י"ד בניסן — ערב פסח ויום הולדת הרמב"ם

Morning Torah Reading and Biur Chametz

The fourteenth of Nisan — Erev Pesach — is one of the most action-packed days on the Jewish calendar. In the morning a special Torah reading takes place, followed by the culmination of a week of preparation: "biur chametz" — the destruction of leavened bread. The night before, "bedikat chametz" is performed — searching for chametz by candlelight — and in the morning the remaining pieces are burned. This ritual carries the deepest inner meaning: chametz symbolizes the "puffing up" of the ego, the pride that distances a person from G-d. By burning chametz we perform a spiritual purification, clearing space for matza — the symbol of humility and self-nullification before the Creator.

The Rambam's Birthday and the Rebbe's Call

The fourteenth of Nisan is also the birthday of the greatest codifier of Jewish law, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (the Rambam, 1138–1204). The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, placed enormous importance on studying the Rambam's works and established a daily cycle of studying "Mishneh Torah" — the Rambam's monumental code encompassing all 613 commandments of the Torah. In farbrengens marking this date, the Rebbe revealed the deep connection between the Rambam's teachings and Chassidism. The Rambam taught that every person, with a single deed, can tip the entire world toward the scale of merit — and this call to personal responsibility echoes the Chassidic teaching that G-d expects from each individual precisely their unique contribution.