Sunday, April 10, 2011

Pesach Chametz


 

Ahhh… Pesach is coming. Time to get rid of the Chametz!

One of the meanings of Chametz is that it is the spiritual impurities that we allow to fester within us. Allegorically, the Torah tells us that we cannot free ourselves from the level of Mitzrayim – Egypt; the lowest spiritual to which a Jew can possibly sink and still be alive, unless we get rid of our internal Chametz.

Chametz is leaven or yeast. And, our spiritual Chametz is all of the "yeast" that rises within us as we hold dear to all of the imagined affronts to our precious Egos.

Every grudge; every thought of "getting even;" every sullen dislike; every single conviction that it is "THEIR" fault, never mine – is a speck of Chametz that prevents us from purity and… prevents us from leaving Egypt.

Time to give it up!

We learn that four fifths of the Jews died in Mitzrayim. They never made it out of Egypt. They could not let go of their "Chametz" in whatever form it took.

There is a new industry in the world called "Life Coaching." I recently learned from a friend who is familiar with this concept that a Life Coach's objective, at least in the corporate world, is to work with an individual to overcome flaws that are standing in the way of using his full potential in business. It is an attempt to alter personality traits that make a person less able to achieve; traits that make a person less productive. A person first has to recognize these flaws and then learn how to change them so that coworkers and customers will no longer be put off by these personality quirks.

Apparently, Life Coaching has had some good success in the corporate world. Apparently, continued employment and financial success are great motivators…

We should all be blessed to examine our own ingrained personality traits; our Chametz, that we are better off without and be able to remove them, purifying ourselves and redeeming ourselves from the slavery of Mitzrayim.

A Kasher Sameach!