How I Really Feel...

...About going away for Pesach.

Despite making fun of Yonason Rosenblum's recent column in Mishpacha Magazine, I happen to agree with him, fundamentally, that going to hotels for Pesach is not a good thing. Where I disagree with Reb Yonason, and the point of my parody, was with his suggestion that going away for Pesach is one of the biggest problems in Yiddishkeit. It's not. Just like Shiny Shoe music is a bad thing, it's also not the end of the world.

This is what I wrote a few years ago about preparing for Pesach:

The Holiest Week of the Year

My Rebbe is always very excited during the week before Pesach. He often says that it is the holiest week of the year because observing Jews are moser nefesh cleaning, cooking and preparing for Pesach in many other ways. In a society where things have become so easy for us, it is good for our children to see us break a sweat serving the Ribbono shel Olam. (My lower back is still recovering from Sunday's garage cleanup. My holy wife is a pack rat, the daughter of pack rats. There was a lot to throw out).

But the mesiras nefesh (self sacrifice) is greatest among the people who stay home for Pesach and not only have to clean, but have to figure out how to convert their kitchens and cook for Pesach while at the same time ensuring that their families don't starve in the days leading up to Pesach.

Many of our kids' friends have literally never been home for Pesach. They've never seen their mothers work like dogs to make sure everything is ready for Pesach. They've never seen their fathers pitch in with the cleaning, the shlepping, the grating of the maror. They've never had to help. They've never had a seder in their dining rooms.

I don't really think about how extravagant or goofy some of the hotel programs are. I'm sure some are more than others (certainly many of the advertisements are ridiculous, taken in context of what Pesach is supposed to be about). That's really not my issue.

I just think it's sad that a large portion of an entire generation of kids has never experienced Pesach where and how it was meant to be observed. At home. With your family.