In the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim: It is customary to take wheat and distribute it to the poor. Let us see the deeper meaning of this custom: Chitah (חטה, wheat) has the numerical value of 22, corresponding to the 22 letters of the Torah. With this wheat, we make preparation so that [the poor] will be able to sanctify the 22 letters of the Torah through Torah study and prayer. For this reason, this holy festival is called Pesach, which can be read as peh sach (פה סח)—"the mouth speaks"—meaning that one should sanctify one's speech through songs and praises. And sach (סח) has the numerical value of chayyim (חיים, life), for "life and death are in the hand of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21). Therefore, one must "choose life"—that is, holy speech. Moreover, the words themselves must be "alive," meaning [uttered] with complete intention (kavanah), for prayer without intention is like a body without a soul. Therefore, one must ensure that one's prayer is "alive"—that is, with intention. "And distribute them to the poor"—this means: the "poor" are those who cannot sanctify the 22 letters on their own. One must share with them from one's portion and channel holiness to them so that they too can sanctify [their speech]. For if one does not sanctify one's speech, then when one stands to pray afterward, one's words do not enter into holiness. This is the meaning of the verse: "And the passersby did not say: 'The blessing of the Lord be upon you'" (Psalms 129:8)—meaning, those who transgress His will could not say "the blessing of the Lord" because their words do not enter into holiness. Further there [in the Shulchan Aruch]: Nowadays, [regarding one who has resided here] for thirty days—and similarly a poor person who has dwelt here for thirty days—we are obligated to give to him. The deeper meaning is that one must learn Torah and teach, and make preparation for this holy festival. However, [the poor] themselves must also attach themselves to the tzaddik and strengthen themselves toward holiness. Then certainly the tzaddik can assist them. For without this, the tzaddik cannot channel so much to them, because [the recipient] himself pushes it away. And one who has not dwelt here for thirty days—in any case, we are obligated to give him matzah. The deeper meaning is: Certainly there are supremely holy individuals who, when Passover arrives, are already purified and ready, and all their prayer is with complete intention, without any improper thought. Therefore, for one who is not at such a level that he can purify himself completely, one must give him the spiritual level of matzah—from the language of matzah u-merivah (contention and strife), as explained in the holy Zohar. This means: the tzaddik must channel to him at least [the capacity] that if the evil inclination comes to make him fall into evil thoughts during this holy festival, he should fight with contention and strife against it and overcome it.

In the gemara at ohr to the 14th we search for chametz I already explained that the chametz is the yetzer hara [inclination to selfishness] as the Rambam explained that chametz comes from the expression for stealing, from the verse (Isaiah 1:17) 'aid the wronged', and therefore chametz alludes to the yetzer hara, since whoever goes according to the advice of the yetzer hara steals from their [soul] root. Therefore one needs to burn the chametz on erev Pesach and to make preparations so that the great holiness that is revealed in night of Pesach will infused itself upon oneself, since Pesach comes from the expression leaped and skipped because in all festivals holiness does not come to a person in one moment, a person needs to continue the holiness with the prayers of Night, Morning and Afternoon. But on Pesach, the holiness comes to a person in one moment, like the expression to skip, as we explained, and therefore there is the need for preparations, since even though the shining light comes, even though it does come, a person needs to cleanse oneself so as to be able to receive the shining light. For example,the sun, even though it shines strongly, the windows need to be open, because if they are closed the sun cannot shine within the house. And in all festivals one needs to continue the holiness on oneself, through the prayers, as the verse says 'that you will call them in their time, a holy convocation' (Leviticus 23:2) - that is one needs to call [to convocate] the holiness. But on Pesach the shining light needs to come in one moment, because 'in haste you came out of Egypt'(Deuteronomy 16:3) Chipazon [haste] its letters are chet"peh [and] zayin"nun, that is to say all the holidays the holiness comes from the Holy One as male [zayin] and female [nun], groom and bride; that is, the more the bride (the people of Israel) adorns herself all the more the groom (the Holy One) comes closer and closer to her. But on Pesach, because Israel needed to get out from Egypt, because were they to stay there for yet another moment they would not have been able to get out of there, and this is why the redemption needed to be in haste [chipazon] that is to say covered [from chupah] from the way of the male [zayin] to the female [nun], so the shining light comes in a skip and a leap but regardless [that fact] obviously a person needs to prepare oneself, as explained above in the simile of the sun and the windows.

