Freedom...

It's Pesach!!!  One of the most observed holidays among Jews from all walks of life, observant or not.  Most everybody keeps at least one facet of the holiday.   Whether its not eating bread for the week, or having a seder with the family, whatever it is...at least this once (or twice...) in the year, ALL Jews, no matter who, are doing something similar at the same time.  Now considering it is thousands of years since the first Pesach ever in history, I think this, in itself, is truly a miracle.

But even beyond the amazingness that is the unity between Jews, there is still something even more amazing about this time of year.  There is a re-birth happening all around.  It is the beginning of spring.  Greenery is popping up all around us.  From within, Pesach preparations are underway (or by now underwent).  The crumb hunting has forced us to let go of a lot of junk accumulated during the year.  The fridge is finally cleared of all that "I feel bad throwing it out" food.  Everything is (or should have been) washed, couches taken apart and vacuumed, kitchen scrubbed through and through.  There is a freshness all around.  This year, we had massive rain storms to really wash things out, to boot.

There is also a kind of nervousness associated with this time of year, I think.  There are so many things we hoped to accomplish by this point in the year.  There is a sense that we want to start feeling free already.  Free of winter cold, free of the junk accumulated, free of shorter darker days, free of old deadlines, unfulfilled promises to ourselves, free to let some light and warmth in already...!

And of course...accordingly, within the Jewish paradigm, this is exactly what we should be feeling!  After all, we have a major deadline that we do have to meet: Pesach.  By Pesach, we should be ready to attain this "freedom" both in the literal and figurative sense.  On the literal side, our house should be completely chametz (bread) free...all leavened products of any sort disposed of.  And on the more figurative side, we should snap out of winter hibernation mode and begin prepping for a very intense (if you let it be) experience.

An article titled "Finding Freedom" by  Slovie Jungreis-Wolff puts it better than I ever could:
The holiday carries incredible spiritual energy. It is not only the physical chametz that we must get rid of and burn. If we want to genuinely experience the freedom that Passover brings, we begin by eradicating the negative traits that have weighed us down. Our ‘spiritual chametz’ are the flaws that have damaged our relationships and hindered us from connecting with others and with God. We are charged with searching through the nooks and crannies of our hearts and being totally honest with ourselves:
Am I self centered? Am I unforgiving? Am I sarcastic and negative? Am I easily angered?
Our bodies are homes to our souls. Passover brings us strength and opportunity to clean out and start fresh.
Aaahhhh....freedom...how sweet it is.