Spring Cleaning
In just two more days we will celebrate the first day of spring. In many homes across America, spring cleaning is a great idea. However, in Jewish families it is an annual tradition that has a rich history.
Every spring we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Many Jewish families and some Christian families also remember it is the time for Passover. Passover is an annual feast to commemorate the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt.
Prior to Passover a kind of spiritual hide-and-go-seek activity was carried out in many Jewish homes. The women would go through the house and do a super cleaning.
After this thorough cleaning, the women would go back through the house and very carefully place pieces of leaven in certain places of the house such as corners of the room and the windowsills. They placed these pieces of leaven there as part of an important teaching. Leaven is a symbol of sin.
On the evening before Passover, the men of the house would gather for their part in this fun but very important tradition. Leading the way, the father would wash his hands and repeat this prayer: “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us by your commandments and commanded us to remove the leaven.”
After this he and the other young men in the house, would light a candle. With the light of the candle, they would act something like Sherlock Holmes and go through the house, room to room, searching for the leaven. As they found the previously placed pieces of leaven, the father would scoop up the pieces with a feather and a wooden spoon. He would put the leaven in a bag.
After determining the house to be completely clean of leaven, the men would take the bag to a previously determined place where other men from other families were gathered for the same purpose and the leaven would be burned. The men would then go to the synagogue for prayer and then return home. The Passover celebration would continue with eating a lavish meal and the teaching of many lessons.
The primary lesson taught was the importance of removing sin from the house and sins from our lives. Paul referenced this in 1 Cor. 5:7 where we find these words to the body of Christ, “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”
Springtime is a great time to take personal inventory of where we are with the Lord. As believers, 1 John 1:9 is always there for our benefit. There, the Apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Happy Spring Cleaning to you!