Or one may say - at evening [ohr] of the 14th we check for chametz by the light [ohr] of a candle. It is explained that the essence of chametz is the yetzer hara, as explained above, and as explained in the gemarah "who prevents? The yeast in the dough". And behold the essence of the chametz is the yetzer hara, which comes because the building-block of humans is desire and pleasure of sex, as David Hamelech peace be upon him, says: " Indeed I was born with iniquity; with sin my mother conceived me" (Psalms 51:7), therefore a person needs to sanctify oneself at the moment of sex since the more one sanctifies oneself the more one gives to the fetus a holy soul, since from the holiness of sex a yetzer tov comes to the fetus. And from desire and lust comes the yetzer hara, therefore one should diminish one's desire so as to diminish the yetzer hara of the fetus, and the yetzer hatov can conquer with ease the yetzer hara. And regarding this it is written "at evening [ohr] of the 14th we search for chametz by the light [ohr] of a candle - that is to say, by the light of one's soul, since "the candle of Hashem is the soul of a person", since candle [ner] is the acronym of "neshamah, ruach" and "nefesh, ruach", which is appropriate for searching and burning the chametz completely.

In the Gemara (Pesachim 42a), Rava expounded: "One may only knead [matzah dough] with mayim shelanu [water that has rested overnight]." The next day, everyone brought their pitchers to him [to get water that had rested at his house]. At first glance, this is difficult: why did Rava need to expound using language that could be misunderstood [since shelanu can mean both "that rested overnight" and "that is ours"]? It appears to me that Rava was hinting through his holy words that people should unify the Name of Havayah (Y-H-V-H), blessed be He, through the performance of mitzvot. For matzah (מצה) corresponds to the letters Y-H-H (יה"ה) through the At-Bash cipher — but the Vav of the Name Havayah is not present in it. Therefore Rava taught the world through his holy words that they could draw down the Vav into the matzah, making the Name complete. This is why he expounded in this particular language: "One may only knead with mayim shelanu" — the word shelanu (שלנו) equals, through gematria including the kolel, the Name Nagad Yakhash (נג"ד יכ"ש), whose meaning relates to "the glory of Heaven is set before me" (negdi kevod shamayim). And this Name corresponds to the Vav of the Name Havayah, for the first Name [of the 72-letter Name] — Alef-Bet-Gimel Yod-Tav-Tzadi (אב"ג ית"צ) — corresponds to the Yod, the second corresponds to the Heh, and this third Name corresponds to the Vav. For the Vav represents hamshakhah (drawing down of divine influence), and it is directed precisely toward this Name, because one must draw [divine flow] upon it until the glory of Heaven stands before him. This is why Rava expounded using the word shelanu — to hint that one must draw down the Vav into matzah (מצה), so that the Name will be made complete. And for this reason, on the eve of Pesach one must make the matzot for the sake of the mitzvah (le-shem mitzvah) — that is, with this same intention: to draw the Vav into matzah (מצה), transforming it into mitzvah (מצוה), so that the Name will be made complete, as explained above. "And the next day, everyone brought their pitchers to him" — meaning, the empty vessels, that is, those who were not able to draw the Vav into matzah through their own holiness — they came to Rava so that he would bestow upon them from the abundance of his holiness, enabling them too to draw the Vav into matzah, making the Name complete. Amen....

In the Shulchan Aruch

"One may only search for chametz by the light of a candle" (Pesachim 2a). Ner (נר, "candle") contains the letters of neshamah (נ) and ruach (ר) [i.e., the initials of two levels of the soul]. And specifically with a wax candle — sha'avah (שעוה, "wax") contains the letters shin-ayin (שע) and vav-heh (וה). Shin-ayin (שע) is from the language of the verse "but to Cain and his offering He did not turn (sha'ah)" (Genesis 4:5) — meaning that one must unify and turn toward the Name Y-H (י"ה) with V-H (ו"ה) in every mitzvah a person performs, just as we say before every mitzvah: le-shem yichud Kudsha Berikh Hu u-Shekhinteih — "to unify the Name Y-H with V-H." But the verbal recitation is not the essential thing, for "it is the intention of the heart that is the essence of the matter" — the main thing is that one directs one's heart toward Heaven. And for this reason, specifically a wax candle is required — to hint at all of the above.

