This sounds like spring cleaning to me . Sometimes we miss some though . This is why , as we perform the Bedikat Hametz ( searching for leaven ), we also recite the following prayer after we have searched the house for any crumbs which might have been left behind ,
“ Any leaven that is in my possession , that I have not seen or not removed , shall be unclaimed and considered as the dust of the earth .”
In reading this , some might say , “ this is all so Orthodox , is it really all that important ?” The answer to this is , yes , members of the Orthodox community and traditional Judaism do keep these commandments and specified elements of halacha , but the Torah nevertheless does command us to clean out our homes of leaven . Thus , removing hametz from our houses also represents removing sin from our lives . According to Jewish tradition , as we remove the leaven from our homes and lives God makes what is left void and nullified . Our homes are now clean and ready for matzah / unleavened bread and our celebration of Passover !
Matzah , Purity and Truth .
We may have crumbs of our own laying around . Crumbs of those things we thought we let go of ; those things that people said or did that caused us to have animosity towards them , or things that we said or did against others ; you know — lashon hara ( gossip and the evil tongue ). Or , maybe just like the way we live our lives . These sins can clutter our hearts and our minds . For me , just as I clean the clutter ( sin ) out of my home each Spring before Passover , I also seek to clean the clutter and sin out of myself . I ’ m not one to hold on to things , but sometimes things people say or do can stick with me . I ’ m sure that ’ s true for most of us . You may not be aware that you ’ re even holding on to things .
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