Crumbs

Rabbi Melanie Aron

April 2, 2004

I’d like to take a moment tonight to talk about crumbs- yes crumbs, those tiny bits of bread that remain after a meal, sometimes even after you’ve cleaned up.

On the evening before the seder, the traditional pre-Passover clean up reaches its climax. Having done a complete spring cleaning and having removed all the leaven from the house, one final step remains. It is traditional on the night before Seder to search through the house by candle light seeking out any remaining crumbs of bread. When they are found, they are dusted onto a wooden spoon with a feather, and then burned in the morning.

Rabbi Sandy Rosen, the rabbi of the San Mateo Reform congregation for many years, wrote in defense of this custom, forty years ago, at a time when Reform Judaism was much more skeptical of ritual and custom. He argued that this custom was not just quaint, picturesque and fun for the children, but also had something important to teach us as adults.

The principles of attention to detail, thoroughness and consistency he argued, were important in Judaism both in ritual and in ethics. Just as we have to take special care to be thorough and consistent in removing even the smallest crumbs from our homes before Passover, so do we also need to take special care in some of what are perceived to be the lesser aspects of the ethical mitzvoth.

He gives an example. In the Bible we are taught: You shall not deal falsely nor lie to one another.” What are the crumbs of this commandment? To the rabbis of the Talmud, it is lying by implication, lying while still telling the truth. It is stating something true that misleads the hearer, or by deliberately giving a false impression. The rabbis include in this category, very minor things, like pretending to open a new cask of wine in honor of a visiting friend, when you were planning to open it that day anyway or inviting someone for dinner on a night when you know he can’t come, and then feigning disappointment.

The commandment not to take a bribe, also has crumbs. Those with any interest in a case were by Jewish law to recuse themselves. The Talmudic story told in this connection is about Shmuel, who once was helped off a boat by a man he didn’t know. When he came to court and discovered that man was the defendant, even this amount of personal contact was considered contaminating. How different that attitude is from the approach taken by many in our society today, where those with an interest in the matter are allowed to be involved in decision making.

At this time of year the details of Passover preparation can seem unnecessarily burdensome, but perhaps a dose of attention to detail, thoroughness and consistency in rejecting wrong doing, would be very welcome.