Selling Chametz
Even if you don’t keep a kosher kitchen, and/or you don’t “convert” your kitchen for Pesach, there is still spiritual value in selling your chametz: You are engaging with myriad Jews worldwide in a practice that can be traced back to Torah and, if you include a donations to “ma’ot chitin,” you are enabling those in need to more fully celebrate Pesach.
A Few Things About Pesach (With lots of links)
There is a wealth of information about Pesach (and the challenges of this year) at Exploring Judaism.org.
Omer 5785
My recent posts...
Purim: What’s at Stake
Today is Ta’anit Ester, a half-day fast in solidarity with the biblical Esther who orchestrated a three-day hunger strike to boost her chance of success in approaching the king without having been summoned, potentially a capital offense.
Time: the sanctified and the quotidian
Other than Shabbat, we begin our holy days with a blessing, a bracha: shehecheyyanu…laz’man ha-ze. We thank Adonai for enabling us to be here now, reminding us to be present in that hallowed period
To close out of sacred time, a ceremony of havdala, “separation.” We bid farewell to Shabbat, to a festival, thanking God for those hours or days and for differentiating between the sanctified and the quotidian.
On Sunday night, we will pass from Pesach to chol, a regular weekday, and we can eat whatever we wish! I hope that we can all appreciate what made these Pesach days fulfilling, even as we look forward to how we will make them even more special next year. (Jerusalem, anyone?)
Shabbat shalom/chag sameiach/shavua tov!