Now That Passover’s Gone
Yesterday morning, I walked over to the trash dumpster, and was met by a mountain of mega-micron tinfoil crowned by an empty shmura matza box.
And I felt as deflated as the bread of affliction.
“That’s all that’s left?” I wondered.
That’s all that’s left of all my hard work:
Cleaning
Shopping
Organizing
Cooking?
Just that mountain of 60-micron tinfoil, an empty matzah box, and the pounds left behind by the 157 eggs and 44 pounds of matzah we Weisbergs consumed this Passover (yes, I counted).
And then I thought of what Rabbi Nivin taught us before Passover…
That before Passover, on a spiritual level, we Jews start at a depressing negative 49.
On Seder Night, at midnight, we skyrocket spiritually to a positive 49.
And after that first day of Passover, we jump back down to 0. Not amazing, but not nearly as awful as before Passover started.
And every day of the Omer, until Shavuot, we are climbing our way back up.
Not just a mountain of tinfoil, an empty matzah box and a skirt that doesn’t fit anymore.
Passover has lifted all of us up, so we can set us off running on our journey for the Promised Land.
I really liked this! Thank you!
The Michtav Me’Eliyahu writes how the Jewish year is like a spiral. Even though we come back to the same point in time, we are (hopefully) on a higher spiritual level than last year. Iy”H we all gained (and not just pounds!) from this Pesach, that can take us forward to higher levels.
Thank you for this post.