Don’t overdo the pre- Pesach cleaning

By Rabbi Baruch Lederman

Rabbi Baruch Lederman
Rabbi Baruch Lederman

SAN DIEGO — A General will sometimes need to sacrifice a battle in order to win the war. An expert chess player will sometimes sacrifice a chess piece in order to win the match. The manager of a baseball team will sometimes sacrifice a runner in order to win the game.

The Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination) is a master strategist. The Yetzer Hara will allow us to get into a mitzvah with great seriousness and enthusiasm. For example, we will become very devoted in our observance of the great mitzvah of Pesach. We will be consumed with the important mitzvah of disposal of chometz.

Consequently, we will scrub and scrub and scrub for the upcoming Pesach holiday. What could be more important than fulfilling G-d’s commandments to the tee. So important that we will clean again and again and again. We will clean all the areas that need to be cleaned and for good measure we will clean the areas that don’t need to be cleaned.

We will do everything that needs to be done, and we will even do what does not need to be done. It is all for Pesach. “Nothing is too good for a mitzvah,” we say to ourselves. We will do the world’s most monumental spring cleaning!

Why does the Yetzer Hara allow and even encourage this?  The Yezter Hara’s job is to take us away from mitzvos. A great way to accomplish this is to burn us out through massive amounts of cleaning and suck the joy out of the mitzvah. To take the most joyous time for our people, the celebration of our redemption, and turn it into the most depressing, anxiety-ridden burden of the year.

The Yetzer Hara is so brilliant because not only will this eventually take us away from the mitzvah completely, but our children will sense the negativity in the air and learn to ultimately hate and eventually abandon Pesach as well. Once that happens, abandonment of the entire Torah is just around the corner.

Further, instead of blaming or even being aware of the Yetzer Hara’s involvement in ruining Pesach, we will blame the innocent mitzvah of Pesach for ruining our lives.

It is possible to beat the Yetzer Hara or to be buried by the Yetzer Hara. If we see a housewife who dreads Pesach, then the Yetzer Hara has won. Can we still win the war?

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Dedicated in loving memory of Irene Solodoff by her daugher Barbara Malady. … Rabbi Baruch Lederman is spiritual leader of Congregation Kehillas Torah in San Diego.  He may be contacted via baruch.lederman@sdjewishworld.com …  San Diego Jewish World seeks sponsorships to be placed, as this notice is, just below articles that appear on our site.  To inquire, call editor Donald H. Harrison at (619) 265-0808 or contact him via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com