Once, a few days after Purim, I was walking to the local
grocery to buy a bag of milk. One of my neighbors was coming
towards me, or more accurately, had she not been holding onto
the handle of the stroller she was pushing, she might have
floated down the street.
As she passed me, smiling from ear to ear, she said, "Oh, its
soooo lovely. I was just at the grocery and they are putting
fresh paper on the shelves for Pesach!"
Now, I must say that I am one of those people for whom Pesach
cleaning is anything but fun. I don't relish looking into
closets that I would just as soon leave closed. But I really
admired my neighbor's obvious enthusaism. "Someone must
actually like preparing for Pesach," I thought. As a
member of the other camp, I am constantly on the lookout for
tips that facilitate the process, and I would like to share
some with you.
#1. Everyone has to develop the cleaning schedule to which
she and her family can relate. A friend in the States once
told me that her sister had come home from visiting a Bais
Yaakov classmate a week before Pesach and told her mother,
"Chani's mother is all finished with the cleaning and she is
taking out the Pesach dishes." The mother, a busy rebbetzin
and teacher, blessed with ten children including a set of
twins, didn't blink an eye. She told her daughter, "We'll all
sit down to the seder at the same time."
#2. Even if you can't bear to throw things out, take a
few articles out of each closet that you clean and toss them
out or donate them to any gemach still accepting
things. Our lives function better with less clutter. [If you
haven't used something for two years, chuck it, for sure.]
Still, you may be thinking, "Oh, but what if I really need
that?"
I used to have the same doubts, but I had occasion to find
out firsthand that we don't really need most of the things we
accumulate.
Several years ago, we left California to come to our just-
completed apartment in Yerusholayim for Succos. Between my
husband and me and our four children, we had a dozen
suitcases for clothing, pots and housewares, and six carry-on
bags for breakables. We prioritized and took only bare
necessities.
After Succos, we left some of the things we had brought and
returned to the States. Our next trip was for Pesach, and
this time, the bags were filled with all the dishes, pots and
other utensils for this festival. Again, we returned to the
States.
During the summer, we made our final trip, again taking just
what was necessary. We also sent a shipment of basic
furniture, bedding, towels and the like. That means, we left
quite a number of `things' that we had accumulated during
three decades in the California house.
It would have been very difficult for someone like me to ever
have to go back and sort out the things we left behind. In
His great kindness, Hashem solved the problem. We received a
frantic phone call from a California neighbor. "All of your
windows are steamed up and there is water running down your
path. I think your house is flooded."
In one fell swoop, all of our `things' were gone forever! Do
you know, there has not been one single time that I have
missed the knicknacks, kindergarten projects, poster or Purim
baskets that we left in California.
The china and crystal serving pieces that we had received as
hostess gifts over the years, a whole closet full, survived
the flood. On his next trip to the States, my husband gave
them away to young families. The flood also prompted us to
part with the biggest unwanted thing -- the California house,
itself.
It isn't necessary to have something as dramatic as a flood
to make you give up the plaster of Paris hand print from gan,
half of the crown your son made for his siddur party,
the tulle left over from your daughter's Purim costume as
well as the sweater that is two sizes too large and the bud
vase you won as a doorprize.
Think how much easier it will be for you to find the things
you really need if those articles find their way out of your
closets.
#3. We don't eat from the flowerpots. It is easy to get
carried away and spend valuable time cleaning things that
just don't need to be done for Pesach. If you want to use
this month for a general overhaul, gezunter heit. Just
make sure you save enough time and energy to really clean the
place that matters -- the kitchen.
And this year, while you are cleaning that most important of
areas for Pesach, write down exactly how much time it takes
you to clean your stove top, to scour your oven, to scrub
your sink and to clean your refrigerator. Add in the time to
clean your counters plus the walls that are right behind the
cooking areas, to wash the floor, clean out the garbage can,
and do any areas that are unique to your kitchen. Now save
the paper for next year's two-weeks-before- Pesach rodeo.
(Thank you, Sarah Glaser, author of Lifesaver.)
It will help you schedule the kitchen properly and leave
adequate time to shop, cook, bake and prepare all of the
special Seder items.
#4. Whereas babies and toddlers can foul up even the most
efficient Pesach cleaning, older children can really help. My
daughter-in-law gave my four- and five-year-old grandsons
sponga sticks and a pail of water, and you would be amazed at
how well they cleaned the floor! They had been watching Mommy
and they really knew what to do.
When one of my own sons was eight years old, he was helping
me with some pre- Pesach chores. "Mommy," he said, "there's
an easier way to do this." I listened and he was right. He
had a better handle on cleaning that I did! By the time he
was ten, he took over a good share of the Pesach cleaning. At
his wedding, I really cried -- tears of joy because he was
marrying a wonderful wife and tears of sadness because I was
losing my Pesach helper! But fortunately, one of the other
boys took charge and the Pesach cleaning went on.
One important warning: bochurim clean at top speed and
really do a great job, but don't be surprised if something
gets broken in the process. Therefore, plan ahead. If the
boys are doing the bookcases, first put away Grandma's
antique crystal vase sitting on the top shelf.
Also, know that even if you stow the breakables, problems can
still arise. Our refrigerator has design problems. One of its
flaws is that the crisper drawers slide in under the shelf
which is supported by a very thin plastic column. If you lean
on that shelf with the slightest pressure, without the
drawers -- snap. Naturally, that happened, and the column is
history.
I used to insist on being the one to clean the refrigerator.
Then one year something had to be replaced and I found myself
in the store that sells refrigerator parts. I asked them if
they had support columns for my model and they said, "Of
course!" I bought a couple and when the boys cleaned the
fridge and were putting everything back, we heard the
telltale snap.
I smiled, and sailed into the room with the replacement
column...
