Rationale

I thought it would be interesting to list the practices that are done over Pesach, and to provide a rationale for each one. The purpose is not God fobid to imply that having a rationle is the reason we are doing it, but rather to help us understand the deeper meaning of the practices.

Chametz
This is any kind of leavened bread. The Torah requires us to remove all chametz from our posession during the seven days of Pesach. Rabbi Hirsch explains that the Egyptions fed their slaves unleavened bread, as it was the cheapest bread to make. And on the very day that the Jews were freed, they were so unprepared that the bread they were preparing for themselves had not even leavened yet. Thus the rationale of the prohibition against leavened bread is to remind us of how powerless we were in our own salvation, how little were prepared with even the most basic of foods, and how slave-like we were with our unleavened bread even at the very moment of our salvation. Thus by removing all leavened material we remind ourselves of our utter and total dependence on God.

Bedikas Chametz
Bedikas Chametz is the practice of searching for chametz in one's property. This is to be done at the beginning of the night of the 14th of Nissan. Now of course, the expectation is that cleaning out the chametz would have been happening for weeks or months prior to this. But since we are continuing to consume chametz during that time period, some may have accidentally been left behind. Thus, on the very same day that chametz becomes forbidden - the 14th at midday - we do a final sweep to make sure we have removed all chametz. We do this at night instead of daytime because sunlight is broad and casts shadows, potentially hiding chametz, but at night a candle casts a focused light by which we can better find hidden chametz. And the reason for the tradition to hide 10 pieces of chametz is to ensure that a real search is done - after all, the house has already been thoroughly searched and cleaned, thus one might just sweep through a room and assume it's fine. But by hiding 10 pieces we are forced to actually look through every nook and cranny.

Matzah

Seder

Kadesh

Urchatz

Karpas

Yachatz

Maggid

Rochtza

Motzie Matza

Marror

Korach

Shulchan Orech

Tzafun

Barech

Hallel

Nirtzah

Waving the Lulav

The Mishna in Sukkah 3:9 says that the custom is to wave the lulav while reciting the Hodu verse (found in Psalms 118).

What is interesting is how the waving is done. There are seven words in the verse: "Hodu LaHashem Ki Tov, Ki LeOlam Chasdo". In English: "Praise Hashem for He is good, for everlasting is His kindness." As we read word by word, we wave the lulav in the following manner: Hodu (forward), LaHashem (pause), Ki (right), Tov (back), Ki (left), LeOlam (up), Chasdo (down). This waving in a specific direction per word is a custom; but the question is, what is the deeper meaning of this custom? What is the connection between the words and the specific direction in which we wave the lulav? (There is another custom in how to wave the lulav, but I am focusing on this one.)

I would suggest the following. "Hodu" means "Praise"; the very first step in our Torah lives must be to see the goodness of Hashem and praise him for it. This act of "seeing" is of course something that only happens in front of us, the things that our eyes fall upon. When we say "LaHashem" we pause and cease our waving, for in the very presence of God even the actions of shaking and trembling cannot be mustered; we are frozen in place. "Ki" means "For" or "Because", both of which are terms that signify a "trigger" or "cause", namely, an "action": thus does both usages of the word "Ki" in the verse correspond to the right and left, which represent our two arms, the things which represent "action", all of which must be in the service of God. For "Tov" ("Good") we shake backwards, for God's goodness is so omnipresent and penetrating and total that the vast majority of it is not even visible to us: it is behind the scenes. "LeOlam" means "Forever"; God is by definition the only truly eternal thing, thus we wave upwards towards Him. And finally for "Chasdo" ("His Kindness") we shake downwards in acknowledgment of the enormous kindness which pours down upon us from God.