04-17-2008, 06:28 AM
With Pesach almost upon us, I haven't yet seen any discussion
about it here.
What do non-Jewish members here do? Do you clean your house to
rid it of chametz? Do you observe Pesach and so refrain from eating
it? Do you have a seder, and if so do you do two or one?
I just read this article regarding chametz and sin and thought it
interesting (taken from Divrei Bet Hillel):
Chametz is a symbol of evil in the world and represents sin. What Chametz really is in effect, is puffed up matzah. This "puffed up"-ness represents pride, materialism, and laziness. It is left alone to rise and you do not have to continually work on it. On Pesach, we get rid of our Chametz by both physically destroying it (Bi'ur Chametz ), and by intellectually nullifying it (Bitul Chametz ). So too with sin, we have to make an intellectual decision t o nullify it, but we also have to physically destroy it.
If chametz represents sin, why do we start eating it again right after Pesach? Even Shavuot, the holiday right after Pesach, has grain offerings!
This is to teach us that there is no such thing as objective and irredeemable evil. The same ingredients that make chametz (sin) are also those that make matzot (mitzvot). The reason for this is that anything can be good as long as you watch it.
In Hebrew, the words chametz and matzah are spelled very similarly. The only difference in the letters of the two words is the chet and the heh. These two letters themselves are very similar; the only difference is a small dot of ink. Just like we have to take care in writing these letters, making sure not to turn our hehs into chets, so to we have to be careful in how we live our lives. We must live lives of matzah/mitzvot, and not let them turn into lives of ch ametz /sin.
What is the difference between the flour and water that make up chametz and the flour and water that make up matzah? Basically, it is our active involvement in, and concern for the mitzvah. Our involvement and care in doing mitzv ot determine what kinds of lives we are going to live-- lives of chametz or lives of matzah.
The goal in Judaism is to take that which has the potential for evil and make it into good. It is in this way that we try to bring Moshiach
about it here.
What do non-Jewish members here do? Do you clean your house to
rid it of chametz? Do you observe Pesach and so refrain from eating
it? Do you have a seder, and if so do you do two or one?
I just read this article regarding chametz and sin and thought it
interesting (taken from Divrei Bet Hillel):
Quote:
Chametz is a symbol of evil in the world and represents sin. What Chametz really is in effect, is puffed up matzah. This "puffed up"-ness represents pride, materialism, and laziness. It is left alone to rise and you do not have to continually work on it. On Pesach, we get rid of our Chametz by both physically destroying it (Bi'ur Chametz ), and by intellectually nullifying it (Bitul Chametz ). So too with sin, we have to make an intellectual decision t o nullify it, but we also have to physically destroy it.
If chametz represents sin, why do we start eating it again right after Pesach? Even Shavuot, the holiday right after Pesach, has grain offerings!
This is to teach us that there is no such thing as objective and irredeemable evil. The same ingredients that make chametz (sin) are also those that make matzot (mitzvot). The reason for this is that anything can be good as long as you watch it.
In Hebrew, the words chametz and matzah are spelled very similarly. The only difference in the letters of the two words is the chet and the heh. These two letters themselves are very similar; the only difference is a small dot of ink. Just like we have to take care in writing these letters, making sure not to turn our hehs into chets, so to we have to be careful in how we live our lives. We must live lives of matzah/mitzvot, and not let them turn into lives of ch ametz /sin.
What is the difference between the flour and water that make up chametz and the flour and water that make up matzah? Basically, it is our active involvement in, and concern for the mitzvah. Our involvement and care in doing mitzv ot determine what kinds of lives we are going to live-- lives of chametz or lives of matzah.
The goal in Judaism is to take that which has the potential for evil and make it into good. It is in this way that we try to bring Moshiach
For most of those believers there, it was the first quasi-seder they had ever attended and a great learning experience!