Passover is almost here, and you haven’t started cleaning! What to do? You could sell your home and move in with observant friends. Or take a breath, and follow these steps to getting your home chametz-free in record time.
Prepare your heart first. I’m all for tradition, but keep it in perspective. The Torah doesn’t say to scrub down every corner, then cordon off the place like a crime scene. It says to remove yeast and don’t eat it for seven days (Exodus 12 and Numbers 9). Passover is freedom. If you enslave yourself to an unnecessary burden, you lose the spirit of the Feast. Say a prayer of thanksgiving, and ask for blessing on the work of your hands. For each 45 minutes of work, take a 15 minute break, really. Trust me on this. It’s a Flylady technique and it works.
Enlist your family’s help. Children enjoy getting rid of chametz. To symbolize their freedom, let them get silly, wear mismatched clothes and listen to their music while they clean.
Start with the porch and garage. Is food stored out there? What about animal food? Don’t hyper-clean, just remove yeast. Render it off limits to yeast with a sticky note.
Skip rooms that never have food in them. You don’t eat in the bathroom, do you? What about the linen closet? Bedrooms? If there’s no food, it’s done. Slap on a sticky note, and move on.
Knock out the little jobs. Clean your office space, hallways, and purse. When finished with each area, render it off limits.
Living room / family room Remove dishes and food wrappers. Wipe surfaces that have been used for food with a damp cloth. Pull the cushions off the furniture and vacuum. Empty wastebasket, wipe, and line with plastic bag. Vacuum or sweep the floor. Move fast. Remember, we’re not spring cleaning. We’re removing chametz.
Bedrooms Take out food, wipe surfaces used for food, and vacuum or sweep. If a pet lives here, check pet food ingredients and remove, if necessary. Clean pet habitat, if the food contains yeast. If possible, let children claim responsibility for their own rooms. If the child is too little, let him help you. Empty the wastebasket, wipe, and line with plastic bag.
Dining room Wipe table and chairs. Pull the leaf out of the table, and remove crumbs. You may need to use an old toothbrush sprayed with furniture polish on the inside of the leaf. Cover the table with a plastic tablecloth. Vacuum or sweep.
Kitchen If you have young children, this room is best done after bedtime, or when someone is designated to watch them. It’s not a safe zone for little ones while you’re cleaning.
Turn your oven on as hot as it will go, or to the self-cleaning setting, to burn off crumbs. Unplug the refrigerator, and open the freezer door. Take items out of the freezer and put into the refrigerator (keep door closed). If your freezer is not frost-free, do the cabinets while the ice is melting. Put a pan of boiling water on a folded towel inside the freezer to remove built-up ice. Don’t use a hair dryer or anything electric, to avoid shock. Take shelves out of the freezer, and clean. Take food, shelves, and drawers out of the refrigerator. Clean refrigerator, and put it back together. Work quickly, so your food doesn’t spoil. Read labels, and replace non-yeast food.
Save out ten olive-sized pieces of bread, wrapped in plastic, for the chametz search. Plug the refrigerator back in. Turn off the oven. Check the top of the fridge, remove yeast items, and wipe. Wipe out children’s lunchboxes.
Take everything out of the cabinets and pantry. Read labels. Put items with leavening into a box to give away. Wipe insides of cabinets. Line shelves with aluminum foil, if you like. Replace non-yeast foods.
Wipe down top of stove. Then turn the burners on high for three minutes, to burn off yeast. Clear counter tops and wipe with damp cloth. Shake out toaster, breadmaker or other appliances that may have crumbs. Put into plastic bags, seal, and put away until after Passover. Put away your wooden cutting board, bowls and utensils (save out a wooden spoon for chametz search). Clean dishes that have yeast on them.
If you are able, after the oven cools, pull out large appliances, and clean floor beneath and behind. If not, just do your best around them. Keep in mind the spirit of the law. Don’t hurt yourself getting at the crumbs under the refrigerator.
Sweep and mop kitchen floor, and take out the trash. Give yeasty food items to a non-observing friend. Toss cleaning cloths into the washer.
Car On your way to pick up Passover items, stop at a gas station. Clean food wrappers out of your car and vacuum.
Search for Chametz You’ll need wrapped bread crumbs, a candle, feather, paper bag and wooden spoon. Just before sunset, the day before Passover, place the crumbs in various spots around your house. Say the following blessing:
“Blessed are You, Adonai our God, King of the Universe, who sanctifies us with your commandments, and commanded us concerning the removal of chametz.”
Then search the home with the candle. Scoop the bread pieces on to the spoon with the feather, carry it all out in the paper bag, and burn.
Nullification of the Chametz When burning the last of the chametz, say the following:
“All leaven and anything leavened that is in my possession, which I have neither seen nor removed, and about which I am unaware, shall be considered nullified and ownerless as the dust of the earth.”
You did it! Enjoy your Passover!
Copyright 2009, Kathryn A. Frazier http://PreciousHolidays.wordpress.com
Filed under: faith, Family, Holidays, Judaism, Messianic Judaism, Passover, Religion Tagged: | Bible, chametz, faith, Family, holiday, Holidays, Jewish, Judaism, Messianic Judaism, Passover, Religion, speed cleaning, Torah, tradition, yeast
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