Get Ready for the Journey by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

Get Ready for the Journey

By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., LMFT, CLC, SDS

Are you with me when I say we’re in countdown mode?!

Yup, it’s just around the corner.

And we should know! Because we have to search around every corner.

It is that time of the year when we start to find all those missing items. Including, that all-important tiny piece of blanky, or that phone number we lost of the great guy recommended for your niece, and, of course, the other shoe that you were going nuts looking for.

And the fun is just beginning…. Because, first, we have to dispose of all the nosh we just piled up from Purim. And by Hook or by Crook, which actually means by Eat or by Cheat, we will! Either way, it’s winding up on our waistline.

And that particular expansive experience is also only just beginning. Because there is only one formula more successful than overeating to expand our waistlines, and that is-overeating matzah!

We’ve got four weeks ahead of us of figuring it all out and then suddenly it’s right under our noses.

We’ve got to turn over the whole house. Not just cleaning everything but also changing over everything in the kitchen from all year-round “stuff” (and all of this so we can “stuff” ourselves with – ta da – matzah).

Yep, matzah is the all-consuming theme here.

We have to order it, point to it, inhale it, continuously digest it, and somehow dispose of it.

We are crunching away. And I don’t mean the way accountants do with numbers – especially because this year it’s just after the tax rush. I mean, literally chewing loudly for eight days straight. There is no way to avoid it.

It seems that is our way to spread the miracle. G-d turned our matzah, which was initially made quickly due to slavery, to matzah made quickly so we could run to freedom. And we are crunching out the news to everyone ever since.

By the way, you know that warning, “don’t try this at home”? Well, this is actually one of those things best done at home – crunching it. Certainly, better than doing it at a concert or in a crowded mall.

This coming holiday is busy. The a highlight of every Passover program.

Maybe we should use the cloud that G-d sent to guide as a fog to obscure our path to the pantry.

Yes, eating is a big part of this holiday. But it’s eight days. We wouldn’t want Yom Kippur rules to apply, would we?!

We literally take a journey through history, and we never even need to leave the table

cooking, the cleaning, the shopping, the eating and eating and eating. It’s all endless. And yet. We are blessed to have it. This holiday celebrates that G-d took a personal interest in our lives. G-d didn’t just create the world and then disappear; G-d is constantly involved with all that occurs and saved us.

G-d came with a fire in front of us to guide us, but I feel it somehow guided us right to the flaming barbecues instead –

And anyway, food is so experiential. We eat maror and experience the bitterness of hard work. We drink wine and experience the joy of being rescued. We use salt water and taste the tears of suffering. We eat charoset and are reminded of the walls we built in Egypt and simultaneously the walls of the Temple we now want rebuilt.

How lucky are we? We literally take a journey through history, and we never even need to leave the table. If you’re willing to sit, point, and chew, you’ve basically mastered the Seder experience.

We are telling of how G-d was there to take us to freedom just as our forefathers had been promised.

We are acknowledging that our ancestors wanted more variety than manna in the desert, and we are getting it in spades.

So, what’s ahead in the next few weeks? Clean, inspect, rearrange, reorganize and so on….

And get ready to chew and crunch and dinner, and lunch, and eat a bunch….

But as you begin your preparations, remember there’s meaning to it all.

And think of it this way: We are just being asked to search our homes and, in reality, to “internalize” the process. To think about our own deeds and behavior and opportunities to live better.

And then, in a few weeks, we are told to “internalize” once again the experience of being saved and re-embraced by our Maker. And food seems to be the best way to guarantee we go “internal!”

So, let’s embrace the countdown together. -The “exodus” has already begun – the chometz is leaving the store shelves. -Our “salvation” is beginning to arrive – the O-U-P products are filling the empty spots. -And we are “passing over” anything unmarked.

We are off and running…so grab your matzahs and get ready for the journey ahead!

Rivki Rosenwald is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist working with both couples and individuals and is a certified relationship counselor. Rivki is a co-founder and creator of an effective Parent Management of Adolescent Years Program. She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or at rivkirosenwald@gmail.com.