RABBI SARA BLUMENTHAL

Pesach is coming! Hooray!

“Simchah rabah, simchah rabah/Aviv higia, Pesach ba!” (“Great joy, great joy, spring has arrived, Pesach is coming!”). Every year, when this cheerful Israeli children’s song enters my mind sometime after Purim, it’s impossible for me not to sing it gleefully; I unleash my inner child and with it happy memories of Pesach. As an adult, it has taken on an extra dimension as I consider the deeper meaning of Pesach, from the preparation to the holiday itself.

For many of us, “Pesach is coming!” means frantically finishing the chametz and clearing out what’s left, doing a deep clean of the house, unearthing Pesach dishes and changing them over, stressing about making seder or what to bring — a seemingly endless to-do list. Sound familiar? I’m right there with you as I make my home Pesach-ready this year. Dare I say that I enjoy this intense preparation?

I find it satisfying to take an audit of my kitchen this time of the year: deciding what can stay, what needs to go, and what wants a good chametz-eliminating clean. The preparation is physical, the difference noticeable; you can really see the fruits of your labor in your Pesachready home. Yet, this labor-intensive process is also designed to facilitate a kind of spiritual preparation By the time we sit down to the first seder, our physical labor has laid the groundwork for us to be open to receiving whatever our people’s origin story can offer us, wherever we meet it, this year.

It might seem ironic having to do all of this work leading up to the holiday. After all, won’t all this effort make us too tired to enjoy the seder and be receptive to what it might teach us? Possibly and that’s how you may feel every year on leil haseder (seder night) But though the work can be tiring and stressful, it also can be liberating The act of clearing away physical chametz is an invitation to examine the corners of our lives and clear away what’s no longer needed. Then there’s the spiritual transformation during Pesach. Eating specific foods and retelling the story are invitations to focus on the privilege of being both free and servants of God and how that awareness can both enrich our lives and the impact we make on this world

My life has been immensely enriched by getting to know many of you in the nine months since I arrived in Caldwell, and I hope my presence has enriched yours. Aviv, spring, is a time of new growth and renewal, when we have the opportunity to ritually acknowledge the special relationship we are building together In that spirit, please join me on Sunday, April 16, at 10:30 a.m. as I officially become installed as assistant rabbi of CAI. It will bring me so much joy to celebrate with you this shehecheyanu moment in my life and in the life of our wonderful CAI community.

With wishes for a joyous, liberating Pesach!