The Chametz Within – A Meditation for the 9th of Nisan

It’s not just about bread.
It never was.
The real chametz—the leaven—is the pride that rises unnoticed:
The need to be right, to be seen, to be in control.
The inflated self that resists correction, resists surrender, resists G-d.
We search our homes with candlelight for crumbs,
But what of the chambers of the heart?
Have we searched there for the ego that puffs itself silently,
like dough left too long to rise?
Ask yourself:
Where have I insisted on being noticed instead of being humble?
Where have I studied not to transform but to appear wise?
Where have I spoken more to win than to connect?
Burning the chametz is not only physical.
It is bitul—the burning away of self-deception.
It is the flattening of the soul like matzah:
simple, clean, unboastful, ready for redemption.
Ribbono Shel Olam, (Master of the Universe)
Burn the chametz of my pride.
Make me flat enough to follow You into freedom.
Let me leave Egypt—not just in body, but in self.
May we enter this Pesach
Not just with clean kitchens,
But with clean hearts.
Chag Kasher v’Naki.