Adas Israel - Mason City, IA

Spring Cleaning & The Jews

Welcome to the Adas Israel, Mason City, Iowa.  As part of our efforts to educate and engage our community we offer some thoughts on our faith and culture.  Thank you for visiting.

It's SPRING! - No, It's Passover

For as long as there have been advertisements there have been ads about "Spring House Cleaning".  Many have just assumed it was/is part of the natural order of life.  The long winter is over and it's time to dig in and get the house clean.  Hold on there Mr. Clean...there is more to this.

For centuries, In Jewish homes all over the world, we follow the commandment that our homes must be free of hametz or food made with any sort of leaven products.  In Exodus 12:19 we find,"Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; ad whever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation, whether he be a stranger or a citizen of the land."

Pretty stright forward stuff...

So at least a week before Passover many Jewish homes are a flurry of activity.  Every cupboard is cleaned, the stove and oven are cleaned and kashered for Passover use.  Eating utensils are often changed out for different dishes and pots and pans that have never come into contact with hametz.  It's that busy.

Being Clean Can Mean...Trouble

While it sounds like a great idea...not all peoples found it necessary to keep clean.  In 1347 CE the great Bubonic Plague made it's way to Europe.  People died by the thousands each day of the three year Black Death.  While Jews also died from the plague their attention to family purity, regular hygiene, the quick burial of the dead and living seperate from the non-Jewish community reduced their mortality numbers.  That was not lost on others.

During the plague thousands of Jews were murdered for a host of reasons many of them tied to the illness that raveged Europe.

Get That Hametz!

Next week, following all the "spring house cleaning" there is one final ritual, Bedikat Hametz or the search for hametz.  On the night before Passover a careful and intensive search of the home is carried out.   Since it's unlikely that crumbs or other hametz will be found a crumb or two are placed in obvious places so when the children find it...they can claim to have saved the family from having hametz in the house.  (Sounds like an Easter Egg Hunt?)  The "found" hametz is then placed in a separate bag and burned the next morning.

It's quite a production...  Welcome to Spring...er...Passover!

Here is wishing you and your family the very best for Pesach and beyond.  A reminder of our annual community Passover Seder this coming Monday Evening.  Contact us by e-mail to check availability.  We have limited seating.

 

 

 

Family Laws - The Mikvah

Welcome to Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Mason City, Iowa.   This is Shabbat Metzora (Lev. 14 - 15) and this weeks Torah Portion contains some interesting notes on personal hygiene.  Metzora is often described as leprosy and the opening segment of this parsha (portion) has some detailed information as to the care and treatment of a leper and...the house.

The Life Cycle of Marriage

Also this week we read the laws of family purity and one of the most misunderstood sections of the Torah.  Each month a husband and wife cease having physical contact during the menstrual cycle.  We are told that when a woman menstruates she is "tameh" a Hebrew word that has been, incorrectly, translated as "unclean".  That translation error has often marked Judaism as a backward religion that places women in a second class status.  It's not true.

"Tameh" has to do with coming into contact with the dead.  In the case of a menstruating woman it is the death of the ovum.  Similar to that is when a man has physical relations he too is tameh due to the death of millions of sperm.  If you read beyond the "Ewwww!" you can understand the Biblical sensitivity to the natural life cycle.

The Mikvah -

In Traditional Judaism the Mikvah is a central aspect to the community.  So central that when a Jewish community is established the first thing to be built is a Mikvah.  The Mikvah is a pool of natural water where, in the case of family purity, a woman goes a week following the cessation of the menstrual flow.  Each month a woman enters to water of the Mikvah for this "spiritual rebirth".  Anyone entering the Mikvah must be physically clean and not even jewelry can be a barrier between the water and the person.

Upon leaving the Mikvah and returning home the husband will once again place the wedding ring on the finger of his bride as they are reunited.   Each month...a honeymoon.

What Is The Lesson?

In simple terms we can appreciate the saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder.".  How many of us have returned from an extended business trip to a home that is fresh and full of mutual desire and warmth.  In a spiritual sense we come to understand the special and delicate nature of the life cycle and are reminded that G-d takes everyday, natural events to point us into the realization of wonderment.  The respect of life...all life...is the ultimate lesson here.

Have a wonderful Shabbat! 

In Torah....Adas Israel