Keeping our focus during the Pre-Pesach Rush<\/i><\/p>\n
By Aliza Swift<\/p>\n
\u201cHere we go again…\u201d thought Shuli, as she bent down to clean the large amount of \u201cstuff\u201d that had accumulated under the children\u2019s beds since last Pesach. Remembering the reproachful look that her English teacher had always given her when she used the word \u201cstuff\u201d, Shuli automatically tried to conjure up another word for the various objects she was fishing out. But how do you describe the broken crayons, missing shoe (Hey! I thought we left this one at the park!), pretzel crumbs, candy wrappers, and other long forgotten items in one succinct word? Settling on \u201cstuff\u201d while tying the already full garbage bag, she decided that she didn\u2019t really care much about English now anyways. On second thought, she didn\u2019t really care about anything now except for checking off the tasks from her mile long \u201cto do\u201d list.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did this get here?\u201d Shuli wondered as she brushed off the dust from a worn blue notebook. Flipping through the pages, memories began to flood her mind as she was transferred to a different time and place\u2026 Did seminary girls celebrate a different Pesach? They must – because the seminary Pesach she remembered was filled with inspirational classes and moving experiences. One highlighted sentence seemed to jump out at her from between the neat handwritten lines\u2026 \u201cHow did Miriam and the other women have musical instruments to play after G-d redeemed them from Egypt?\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Tambourine\"](\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Tambourine-768x512.jpg\")
\u201cDid I pack Yehudah\u2019s sleeping mat?\u201d Temima thought, as she kneaded the dough that was rising on the table. A little bit of this and some of that went into the large stone bowl as her experienced hands deftly turned the ingredients into pliable dough. Hearing shouting coming from the back of the family\u2019s small hut, Temima immediately left her dough and went to see what the cause of the commotion was.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cYechiel, you should know better than that!\u201d scolded Temima as she saw her five-year-old son dumping the contents of the bulging bag. \u201cI\u2019ve packed that bag at least five times today, why do you children insist on undoing my work?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Mommy,\u201d apologized the contrite looking Yechiel. \u201cI was just looking for my stones.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, but please leave everything packed. We don\u2019t know exactly when we are leaving, and I don\u2019t want anything to be left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before she was even out of the room Temima was already back to her mental \u201cto-do\u201d list. \u201cWash the children\u2019s robes, bake more bread, scrub and pack the cooking ware\u2026Will this work never end?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMommmmmmmmy do you know where my jump rope is….?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shuli, abruptly awakened from her reverie, looked up in time to see her six-year-old daughter whining about something or another while munching a cookie (gasp!) in the nearly-cleaned-for-Pesach room.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdina, why are you eating that in here!? Do you realize how many hours I spent cleaning this room? Now what do you need?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted my jump rope and I didn\u2019t know that you cleaned the room already.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFine, I think that I saw it on the kitchen table. Now please go out to play, so that I can finish up in here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFinish up in here?\u201d Shuli mused to herself. \u201cIs such a thing possible in this jungle? Now which drawer was I up to?\u201d<\/p>\n
Knock. Knock.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho can that be at this late hour,\u201d wondered Temima as she walked to the door, her sandaled feet tapping lightly against the straw floor. <\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cMiriam, what a nice surprise, please come in.\u201d Temima warmly welcomed her friend into her home.<\/p>\n
As Temima quickly went to the hearth to prepare tea, she couldn\u2019t help but feel honored that the righteous Miriam ben Amram, her good friend and neighbor, had come to pay her a visit during such a hectic time. Even without the rumors and the fact that she was the sister of Moshe Rabbeinu, she knew of her friend\u2019s greatness from her many daily encounters with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDear Temima, please don\u2019t go through the trouble to prepare anything on my behalf, I haven\u2019t much time to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Temima smiled to herself as she brought two steaming mugs to the table. It was so like Miriam to say that. She was always doing something for someone else, she never took for herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me my friend, did you finish your packing? Your hut looks like you are ready to leave as soon as our great teacher, Moshe, issues the command.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I am basically finished, although I wasn\u2019t sure if I should pack the winter blankets. Do you think that we will need these in our new home?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am sure that we will not suffer from cold in our new home,\u201d smiled Miriam gently. \u201cWhat did you do with your musical instruments?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy instruments?\u201d repeated a shocked Temima. \u201cOf course I planned on leaving them here. What use would I have for music in the desert?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand that our packing space is limited, but it is imperative that every woman in our nation take her instruments along. Imagine how much nicer our songs of praise will be to the Almighty G-d, when we have instruments to accompany our joyful voices.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMiriam, you are one of a kind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I am and so are you. Each woman in our nation is unique and that is why every one of us must be ready to sing praises to our G-d. Now Temima, I must go and pass this message to all of our sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember,\u201d said Miriam, as she lovingly embraced Temima, \u201cIt is only in the merit of us women that we will deserve to be redeemed. Especially during these hectic times, we have to stay focused on what\u2019s truly important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bright and early the next day as Shuli padded down the hall, she remembered to look out the window at the shining sun and reflect on all the goodness that G-d has showered upon her before waking her children. Despite the usual pressured frenzy, Shuli felt content and energized to face the day. As she scrubbed the kitchen cabinets, Shuli realized that it wasn\u2019t the tasks that had changed, but her attitude. After all, no matter the generation, the task of the Jewish women is constant – to take the physical and elevate it into a unique song to the Creator of the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you Miriam and you too Temima,\u201d whispered Shuli with a smile. And as she picked up her rag, Shuli seemed to hear the soft chiming of a tambourine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Keeping our focus during the Pre-Pesach Rush By Aliza Swift \u201cHere we go again…\u201d thought Shuli, as she bent down to clean the large amount of \u201cstuff\u201d that had accumulated under the children\u2019s beds since last Pesach. Remembering the reproachful look that her English teacher had always given her when she used the word \u201cstuff\u201d, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133240,"featured_media":40821,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[350],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-passover"],"yoast_head":"\n