Rise up, my love, my fair one, come away! For now the winter is past the rains are over and gone. The blossoms have appeared in the land, and the time of singing has come....(Song of Songs 2:10-12)

Spring Fever Spring cleaning SPRING BREAK No doubt about it - spring is a time for celebration and new beginnings. Maybe that's why the Torah has a second name for Passover. Chag ha'Aviv - The Holiday of Spring. Because Pesach is about liberation; liberation from Egyptian slavery AND the earth's liberation from the bonds of winter. Just as we re-experience the first flowering of our freedom around the seder table, so too does the physical world around us give birth to the first flowers of spring.

According to the Mishnah, the world is judged on Pesach - not by how many boxes of matzah we consume or by how well we've memorized the Four Questions, but by the fruits which are just beginning to ripen. We learn that if they are good we will continue to be blessed with the earth's abundance in the year to come (Rosh Hashanah 12).

So here are some ideas to help you and your community celebrate Pesach the old-fashioned way...by celebrating one of God's most precious gifts; THE EART AND ITS HABITANTS.

Cleaning and Greening

Before Peach begins we are commanded to remove all chametz (leaven) from our possession. This usually involves a very thorough cleaning, and is a symbolic act of making a fresh start. This is a great opportunity for getting rid of some of the things that enslave the environment, which can begin within the walls of your own Hillel, and can extend to campus or throughout the greater community:

• GREEN YOUR HILLEL: Invite an environmental expert to talk a group through ways to reduce waste within the Hillel Center itself. Organize a hunt for those things used in your Hillel (cleaning supplies, disposable utensils, Styrofoam cups, etc.) which are harmful to the environment and develop a plan to rid the building of any un-earth-friendly "chametz." (See below for home made cleaners)
• CLEAN YOUR CAMPUS: Is the quad looking a little lame? Are parts of your campus beginning to look like a permanent home for wayward beer cans? Do something! Spend a couple of hours beautifying your campus home, and follow it up with a great meal and some serious relaxation. This is a terrific way to help give your campus a jump-start on a fresh start for spring.
• LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR: Many neighborhoods in your community may already have beautification projects for tree planting, garbage collecting, or recycling efforts in areas that are often neglected. See if you can hook into one near you, and organize and Environmental Mitzvah Corps to spend a Sunday afternoon volunteering. Getting ready for Pesach doesn't just have to mean cleaning, our own personal homes, but the greater home we share as a human family; namely the world around us.

Mechirat Chametz / Bi'ur Chametz

Once the chametz has been collected, it is either "sold" (mechira) or destroyed (bi'ur) completely. However, Jewish law prohibits waste (Bal Taschit), and cautions us against the careless disposal of useful resources. The following are some ways to get rid of chametz without wasting:

• CHAMETZ FEST: Use those last bits of chametz as an excuse for none other than ... a party. Charge a few dollars and supplement the existing chametz with some other non-Pesadik items (like pizza!) as a pre-Pesach fundraiser. Donate the proceeds to a local food pantry or shelter.
• CHAMETZ CENTRAL: Set up a center where students and members of the community may come to donate any of their unopened chametz before Passover. The food may then be delivered to or picked up by a non-Jewish area food pantry or soup kitchen. Another Pesach project could include putting together food packages with items such as matzha and wine, and distributing them to families through the local Jewish Family and Children's Services. This is an excellent way to educate people about and to engage in the custom of ma'ot chitim - assisting those in need with free Passover provisions.
• TAANIT BECHORIM: The fast of the Firstborn. This is another pre-Pesach custom in which firstborn children fast the day before Pesach ( on the fourteenth of Nisan) to commemorate the firstborn Jews having been spared the horror of the tenth plague. In the spirit of the fast, people could donate the money they would spend on one or two meals in a day to Tzedakah, in the hopes that the words of Birkat Hamazon(the Grace after Meals) will be realized along with the renewal of the earth's bounty "I was [once] a youth, and I have grown old, and I have not seen a righteous person forsaken, his children begging for bread."
• TAKE A HIKE: The exodus from Egypt is only the beginning of a long journey-both physical and spiritual for the Jewish People. It, like our own lives, is filled with highs and lows, moments of plenty and times of intense need. That is why Pesach is a perfect time to organize a day hike or an overnight camping trip. It is a great community -builder, and is another way of fulfilling the charge from the Haggadah: "In every generation we must see ourselves as if we had come out of Egypt." This is also an excellent opportunity to reconnect to the earth's resources, encountering its bounty and its limitations, just as the Israelites did during their years in the desert. As a matter of fact, the Torah teaches that only three days after the Israelites had been surrounded by water, they were suddenly dying of thirst due to a lack of it (Exodus 15:22-24). This sort of text study, amidst the backdrop of nature, can give way to a discussion of water as a precious resource and how we use/abuse it. For instance, 50% of our nation's lakes and 30% of our nation's rivers are unsafe for fishing and swimming. In addition, more than one billion people do not have access to safe drinking water.
• PLAN A SEDER: An environmental seder can be a perfect way to invite people to come together during the intermediary days of Pesach. Set aside one evening to sit down for a vegetarian seder, in which the Four Questions, the Ten Plagues, and the items on the seder plate all become symbols for the renewal and care of the earth and its resources. Many schools have created environmental haggadot. The University of California at Santa Cruz is one of those schools, and you may obtain a copy of their Haggadah by writing or calling the Hineni Consciousness Press:
  1840 41st Avenue
  #102-286
  Capitola, California 95010
  (408)662-9340
  

All Purpose Cleaners

* In 1 quart of warm or hot water, mix 1 teaspoon liquid soap, 1 teaspoon boric acid(borax), 1 teaspoon lemon juice and/or vinegar. This can be made strong according to the job to be done. This cleaner can be used from a bucket or poured into a spray bottle.

Mix 1/2 cup of Washing Soda in a gallon of warm water. This basic solution is effective in dissolving grease and dirt, and can be used to clean counter-tops, stainless steel, porcelain, plastic and enamel surfaces.

Oven and Other Cleaners

Clean oven spills as soon as the oven cools, using steel wool and baking soda. For tough stains, add salt (do not use this method for self-cleaning or continuous-cleaning overs).

Sink Cleaner: To scour the sink, use a combination of salt, vinegar and water.

For cleaning and mild disinfecting: Wash with baking soda and borax and water.

Soft Scrubbing Cleaner: Mix 1/4 cup baking soda with enough liquid soap to make a soft paste (approximately 1/4 cup of soap).

Heavy Duty Scrubbing Cleaner: Mix 1/4 cup washing soda with enough liquid soap to make a soft paste (approximately 1/4 cup of the soap). It is reported that this cuts grease and oil well.

Glass cleaners

* Mix one tablespoon vinegar and one tablespoon lemon juice in quart water. Spray on and use a lint free cloth or newspaper to wipe dry. The ink of the newspaper will actually act as a polish on the glass