Positive Mitzvah 156: Removing the Chametz
Exodus 12:15 "But on the first day, you shall remove leaven from your houses"

This Positive Mitzvah is one of the commandments regarding the holiday of Pesach.

We are commanded to remove all leaven (Chametz) from our homes by the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan.

By removing the Chametz, we commemorate the story of Pesach when our ancestors were led out of Egypt without having any Chametz - leavened bread in their food supply for their journey.

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Negative Mitzvah 197: It is forbidden to eat Chametz on Passover
Exodus 13:3 "No leavened bread shall be eaten"

This Negative Mitzvah tells us that we are forbidden to eat chametz on Pesach.

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Negative Mitzvah 198: It is forbidden to eat any mixtures containing Chametz on Passover
Exodus 12:20 "You shall eat nothing leavened"

We are not allowed to eat any foods that contain Chametz mixed in with them.

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Even from the most horrible things we can learn great lessons. From the threat of nuclear destruction we can learn several things about how to rearrange the world for the good:

• You don't need great armies,

• It can take only one simple act.

• You don't have to understand how it works -- just what button to press.

• It doesn't matter who does it, as long as he presses the right button.

• From the smallest things come the biggest changes.

• Tremendous power has always been there -- it needs only be revealed.

• Since all this has only been discovered in our generation, it must be of particular relevance to us.

From: Bringing Heaven Down to Earth by Tzvi Freeman - tzvif@aol.com