Jews around the world spent the night before Passover searching their homes for any chametz, such as bread and other items not Kosher for Passover, that they may have missed, before burning or disposing of that chametz the morning before the holiday begins. This process is called “Bedikat Chametz,” or searching for Chametz.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, one of the great Hassidic teachers, explains that chametz is also the things in our souls that need to be removed – haughtiness, hatred, disrespect and all of the other internal challenges that we experience – in order to experience personal redemption. In some homes, a candle is used to search for chametz, a practice that the Talmud explains with the verse from Proverbs, “The soul of human is the candle of God, searching all of their inmost parts.” This is because the search for chametz in our homes must include a search for the chametz in ourselves, with the light of our souls as our guide.
Now, as you prepare to search for the chametz in your homes, let’s take a moment to meditate on the chametz in our souls that we will be releasing tomorrow when we burn that chametz, to experience the personal redemption of Passover.