It’s the night of bedikas chametz. I am putting some kugels in the oven, while stirring the chicken soup, while looking over the ingredients of a pesadik cake recipe. My husband comes home from shul, looks around, and informs me that we cannot start bedikas chametz until the floor is washed. As I search for a large mixing bowl, I mumble that he is welcome to wash it. He picks up a bag of potatoes from the floor and asks where he should put it. Wherever he’d like, I suggest. But what about those other bags, with carrots, and zucchinis, and onions, and that whole pile of produce? Oh, I don’t know. Where was I planning to put them? I wasn’t planning anything. I was just cooking. I was too busy to plan. What do you mean we should clean another cabinet? Right now? We end up spending two precious right-before-Pesach hours cleaning a cabinet and stuffing the contents of the shopping bags into it. By the time we finish bedikas chametz in our small apartment it’s already past midnight.

Many well-meaning Jewish women have had similar experiences with Pesach preparations. There are a lot of details involved in preparing for Pesach, and the job sometimes seems overwhelming. It is too easy to get sidetracked, spend too much time on spring cleaning or cooking, and leave out some essential tasks. Sometimes we underestimate the amount of work required and stress ourselves out with a last minute mad rush. Too many Jewish women feel anxious about Pesach and dread the pre-Pesach weeks.

It is unfortunate that so much negativity is associated with Pesach. I believe that when Hashem gave us this beautiful holiday, He did not intend to stress and overwhelm us. Pesach represents the birth of the Jewish people. Every year, we have the opportunity to cleanse ourselves spiritually and tune into the power of renewal. Our neshamos thirst for the special connection to Hashem only available at this time of the year.

But our yetzer hara wants to prevent our spiritual joy at any cost. The yetzer hara creates as much negativity towards Pesach as it possibly can, so that we would not be able to get the full spiritual benefits of the holiday. I believe that we have the power to overcome the yetzer hara and to experience the joy inherent in coming closer to Hashem through Pesach preparations and the holiday itself.

What can we do to have a more positive attitude towards Pesach?

We can educate ourselves about what truly needs to be done. We can learn to be more organized and plan our preparations in such a way that we would not be stressed out and exhausted. We can learn from experience and fix past mistakes. But it would be even better if we could combine all of our experiences and help each other create a calm and joyous atmosphere in the pre-Pesach weeks.

That is why I created this web site. I would like to form a community of spiritual Jewish women intent on serving Hashem with joy and willing to work together on this common goal. This is a place to ask questions and learn, as well as share your valuable experience and teach and encourage others. I am also working on the PesachBsimcha app, available soon, G-d willing, so we can be more organized in our Pesach planning. I hope that this web site will make a difference in our Pesach experience.