Friday night, April 3, begins the Jewish holiday of Passover, in which the Jewish community celebrates the biblical exodus from Egypt and the journey from servitude to freedom.
One of the many ways that the community observes the holiday is by refraining from eating leavened products, following the biblical instructions of “no leaven shall be found in your houses for seven days” (Exodus 12:19) and “You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places, you shall eat unleavened bread” (Exodus 12:20).
“We spend time cleaning our houses and getting rid of that which is leavened, or chametz in Hebrew,” said Rabbi Jesse Olitzky of Congregation Beth El in South Orange. “The leaven represents that which ‘puffs us up.’ It represents haughtiness,” he added. “We get rid of the leaven in hopes that we also rid ourselves of our egos and become more humble in the process.”
Taking into account the financial burden and wastefulness of getting rid of so many leavened products, rabbinic tradition permits an individual or a community to temporarily “sell” their chametz or leavened products to someone of another faith during the holiday. This year Congregation Beth El “sold” their leavened products to Maplewood Mayor Victor De Luca.
While the leavened products never technically leave an individual’s home, Mayor De Luca, temporarily took ownership of food products of hundreds of congregants. The formal contract and “signing over” of the leavened products took place on Friday morning at Beth El. According to Rabbi Olitzky, the contract stipulates that after the holiday, the leavened products revert back to their original owners.
In addition to this transaction, Congregation Beth El also burned their leavened products. “We are taught to search our homes for any chametz and search our souls for that which makes us pompous and arrogant,” Olitzky explained. “On the morning before Passover, we light a ritual flame and burn the small sampling of leavened products collected, symbolically ridding ourselves of our arrogance as well.”
Congregation Beth El will be having worship services through the eight days of Passover. They are free and open to the community. For a full list of service times, visit: https://bethelnj.org/.
Congregation Beth El is located at 222 Irvington Avenue in South Orange.
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