Remove the leaven from your houses...

We are rapidly approaching Passover (Pesach) and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Exodus 12:15 says, "For seven days you are to eat matzah—on the first day remove the leaven from your houses."

What does that mean? Literally in the natural, we are to work to remove anything that has chametz (leavened grain products forbidden for Passover), and I adhere to Sephardic Passover requirements. Sephardic Passover requirements differ from Ashkenazi or Orthodox traditions primarily by allowing the use of kitniyot (legumes, rice, corn, and seeds) after careful inspection during Passover. So for Sephardim, the chametz removal involves thoroughly cleaning your home, car, and office to remove all bread, flour, pasta, and non-Passover cereals. The kashering of the kitchen means all utensils, pots, and surfaces must be scoured, cleaned, and kashered.

Koshering (or kashering) a kitchen means making sure that it follows dietary laws (kashrut) and that there is no trace of non-kosher food or flavor left behind. The process involves deep cleaning all surfaces, leaving the kitchen unused for 24 hours, and applying heat (boiling water or torching) to remove absorbed flavors from your oven, sink, refrigerators, and countertops. In some cases, it may be necessary to replace items that cannot be adequately cleaned, such as certain plastics or ceramic sinks.

Key Steps in Koshering a Kitchen:

Remove: Take out all non-kosher food products.

Clean: Meticulously scrub the entire kitchen (counters, fridge, stove).

Wait: Allow 24 hours to pass, during which no hot non-kosher food is prepared.

Process: Apply heat (boiling water) to surfaces and utensils.

Other key requirements of Passover, in addition to removing any chametz (leavened grain), include using shmurah matzah, eating bitter herbs, and drinking two to four cups of wine or kosher grape juice during your Seder. Many Sephardim use egg matzah and eat rice, though it must be checked three times for wheat/barley.

Here are some Sephardic dietary requirements for Passover:

• Most Sephardic traditions allow kitniyot, including rice, beans, lentils, chickpeas, corn, and soy.

  • Kitniyot Inspection: The rice and legumes must be carefully checked.

  • Rice Inspection: Check the rice three times before Passover to ensure no grain or barley is mixed in.

• Matzah: All kosher for Passover matzah is allowed, but some Sephardic traditions prefer soft matzah. Handmade shmurah matzah is popular, and my Messianic teacher received a prophetic message that healing was in the shmurah for believers, especially during Passover 5786.

  • Some Sephardim use egg matzah during Passover, but not on the first two nights.

• Seder Plate: Often includes special regional items, such as romaine lettuce or endive for maror and sometimes jalapeños in the Latin American community. I use romaine lettuce.

• Charoset: Typically a mixture of dates, nuts, and spices. I still use the apple mixture from my days of training with the Ashkenazi.

• Wine or Kosher Grape Juice: Two cups are typically blessed specifically, according to the Sephardic Synagogue Laws of Pesach.

Now, once that is done, the next part is to spiritually ensure that all chametz (leaven) symbolizing sin is removed from your physical house (you)! 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 and Matthew 16:6-12 help us understand this concept.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 states, "Your boasting is not good. Don't you know the saying, "It takes only a little hametz to leaven a whole batch of dough"? Get rid of the old hametz, so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened. For our Pesach lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed. So let us celebrate the Seder not with leftover hametz, the hametz of wickedness and evil, but the matzah of purity and truth."

Matthew 16:6-12 says, "So when Yeshua said to them, 'Watch out! Guard yourselves against the hametz of the P'rushim (Pharisees) and Tz'dukim (Sadducees), they thought he said it because they hadn't brought bread. But Yeshua, aware of this, said, "Such little trust you have! Why are you talking with each other about not having bread? Don't you understand yet? Don't you remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you filled? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets you filled? How can you possibly think I was talking to you about bread? Guard yourselves from the hametz of the P'rushim (Pharisees) and Tz'dukim (Sadducees)! Then they understood—they were to guard themselves not from yeast for bread but from the teaching of the P'rushim (Pharisees) and Tz'dukim (Sadducees)!

I urge us to examine our hearts, minds, thoughts, and deeds to ensure we live clean, sanctified lives that reflect Yeshua's faithfulness and obedience. He lived a holy and blameless life, eagerly doing the will of His Father, and we are to do the same. We do not have to continue in sin. Yeshua paid the ultimate price, and He was our High Priest who provided us with access to the Father, and we can obtain mercy and grace in our time of need (cf. Hebrews 4:16, 10:19–22). Ask the Most High to cleanse us and show us what to do and what to eliminate so we can prepare for Passover and the rest of 5786.

If you do not know what to say, the Spirit suggests starting with Psalm 51, like David, who desperately needed the Most High when he was confronted with his sin regarding Bathsheba and Uriah.

Passover is rapidly approaching; let us get busy!

Shalom Ephraim!