Ok, its time to get all metaphorical. We start with
something prosaic – searching for leaven. As we learned, we are supposed to use
a light to search. But what kind of light?
Our Rabbis taught: one may not
search either by the light of the sun or by the light of the moon, or by the
light of a torch, save by the light of a lamp because the light of a lamp is
suitable for searching. And though there is no proof of the matter yet there is
a hint of it, for it is said,
‘seven
days shall there be no leaven found [in your houses]’ (Ex. 12:19)
and it is said,
‘and he searched, and began at the eldest. . .and the cup was found’
(Gen. 44:12)
and it is said,
‘and it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem
with lamps’ (Tzephania 1:12)
and it is said,
‘The soul of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the innermost
parts of the belly’. (Prov. 20:27)
Did you follow? Link the common words in each phrase, which
then leads to the next common word:
Found = Found + Searched; Searched = Searched + Lamps; Lamps
= Lamp + Soul
Searching out for Leaven (Chametz) – the “puffed up” bread
is a search of one’s own soul with the Lamp of the Lord!
And finally – a lamp is nothing compared to G-d’s own light:
To what are the righteous
comparable in the presence of the Shechinah
(Divine Presence)? To a lamp in the presence of a torch.
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