This year, instead of doing the bedikas chometz on the night immediately before Pesach, we will do our search for chometz a day early, on Thursday night, since erev Pesach falls out on Shabbos, on Saturday night. In the performance of the bedikah, the search, it is customary to use a candle to hunt for each and every minute particle of chometz. The minhag is furthered by burning the candle together with the chometz that we burn. (Incidentally, this year we will burn the chometz a day early, on Friday morning, and the final destruction of the leftover crumbs from our early morning chometz meals on Shabbos will be disposed of in the commode, followed by the final bittul, or nullification, which will also be done on Shabbos morning.)
It seems puzzling that we should burn the candle also. After all, it contains no leaven and merely helped us to fulfill the once-a-year grand mitzvah of bedikah. The Vizhnitzer Rebbe, zt”l, zy”a, gives a very clever and fundamental explanation to this custom. [May the present day Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Eretz Yisrael have a speedy and complete refuah sheleima.] The Rebbe explains that we burn the candle because the candle’s job was to seek out that which is no good for Pesach, namely the chometz. This is because chometz further represents the yetzer hara, the evil inclination, as the Gemara informs us, it is the se’or she’b’isa, the “sour dough” within the dough. This sour dough symbolizes the yetzer hara for, just as it agitates the dough to ferment, so too does the yetzer hara agitate us to sin. Concludes the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, any instrument whose purpose is to seek out the bad deserves to be burnt.
To elaborate on this idea, the Gemara teaches us that one who has three traits can consider himself a true talmid, a disciple, of Avraham Avinu. One of these traits is ayin tova, a good eye, which means the characteristic of seeing the good in everyone. That was the remarkable way of Avraham Avinu, who served a royal meal at the age of one hundred in the midst of post-surgical pain to three people who he thought were idolatrous sand worshipers. This is the antithesis of Bilaam, who had an ayin ra’ah, and whose eyes were trained to notice the faults and the flaws in people.
We all know the famous verse about lashon hara, evil speech: “Mi ha’ish hechafeitz chaim? – Who is the man who desires life?” After skipping a stanza, it goes on to say, “N’tzor lashon’cha mei’rah – Guard your tongue from speaking evil.” But first, we receive an earlier directive. “Mi ha’ish hechafeitz chaim oheiv yamim, liros tov – Who is the man who wants life and loves days, let him train himself to see good.” Too many people have the sorry habit that when they meet up with a person, they mentally take a measure of the person’s faults. And only then, when they socialize with them, do they feel confident and not on edge. This is a habit that needs to be eradicated. To the contrary, we are taught, “Eizahu chacham? Halomeid mikol adam – Who is wise? He that can learn and better himself from every man.” The question, “Who is rich?” is also answered, “Hasamei’ach b’chelko – One who is happy in his lot,” one who sees the cup as half-full instead of half-empty, and dwells upon his blessings instead of what he is lacking. So too, when meeting up with a person, train yourself to take note of, as the famous song proclaims, “Mailas chavereinu v’lo chesroneinu – The strengths of your friend instead of their flaws.”
This is why the pasuk prefaces the trait of liros tov, seeing the good, before n’tzor lashon’cha mei’rah, to remind us to see the good in people before the admonition to guard our tongues from speaking evil. This is since, if we train ourselves to see the positive, we won’t be focused on the negative and we therefore won’t have any lashon hara to gossip about.
This training will assist us greatly in our marital harmony. If we focus more on the positive attributes of our spouse, instead of what they are lacking, we will reciprocate more positively and live more happily. Thus, we burn the candle that helps us out to ferret the toxic chometz, to remind us that our eyes should be used to look at people benevolently and not critically.
In this merit, may Hashem gaze upon us with an ayin tova, and bless us with long life, good health, and everything wonderful.
Transcribed and edited by Shelley Zeitlin.
