Searching our own personal Chametz

"OZAR HA'MOADIM" - A collection of Poskim on Pessach. I just bought this great book in Bnei Brak.

Photo: Miriam Woelke

B"H 

The book includes "Hilchot Pessach" from the "Shulchan Aruch - Code of Jewish Law", "Hilchot Pessach" from the "Mishna Berura", Pessach commentaries from the ZOHAR, Pessach commentaries from the Bnei Yissachar, the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid of Mezritch, Chesed le'Avraham, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polonnoye, the Noam Elimelech, Beer Mayim Chaim, Ma'or veShemesh, the Sfat Emet as well as Minhagim from different Zaddikim. 

Rabbi Yaakov Yosef from Polonnoye, the famous student of the Baal Shem Tov:

Before Pessach, the Jews are busying themselves with cleaning the house from any Chametz (forbidden grains and grain products such as wheat, rye, oats, spelt, barley, beer, noodles, etc). Entire families hardly stop scrubbing anything in the household but what about the Chametz inside of us ? 

Before the holiday starts, we should sit down and think about our own personal Chametz and how we get rid of it. In Judaism, Chametz also stands for our Yetzer HaRah (the negative side in each of us) and our task is to overcome our evil Yetzers. The night before Pessach, when we do "Bedikat Chametz - The search for the Chametz", we should take some time and search the Chametz inside of us.