Let The search begin !

Let the Searching begin! As the Passover season starts to swing into high gear, I start to recall all kinds of childhood memories. One thing that always struck me as ironic and even a bit cruel, was the timing of Pesach cleaning, right after Purim, the holiday easily associated with the highest Chametz (leaven of all sorts) intake of the year thanks to the endless flow of the Shalach manot gift baskets. Once the process started I felt the presence of an invisible surveillance system suddenly activated in the house, like if you step three feet out of the kitchen with a pretzel there was an electric current that would zap us before we made into the living room. Also the ubiquitous “Shukkle up di hent “, the Yiddish battle cry following every meal, reminding us to brush off any crumbs from our hands and clothing before we left the kitchen. As Pesach got closer the full assault on the chametz began, the search was underway, each of us with our assigned quadrants in the house, the search for the chametz was on, and it never stood a chance, “ chametz if you are there, we will hunt you, track you down, and take you out! As I grew older I realized that the there was a secondary process that kicked in as well, of a more personal existential nature. During those hours of searching, scrubbing, and eliminating the accumulated food remnants that gather in the corners of ones home during the course of a year, inevatebly the intense searching/scrubbing of the home would trigger an accompanying inner searching of the soul. Somehow mysteriously a search for meaning would emerge and still does till this day and we would find ourselves suddenly thinking of all the emotional “chametz” that accumulates in the course of a year in the crevices and cracks of our being, cluttering our psyches with ego/chametz consciousness, and the resultant fear based behavior. As we grow and mature, we gain sudden clarity, and a whole new appreciation for the deep wisdom of our Jewishness, and the spiritual rewards that come in its wake. The sacred rhythm of our Jewish year is loaded with delightful spiritual surprises. There are no short cuts here though. The forms and practices of our parents and grandparents are not quaint outdated anachronistic rituals. They are for us as Jews the transporters that take lead us to the precise places in our complex spiritual lives that we need to be We can’t just parachute into the spiritual searching space, though, it won’t register in a vacuum. The outer searching,ironically points us inward, and carries us with certainty to the high plains of our beings. The key to unlocking our ancient souls, are still the old keys, The locks were never changed, the new keys are shiny, but they are not Neshama compatible. Chamets of all types, wherever you are, whether it s the actual breadcrumbs, pretzel remnants, or the emotional chametz, of ego, sadness, or cynicism, beware! We are onto you and we are coming for you soon :)

Clock change /Soul change,Passover is in the air!

Ok so the clocks are changed, once we clear up that annual morning confusion,and we finally get around to the annoying task of resetting the clock on the oven, another realization sets in.Passover is just around the corner. The changing of the clocks neatly coincides,and actually flows from this past Shabbats heralding the onset of the Hebrew month of Nissan, the month in which Passover is celebrated.In the world of the sefirot of Kabbalah this months energy is often associated with the level of Netsach, the energy that is our souls power to experience victory in the on going quest to live a more soul centered existence.May we all be filled with the right balance of passion and discipline( The combination of the Sefirot of Chessed and Gevurah), to activate Netsach victory mindset.Both the changing of the clocks and the blessing of the new month associated with redemption,act as gentle reminders to follow through on our sacred task of taking back our energy from the outside world. The subtle shift in time is a good alarm that goes off in our brain reminding us of the inner shifting that needs to happen in our lives. Shavua Tov and early Chodesh Tov