An All Night Bedikas Chametz | Rabbi Moshe Elefant

During the month of Elul, month of Tishrei, we say the Perek of לדוד השם אורי וישעי. And the Pasuk says, If there's a camp against me, I won't be scared. If there will be a battle against me, I have confidence in You. And the question is, בזאת (in this) what are we having confidence in? And the commentaries suggest that the בזאת that we're having confidence in is in the battle itself. The battle is what makes us stronger. The very famous R’ Shimshon Pincus used to say that the moment that he felt greatness was actually on an Erev Pesach. He was an American boy who was learning in Yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel and all of the other friends who were his neighbors in his apartment had gone home, and he was left alone. It was Erev Pesach, and he did Bedikas Chametz in the apartment. It wasn't so clean. It took a long time to clean and do the Bedikas Chametz. Then he went to sleep, it was already well after 12:00. And as he lays down to go to sleep, he remembers, Well, many times we go up to the roof and we eat there and we speak there, so the roof needs Bedikas Chametz, as well. And with his last Koach, with his last energy, even though he started thinking to himself, That's probably not really needed to do it and we could sell it and we could close it up, I'm going to do it. And he came up there and there was a huge mess. It was dirty. It was full of Chametz. And it took him the rest of the night to clean that roof and make it ready for Pesach, to be able to do Bedikas Chametz. It’s Erev Pesach and it's such a busy day. He thought he would maybe be able to get a short nap. It didn't work. And he figured this year the Seder is just not going to be right, because he's so tired. But when he came to daven that night, his davening was the most incredible davening. And when it came to the Seder, it was the most beautiful, inspiring Seder that he ever experienced. And he says that continued for the entire Yom Tov of Pesach. And not only for the entire Yom Tov of Pesach, but for even after Pesach. And he felt that that jolt of energy, of doing what's right, even though he maybe didn't want to do it and he was tired and he had excuses not to do it, still was what pushed him to do what's right. Sometimes we face challenges, and the challenges are not easy, but the challenges are what make us greater, and the challenge is what gives us the strength to do what's right and continue doing what's right.