Ego Wipes Away With Sweat

Once again it is time for the annual move the furniture, scrub the chairs, line the counters, and unearth the stale cookie underneath the couch. Why the big fuss? Why embark on an all-out assault against chametz? After all, we don’t have to destroy all food before Yom Kippur!The mystics explain that chametz, which rises, represents the ego - something which must be eradicated at all costs. But is a little ego so terrible? Any psychologist will tell you that a healthy ego is a powerful motivator, giving people the courage to pursue their dreams.

On Pesach we celebrate the birth of our nation. At that historic moment, over three thousand years ago, G-d intervened on behalf of an enslaved and assimilated tribe, and liberated them. On that fateful day, the Israelites began their spiritual voyage to Mount Sinai, Torah, and G-d.

In its proper context, pride is important. At the Exodus however, the Jews had nothing to be proud about. Their lifestyle was G-dless and in no way did they resemble the holy Patriarchs from whom they had descended. True they jumped at the G-d given opportunity to enrich their lives, and eventually they earned the right to be proud of their accomplishments. But just as the proud and tall tree with beautiful fruit started out as a decomposed seed, so too, true spiritual growth begins with total humility.

Here lies the brilliance of G-d. Through the ages of human existence, the endeavor for self-improvement has been debated by the philosophers of every era. Do we get rid of our ego through sublimation, or surrender? Should we work to reject, or transform? Every philosophy comes with its own theoretical process, an inner journey that will hopefully bring one to his optimum self.

And then there’s Judaism. Unchanged for over three millennia, it delivers spiritual hypotheses, yet demands physical action. Pesach represents the freeing of the soul from that which clogs it up and obstructs its brightness. How do we do that? By meditating about it? That as well; but that is not quite enough. In fact, it is mostly about good old-fashioned, back-breaking, hand-chafing labor.

Does this replace the spiritual journey? No. But it does take the spiritual journey out of heaven, and makes it real by bringing it down to this world. I can sit and contemplate for hours, but when all is said and done (or rather, thought) I remain, essentially, unchanged. But take a physical broom and chase the chametz from your room. And day by day you will feel the chametz being chased from your heart.

When we watch the flames devouring our chametz, we feel the ego crumbling in our souls. When we recite the prayer in which we disavow all chametz, it isn’t an empty prayer. It has been earned with sweat.