2 minute read
Still Counting Down by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS
Still Counting Down
by rivki D. rosenwald esq., LMFt, cLc, SDS
two weeks to go…
Should I have company or not? After all, I don’t want life to stop! Or maybe just a little bit? At least the mess. But I really don’t want more crumbs to accumulate.
What’s a family to do? What day should we switch over? It’s definitely a giant challenge.
Listen to this poem, which says it best:
I bought the food.
I got the meat.
I have the pots.
Ready for the feat.
I just don’t know.
And this is true.
What day to become
A chometz-free Jew!
We are in that middle zone. Sort of a no man’s land. Neither quite here nor there.
We are kind of like the racehorse positioned at the starting gate, chomping at the bit. But we’re just not ready to let go.
Now, I know some people are battling the other challenge: packing! Figuring out what to take and who they might see?! After all, after almost three years of being cut off from humanity you want to make a decent impression. At least that way, if friends and acquaintances
don’t recognize you from before, they’ll be willing to befriend you all over again.
The shopping for new food seems only to be outdone by the shopping for new outfits:
The shanks are being scooped up and so are the tanks.
The skirt steaks are jumping off the shelves, and the skirts and jumpers are, too.
The dressings are running out of the stores like crazy and so are the dresses.
We are going to be telling about our long journey from slavery to freedom. And though our experience is nothing like that of our ancestors, somehow our stress level often runs a close second.
So let’s rethink this.
Are we putting too much energy into the prep and not showing up for the main event fresh and ready to embrace its messages? Are we too beat and exhausted from cooking, cleaning, packing, traveling, etc. to enjoy the mitzvos hayom?
This holiday is the one that teaches us G-d is always in our lives. Maybe we don’t always see G-d there. But do you
Do you always see the crumbs?
always see the crumbs? Only when you start really looking, do you realize they are hiding in every crease and crevice. So is G-d.
Don’t be so wiped out that by the time Passover’s first night rolls around you miss this no-rolls epiphany! Follow this poem’s advice:
Sweep into the sweeping with an air of glee. And pack knowing you’re not cooking; let that make you happy. Home or traveling, know we are a people blessed. So, smile and celebrate, and let’s stop being stressed!
Rivki Rosenwald is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist working with both couples
and individuals and is a certified relation-
ship counselor. Rivki is a co-founder and
creator of an effective Parent Management of Adolescent Years Program. She can be
