Why Is This Shabbos Different From All Others?

And so the questions begin.

Today is Shabbat Hagadol, the great Shabbat and that means that one week today we will be swimming in matzah and a host of other kosher le’Pesach treats.

It also means it’s time to roll up our sleeves and clean chametz from the home. Think of it as Jewish spring cleaning on a whole other level. It’s intense, but as we rid our homes of the grains forbidden during Passover, we’re also readying our souls for renewed freedom.

We’re not just physically clearing out the chametz, we’re spiritually cleaning and preparing our path for redemption. It’s not something candle and feather alone can achieve. We need to go inwards and realign ourselves with our ethics and values, and then commit to following suit. It’s time to check in with body, mind and spirit and clear away the cobwebs, the negativity, the proverbial chametz.

Amid our Pesach prep, this week we read Parashat Metzora. It’s a portion that talks about leprosy (tzara’at) or, as the Torah describes, an affliction that appears on a person, vessel, clothing or home.

According to the Torah, it’s a plague on a house inflected by G-d, and according to Resh Lakish, it’s a plague afflicted on those who speak lashon hara (gossip). We then learn that there’s a purification ritual to remove this plague and restore the home.

It’s this purification ritual I want to talk about, but not literally in terms of heading to the mikvah with our crockery or immersing in one to cleanse ourselves of “tzara’at.”

Rather, let’s look at this purification as a time to correct faulty behaviours and restore our relationship with HaShem. Let us use this time of cleaning and cleansing as a way to take positive action to create opportunities for nearness to G-d.

In the days leading up to the Israelite’s ending journey, the sacrificial lamb awaited its fate. Shabbat Hagadol is our lamb. It’s our opportunity, in the midst of physical Pesach prep to remember our spiritual preparation as we reflect on this upcoming holiday of liberation.

This year, as we customarily drink multiple cups of wine during the seder, let’s remember G-d’s promises to the enslaved Israelites:

“I will free you… I will deliver you… I will redeem you…I will take you to be My people…”

Each cup of wine symbolises the joy we feel as beneficiaries of these promises. This year, I challenge you to make promises to yourself and the Holy One.

Free yourself from grudges. Deliver kindness. Redeem those by whom you feel wronged. Draw yourself closer to HaShem, and may it be Dayenu (enough).

May this Shabbos be one of meaning and rest, but also one of preparation – for the home in readiness for Passover and for the soul in readiness for freeing yourself from spiritual chametz, and may your preparations be meaningful.

Shabbat Shalom.