Kosher for Passover ice cream?  Potato chips?  Ketchup?  The variety of kosher for Passover food products is ever-expanding. And fascinating.  And unnecessary.  In it’s essence, Passover is supposed to be about getting back to basics, about simplifying our lives.  About focusing on what we truly need, rather than the never-ending list of what we want.  The lesson is that we can survive for a week with a piece of flat, rough bread (matzah), a few greens (karpas), some fruits and nuts (charoset), a little seasoning (maror), and maybe some wine.  In this year of austerity, the message of simplicity and focus on more enduring values resonates with us on a deep level.
           It is so easy to be arrogant when we reflect on our material acquisitions.  We judge ourselves and others by our wealth and possessions- what kind of car we drive?  what kind of home we live in?  Passover can help us to turn our attention to what is really important in life.  As we remove the chametz, that which is “puffed up, “ from our environment, perhaps we ought to spend some time looking within ourselves and renewlng our commitment to family, to community, to spiritual development?   Let us take pride in who we are, in the lives that we have built, in the relationships that we have sustained, and not in what we have accumulated.  When push comes to shove, the story of the Exodus reminds us, we will want to travel light.  The search for chametz is not only an opportunity to examine our homes, but an invitation to examine our hearts.
           At our seder we sing “Dayenu”, we acknowledge and appreciate each stage of our journey towards liberation.  That sense of appreciation is, in itself, an aspect of liberation. In our present environment of scarcity, Dayenu encourages us to distinguish between our needs and our wants.  This year we pray for liberation from the consumer culture that is devoted to cultivating within us the need for an ever-expanding number of products and services.  “Who is wealthy?”, our Rabbis asked.  “The one who is happy with what they have.”  Pesach is the time to reflect on our blessings and look at all the places where we can say- “Dayenu- yes- I have enough!-  at least in this one area of my life.”           

The word “Mitzrayim”, Egypt, comes from a root meaning “a narrow place.”  This year, so many of us feel that we are in an especially tight spot. Our choices have become restricted, our options may be limited by our inability to find meaningful work, by our health challenges, by our economic realities.  The hope for freedom which we envision at Pesach is the hope for a time when all of these chains will be broken.  Until that time arrives, we eat the maror together with the charoset, we recognize that our lives are made up of bitter and sweet, and pray for strength and comfort for all who suffer in the bitterness of the moment.