients”. To leave Egypt, the Jewish People had to be exceedingly humble, especially since they were witnesses to so many miracles, like the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, that might have otherwise given them an inflated sense of self. Many spiritual concepts in Jewish Practice are experienced also on a physical plane, and the commandment to rid one’s house of leavening (chametz) is way of living a concept. Before Passover is the perfect time to take stock of ourselves, as well as our possessions, and to work on those traits we would like to change. As we remove crumbs from our house, we are also moving traces of pride from our personality, and this process will enable us to feel a true spiritual liberation from the ego.