Once a year, whether it needs it or not

[chanaleh]

Blessed are You, HaShem our G-d, Ruler of the Universe,
Who has sanctified us with Your commandments and commanded us to do four loads of laundry the day before Pesach, and to attack our houses with vacuum and Swiffer and Fantastik, removing dust and contamination from all surfaces visible and invisible, from the bathroom trash can lid to the undersides of the crisper bin to that oddly grimy window ledge in the bedroom, which verily otherwise would never get done at all; that we may finish by pouring boiling water over every surface that will bear it, and go forth with clean hands and a pure heart; that when we recite "Let [our chametz] be as the dust of the earth" we may for one morning truly intend "something of which there is no remaining speck in my dwelling."
Blessed are You, HaShem, Who institutionalizes even spring cleaning as an act of worship.
Amen. Selah.

***

How is it that I could not find the "Kol chamira" formula to recite for bitul chametz? In any of the first four books I looked in? Until I got frustrated and time-crunched and had to improvise something from the heart [though no, it wasn't the above]? I know I read it properly out of somewhere last year. -- A regular old siddur, I suppose. Ugh. Oh well, it's done now.

Chag kasher v'sameach, everyone.

Comments

[gingicat]

I got a little kit from the Israel Bookshop that had the appropriate words in it.

[navrins]

I like.

Is laundry actually part of the requirement, or just something that comes as a natural part of cleaning?

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Laundry is a part of the spring-cleaning ritual (which I do perform, even though it's not Pesach-related). It just feels good to start the season with a clean house, which includes washing things like quilts and curtains and (in the case of our flat) futon covers. :)

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Yep! And the methods of cleaning are not actually prescribed (kashering per se being another matter, but I don't personally go that far); but laundering seemed much the best way to, say, get all the crumbs and grit out of the sofa slipcover. :-) I really had wanted to launder the bedroom rug and comforter, too, but I just couldn't face schlepping six loads of laundry...

[avram]

It's an ancient commandment, reflected in prayer: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, King of the Universe, Who hast commanded us to separate the colored from the white." (Christian fundamentalists in the American South used to quote this prayer out of context in support of certain social policies.)

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

*sniff* that's beautiful, man. ;)

Happy Pesach.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Hee. Thanks. :-) And likewise to you, with all best wishes.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Happy Pesach. :)

[red-queen.livejournal.com]

Chag sameach to you, too! And I very much like your interpretation of the prayer... ;-}