Train of Thought

April, is time for spring cleaning.  In my childhood my mother did her spring cleaning thoroughly; walls and floorboards were scrubbed, curtains were washed, cupboards were cleaned and liner replaced, floors were washed and waxed, windows were washed, closets were cleaned out and organized. I expect few people to do their spring cleaning like that anymore.  Even my mother eventually stopped doing spring cleaning on such a scale.

For those celebrating Passover at the end of this month, there will be a cleaning of the house of chametz, anything containing leaven.  In an article on Passover cleaning from April of 2022, Shira Schechter wrote, “Cleaning for Passover is the Biblical origin of spring cleaning, though the goal is not necessarily to clean the house. A house can be spotless but not kosher for Passover or, alternatively, the home can be messy but still be clean of leavened products. …  It is, unfortunately, easy to become obsessed during this process of preparing for Passover. It is common for Jews to repeat the mantra, ‘Once we were slaves in Egypt but now we are free (people)’, while searching for nooks and crannies that have yet to be sterilized. It is important to remember that not all dirt is chametz (leaven), and we are not the Passover sacrifice sacrificed on an altar of cleaning products,” A Concise Guide to Passover Cleaning – The Israel Bible. 

This year I am more aware than usual of how tidy I am leaving things.  My files are not a mess, but they are not in the state I would like them to be in order to pass them on to your next minister.  Better organizing them is on my to-do list.

My apartment has been lived in by teen and preteen boys.  It is not in the same state it was when I began my lease.  I will likely take a magic eraser to some walls before I turn in our keys.

Spring is a time of preparing for new beginnings.  One of the ways we humans do that is by cleaning.  Tidying expert Marie Kondo says, “The objective of cleaning is not just to clean, but to feel happiness living within that environment.” I would add it is also to get to a place where one is happy to invite others into that environment.

As the congregation prepares for a new beginning this summer as I leave and your new contract minister begins, how do you want to present?  You will likely look at your organization and see if anything needs to be tidied up. 

Likely you are mostly happy with the environment of the congregation, but, like me better organizing my files, there may be a few things you want to do before you present yourselves to a new minister and other new people who may come through the door.

It is spring, a time to prepare for Passover, for a new minister, for a new period in the life of the congregation. Prepare your space and your hearts to open the doors and invite in the world.

“Sharing food is the first act through which slaves become free human beings. One who fears tomorrow does not offer (one’s) bread to others. But one who is willing to divide (one’s) food with a stranger has already shown (one)self capable of fellowship and faith, the two things from which hope is born. That is why we begin the seder by inviting others to join us. That is how we turn affliction into freedom.” —Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Peace and Blessings,

Cynthia