Preparations for the Yom Tov of Pesach are at their peak: We are cleaning our homes thoroughly, shopping for food for Yom Tov, and, with Hashem’s help, we will celebrate Pesach with joy and much fanfare.
But there is a hidden secret: We can do the mitzvos of the Yom Tov – burning the chametz, eating the matzah, and making the Seder — and still miss out on the main point.
Pesach is not a time for only external cleaning; this Yom Tov is meant to make a deep internal change in a person’s neshamah. Along with the physical burning of the chametz, we need to burn the spiritual chametz within – the bad middos. In addition to cleaning our homes, we need to clean our souls from all evil.
Eating matzah is not difficult, but the main thing is to transform ourselves into matzah — to be humble, not blown up with ga’avah, like chametz. When you prepare matzah you roll out the dough to flatten it, and the matzah is silent. In the same way, a person needs to accept everything that happens to him.
On Pesach, “a person is obligated to see himself as if he personally experienced Yetzias Mitzrayim.” Those who went out of Mitzrayim thanked Hashem for the miracles and the kindness. We also need to change our attitudes and to thank Hashem for the good, to see only the good, and to feel as though we ourselves went out of Mitzrayim.
Many people define a successful Seder night as one where everything works out properly, the children participated, and nothing went wrong. But that is not the main thing! A successful Seder night is measured by one thing only: Calmness, joy, refraining from anger, and being connected to the inner meaning of the matzah and the middah of humility, and connecting to Yetzias Mitzrayim by recognizing the good and giving thanks to Hashem with all our hearts and with simchah.
