Rabbi Moshe Landau just passed away at the age of 84. He was the rabbi of Bnei Brak and one of the greatest kashrut experts in the world (they say that he was one of the few who knew Coca-Cola’s secret formula since he granted kosher certification to this product, among others).
Earlier this week I found a shiur of his on preparing for Pesach. I thought I would hear many instructions about kashrut and cleaning for the holiday, but Rabbi Landau started with another kind of preparation. Here is what we should do, according to him, during these days:
“The month of Nisan is a month of preparation, a month of work. The most important job is to change, to change from being ‘slaves of Pharaoh’ to servants of Hashem.
“Pharaoh is the Evil Inclination. It is everything that enslaves us. Our job is to break free from it. According to Chassidus, the general redemption needed to be preceded by personal redemptions from every single person. That is, every person should prepare himself to be redeemed from all the elements that hinder his life.
“This is our task now: to prepare, to arrive at leil haSeder ready, with the proper emotions.”
In his memory.