“You Know What”

Well, the famous Harry Potter books villain is called a frightened “You know who”. The frum (religious) Jew woman has her own scoundrel, her scared “you know WHAT” : Pesach (Passover). Almost everyone I called tonight asked me: “Have you started cleaning?” “Have you started Pesach?”
No, I have not yet started the thorough all-house cleaning that must be completed by Passover. And I wish that somehow I had somehow managed to start. But more than all this, I know that to get hysterical about it won’t help.
We all like to organize our belongings, shine our silver candlesticks, and have the house sparkling by Seder night (the first night of Passover). But there is no Biblical or rabbinical injunction to do half of what we do. We know that there are areas we can cut corners if need be. So why the hysteria?

And more importantly, what type of message are we sending our offspring when they hear us moaning and bewailing our tasks? That “Yiddishkeit” , Jewish laws, are a chore?
Yes, I know it means more work. More work, less sleep, and aggravation with teens who could help but often don’t. But since we are going to do it anyway, let’s do it with a smile and a song (at least part of the time).