Do you get coffee withdrawal headaches on Yom Kippur? Do you feel lonely every time you misplace your mobile phone? Do you find yourself checking your email twenty times a day and compulsively googling the details of new acquaintances? You know you're overdoing it, don't you? But you have no idea how to stop.
A good cup of coffee is relaxing, just as a mobile phone is a real time saver. The web is a boon for mankind, and Silicon Valley richly deserves our thanks—but none of these should come at the expense of our self-control. Surely such luxuries were invented for our convenience and pleasure, not as instruments of oppression.
Once the cravings have died down, you'll be able to ease yourself back into the saddleHow do you regain control? You go cold-turkey for a while. Break the habit and just stop indulging. Clear the caffeine out of your system, disconnect the batteries and communicate by snail-mail. It will hurt for a while, you'll find yourself loitering in front of cafes just sniffing the fumes, every time a phone rings your trigger-hand will clutch vainly for your holster and you'll miss the instancy of IM, but you'll be all the better for the experience.
After just a few weeks, once the cravings have died down, you'll be able to ease yourself back into the saddle, secure in the knowledge that you've conquered your demons and are now free to enjoy and benefit from the pleasures of life again, this time in moderation.
Passover is all about avoidance and self-control. Heaven forbid that a bagel should show up at the seder. Matzah, matzah and only matzah is the bill of fare. We spend weeks tracking down the most minute particle of bread and disposing of it. Forbidden, verboten, totally unacceptable.
Just a few weeks later we observe the Second Passover. Originally enacted as a make-up opportunity for those who missed Passover, nowadays we commemorate the day by making sure to indulge in some matzah, but simultaneously we are permitted bread and other chametz on the table.
In Chassidic terminology, bread and similar leaven is said to represent a puffed up sense of self worth. Avoiding chametz on Passover is analogous to swearing off arrogance and ego. It's dangerous to overdose on conceit; addictive in the extreme and liable to distract a person from his or her true purpose. So we take the pledge and do whatever we can to eradicate vanity from our system.
The Second Passover represents a more mature perspective on lifeHowever there is a time and place for a healthy dose of self-esteem and self-respect. It takes confidence to stand up straight when all others stoop, to follow the path less traveled and maintain feelings for our religion despite the slings of scoffers. The Second Passover represents a more mature perspective on life; having battled our addiction and come out on the other side, we can now afford to gain from our pain and utilize that which was previously forbidden.
By serving matzah and bread together on the Second Passover, we demonstrate our success in having overcome our obsessions and cravings, and our new-found ability to sublimate our desires. Now that the addiction has been defeated, we can begin to enjoy and employ the luxuries of life in our service of G‑d.
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