I often ask myself if the idea of Spring cleaning came as a result of the laws of Passover which demand that we clean our houses of all chametz and consequently of all dirt. After all, for the Jew, the Passover cleaning is not just custom, but also law. We must make sure that every scintilla of chametz and even the utensils used to prepare that chametz are removed from the house, or at least placed somewhere where they will be hidden. (The law that chametz not be seen is as important as the law that it not be eaten during the days of the holiday.)
We have even developed traditions to make the cleaning somewhat enjoyable. When all is ready, some hide a number of pieces of bread so that the children can search them out, find them, and bring them to a selected place for burning.
And as a further precaution we make a contract to sell our chametz to someone who is not Jewish in order to make sure that we have none in our possession. That Bill of Sale actually gives full access to the purchaser for so much of our food and pots and pans and silver and dishware. In some communities the purchaser even gets keys to the houses of those from whom he has purchased the religious contraband.
Passover defines a new time of life. The winter is over and gone, and the buds have appeared. We long to rid ourselves of the ghosts of the past, and have opportunity to begin anew, not with a fast as on Yom Kippur, but with a clean house and a delightful meal together with a story of freedom.
For us Freedom begins with removing the shackles of memory and bad habits. It begins with a lesson and an ordered meal. It begins with the enforcement of laws that make us live, at least for the week, different kinds of lives that are filled with happiness and great expectation.
For the Jew, Spring brings change, new birth, new opportunity and a freedom which we recognize in the song of returning birds, the bloom of flowers and trees, and in that human landmark, the Seder, which allows us to focus anew on the endless possibilities of life.