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PREPARING FOR PESACH (PASSOVER)

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With Passover (the Festival of Unleavened Bread) beginning on Saturday night April 12, every man, woman and child is busy cleaning their closets, shelves, drawers and vehicles in order to be ready for this most important celebration. "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel." (Exodus 12:15)

PREPARING FOR PESACH IS THE ULTIMATE IN SPRING CLEANING!

In obedience to the eternal commandment that YHVH gave to the children of Israel to remove leaven (yeast) from their houses, every nook and cranny must be emptied, sorted and wiped in order to make sure that each dwelling place is free of chametz (leavened products) before Passover begins (Exodus 12:15). Believers has taken this single commandment and transformed it into a system that would weary the hardiest of women. All dishes, cutlery, pots and pans, even dishrags used during the feast must be “Kosher for Passover.” Because the kitchen is cleared of products that contain leaven or may be contaminated with it, preparing for Passover is both labour intensive and expensive. Just prior to Passover, kosher grocery stores begin to stock foods that are specially prepared and guaranteed leaven-free. The Hebrew signs on the shelves above read "Kosher for Passover." Many women completely clean their kitchen to such a degree that it sparkles like it did when it was new. Furthermore, in the weeks prior to Passover, kosher supermarkets begin to sell products marked with a special “Kosher for Passover” stamp. These products, which are guaranteed to be free of leaven, are eaten in the days before and during the holiday of Passover. Matzah (unleavened bread), however, is first eaten during the Passover Seder, which is a special ceremonial meal where the story of the Exodus from Egypt is recounted. It is eaten every day throughout the festival. The text that sets the order of the recounting of the deliverance of the YHVH People from Egypt, is read during the Passover Seder. The pierced, striped bread of affliction in the bottom right corner is called matzah (unleavened bread).

WHY FUSS OVER A LITTLE LEAVEN (YEAST)?

“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” (Galatians 5:9) In the Bible, yeast symbolizes sin. It is also a powerful metaphor for learning about YHVH and living a life of holiness. Yeast is a single-celled fungus that causes dough to rise by consuming the sugars and excreting carbon dioxide as a by-product. And it doesn’t take much yeast to start the process. Yeast is so pervasive that if dough is left on the counter, yeast will attach to the surface of the dough and then make its way throughout the whole loaf. It’s in the air. So, just like yeast (leaven) eats away at the sugars in the dough, sin eats away at us and causes us to become separated from YHVH. “But your iniquities have separated you from YHVH; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2) Although it is not known when yeast began being used to bake bread, the earliest records of this practice come from ancient Egypt.

LEAVEN AND THE SIN OF PRIDE

“Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?” (1 Corinthians 5:6) When it comes to leaven as a metaphor, Scripture especially narrows in on the sin of arrogance, boasting, conceit and pride. In the same way that a little yeast affects the whole batch of dough, causing it to become puffed up, a little bit of pride and arrogance in our hearts causes us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We must deal with the leaven in our own hearts, knowing that arrogance is not pleasing to YHVH, and pride often precedes our own downfall. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) The traditional Bedikat Chametz (search for leaven) is a ceremony used to cleanse the home of leaven. These two young boys search for leaven using a feather and a spoon to remove it. The chametz (leavened products) will be burned the next morning in the Bi'ur Chametz ceremony.

MEANINGFUL CUSTOM: THE SEARCH FOR LEAVEN (BEDIKAT CHAMETZ)

At Passover, we practice a beautiful custom called bedikat chametz (search for leaven). The eve before Passover, the leader of the household, usually the father, holds a candle and guides his family around the house. With the lights extinguished, they search for any remnant of chametz (leavened products) by the light of this single candle. The children search every nook and cranny for crumbs of bread that have been carefully wrapped and hidden ahead of time by the mother. Each crumb of bread is found with exclamations of delight, “Oh! There it is. I found one!” This meaningful search continues until the very last crumb of leaven is removed. Using a feather, these are swept away into a bag to be burned the next morning. On the morning of Erev Pesach (Eve of Passover), which is Saturday morning, there will be a multitude of small fires burning all over believer’s homes as each family burns their small pile of chametz. A special prayer is recited in case any has been missed. This special ceremony (bedikat chametz) demonstrates how the light of YHVH’s Word, symbolized by the candle, searches our hearts for any pride or arrogance that may be lurking, hidden in the darkness. The feather symbolizes the work of the Ruach HaKodesh sweeping the sin away. The bi'ur chametz fire shows how YHVH destroys this leaven, for YHVH Elohiym is a consuming fire! Bi'ur Chametz: pita bread burning with the dried palm (lulav) and myrtle (hadass) leftover from Sukkot (six months earlier). To burn the dried palm and myrtle (holy objects) from the previous Biblical holiday is considered an additional mitzvah (blessing).

PASSOVER IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Just as an overgrowth of yeast in the body may become a systemic infection and must be dealt with before it causes serious physical problems, the "leaven" or sin within the Body of our Moshiach must be dealt with accordingly. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul makes use of the imagery of Passover and the cleansing of the chametz to exhort the Believers in Corinth to get rid of the sin of malice and wickedness and live the holy life they are truly capable of living, free from the bondage to sin. “Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch -- as you really are. For our Moshiach, our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed. “Therefore, let us keep the Festival [Passover], not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:7–8)

THE LEAVEN OF FALSE TEACHING

In the New Testament, leaven (yeast) can also represent false teachings. Yeshua warned people to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. By this, Yeshua was not referring to bread, but to their teachings that did not align with the Word of YHVH (Matthew 16:11–12). The Apostle Paul also warns the Nations to beware of the sin of pride and arrogance, particularly in their relationship to the Jewish People. Furthermore, in the Book of Romans, Paul reminds those who have been supernaturally grafted into the natural olive tree (Yisrael) by the mercy and grace of YHVH, not to boast over the other branches: “If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” (Romans 11:17–18) One way many Believers boast over their fellow branches (the Jewish People) is by believing the false teaching of replacement theology. This errant doctrine teaches that YHVH has rejected the (nation of Yisrael) and that the Church is the "New Yisrael." Nothing could be further from the truth. Scripture is clear that YHVH will never forsake His people Yisrael and will always keep covenant with them. “For YHVH will not reject His people; He will never forsake His inheritance.” (Psalm 94:14)

PASSOVER, LEAVEN AND YHVH’s PLAN FOR YISRAEL

Arrogance and pride can prevent us from understanding YHVH’s plans and purposes for the Jewish people, Yisrael, and the role of every believer. As Passover approaches, let’s remember that only temporary blindness has come upon the Jewish People so that salvation would come to the Gentiles, and after that to the nation of Yisrael. “Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Yisrael envious.” (Romans 11:11) YHVH can and will lift the veil from the Jewish People’s eyes to see their Moshiach Yeshua, and when the people accept Yeshua as their Moshiach, it will mean resurrection and life for the entire world! “For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:15) During this time when People are cleansing their homes from leaven, please pray that they will recognize that Yeshua is indeed the Promised Moshiach of Yisrael. And may we also search our hearts for the leaven of sin, making them “Kosher for Passover,” so that we may walk in humility, with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. "I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against Me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against Me." (Jeremiah 33:8)

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PREPARING FOR PESACH (PASSOVER)