Pesachim 5
“It shall not be found in your houses.”
We appear to be done for now with the two-day exegesis on speaking indirectly and are focused on the right time to remove leaven from one’s home. We are told that the time of removal of leaven should be calibrated with the period when consuming it is prohibited. But is that time during the seven-day Passover holiday, or the day or night before its onset? This is the Talmud and four Tractates in it is clear that there will be a difference of opinion.
The Gemara elaborates on the importance of aligning the removal of leaven with its prohibition with a quote from Exodus: “Seven days leaven shall not be found in your houses, as anyone who eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel.” It is related from Exodus that during these seven days “you shall not eat anything that is leavened; in all of your dwellings you shall eat matzot, etc.”
We all know that we cannot eat leaven during Passover and some like me use it as an opportunity to cleanse my system of heavy carbohydrates, which are usually a staple of my diet. But I am not a very religious person, and the extent of my Passover observance is adding a box of matzos to my Whole Foods weekly delivery. But if I were to go on a hunt to remove every microscopic crumb of leaven from my shelves and cabinets and the edges of my countertop, when would it be the best time to carry out the task?
The Gemara says that it should be on the night of the fourteenth of Nisan ahead of the onset of the passover holiday. We learned in an earlier reading one should do so by candlelight, but with my aging eyes, I am not sure that strategy would yield the best results. The Gemara says and then the Gemara rejects the belief that evening is the best time to do so, and refers to a reference in Exodus to “on the day.”
The Gemara suggests a solution: what if you removed the leaven during the second half of the fourteenth day of Nisan and relaxed a bit in the morning and had that last nibble of toasted muffin? We are told that “one is obligated to remove leaven only for the second half of the fourteenth of Nisan, not for the first half of the day.” There is remaining discord among the Rabbis, but it is generally agreed that the leaven should be removed during the second half of the day preceding Passover.
Everything has its place and time and that lesson, which is inherent to the discussion of when to rid one’s home of leaven, is no more relevant to this year’s Thanksgiving. The CDC has warned Americans to stay home and resist the natural longing to travel and be with their family. It has been the most difficult year of many of our lifetimes. I personally long to be with my family and enjoy the one holiday that has very few obligations other than to eat a big meal.
I am alone for the first time in my life on Thanksgiving. My family will be together virtually through zoom and that is something. And if there is anything to be grateful for it is for zoom and how we are able to come together virtually. The time and place to be together in person is not this year. But we are doing what we can to be safe so that we can all be together next year with my mother in Philadelphia. Everything has its place and time.