"It is customary to place pieces of chametz in a place where the searchers will find them, etc. However, if one did not place them, it does not invalidate [the search], since a person's intention is to destroy [chametz] if he finds any."It appears that they established this holy custom because the essential purpose of destroying chametz is [the destruction of] the yetzer ha-ra, as I wrote above. Therefore they instituted placing chametz [before the search] — to demonstrate that there certainly still remains sin within a person, and chametz represents the yetzer ha-ra. For "there is no righteous person on earth who does only good and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20).For a person who considers himself to have rectified everything has certainly not even begun to serve God, as I wrote elsewhere in my interpretation of the verse regarding the red heifer: "that has no blemish, upon which no yoke has been laid" (Numbers 19:2) — meaning, one who believes that there is no blemish in him has certainly never yet taken upon himself the yoke of Heaven.And as the wise author of Chovot Ha-Levavot said: if I were to say in my heart "I have not sinned," that itself would certainly be the greatest sin — for pride is the greatest sin of all.Therefore it is customary to place pieces of chametz — to demonstrate, as explained above, that one has certainly not rectified everything.

"And if the head of the household wishes, members of his household may stand near him at the time he recites the blessing, and then disperse, each one relying on the blessing that the head of the household recited, to search each person in their designated place." It appears that the hint contained in this is that the head of the household must bestow holiness and purity upon all the members of his household. And one who is a greater tzaddik must bestow holiness and purity upon all the people of his town. And one who is an even greater tzaddik must bestow upon the entire world — so that all may be able to return in complete teshuvah.

All places where one does bring chametz in, need to be searched meaning, one needs to search every place where their yetzer harah, which is the chametz, usually resides. And this place is different for each and everyone: the one whose yetzer resides on finding fault on others, God forbid, or whose eyes are always turned to that that should not be seen, God forbid, they need to search, and destroy, and completely return from that path so they won’t do it anymore, and if they return from what did in the past in a complete return (teshuvah) obviously the Holy One of Blessing will forgive them. And in places where one does not put chametz in, there is no need to search ~ and it appears to me that this is a remez, hint: there are those who do not notice their own behavior, but only the behavior of other people. And the warning of our mishnah is regarding this: and in places where one does not put … there is no need to search, meaning, one should not investigate other people’s behavior, but should investigate their own, and fix their own behavior.

Those (holes) that are too tall for the hand to reach, and those that are lower than nine inches do not need to be searched here we read it as a remez, hint: one should never say ‘I won’t be able to check all my misdeeds and sins, because I don’t remember them all!’ To this is the reference Holes that are too tall for the hand to reach – if you don’t remember them, there is no need to search there. Yet regarding those one does remember, one needs to search, to fix and to return. And those one does not remember immediately will be cancelled, since the Holy One of Blessing will say ‘if s/he had remembered their earlier misdeeds and sins, obviously s/he would regret them and turn from them, just as s/he regrets and returns from those s/he remembers.

Every person has to sweep his rooms before checking for chametz this is a hint: every person needs to clear their thoughts on the 13th of Nisan, and get ready on the 13th so they can begin the search at night. This is because if one does not clear their thoughts beforehand, and wants to search suddenly, out of the blue, obviously they won’t see in themselves any chametz, and they will say “I am perfectly righteous!” One only needs to clear their thoughts beforehand, and obviously they will find chametz there.

"Matzah whose surface has turned white is chametz." And the Magen Avraham wrote: "But the world is not careful about this." By way of deeper meaning, this alludes to the following: There are people who say sharp, witty words to their friends and whiten their faces (i.e., humiliate them) in public—"the red departs and the white comes" (Bava Metzia 58b). This is the meaning of "whose face has turned white"—this is certainly complete chametz, meaning the counsel of the evil inclination. And about this, the world is not careful—for they say, "I was only joking!" But certainly, one who wishes to be God-fearing should be careful about this chametz and eradicate it completely.

"Vessels whose use is with hot [food] must be purged with hot [water]; [those used] with cold, one rinses with cold. And an earthenware vessel has no remedy except through breaking." This can be understood by way of deeper meaning: Even though people sin, they do not commit the transgression with a whole heart and a willing soul, but only under compulsion. [The evil inclination] recounts the praise of the sin through the stratagems of the yetzer hara—but in truth, [the person] does not want at all to do that which is against His holy will, blessed be He. This person is one "whose use is with cold"—meaning, not with desire and craving, but like one who was coerced. Such a person certainly does not need mortifications (sigufim); rather, he need only accept upon himself in truth that he will no longer commit the transgression, even if the yetzer hara entices him. This is "rinse with cold"—meaning, without mortifications and without great heat of heart; rather, the teshuvah need only correspond to how he sinned. But one "whose use is with hot"—meaning, one who heats himself up for the matter of transgression and does it with a willing soul—this one must do teshuvah likewise with heat of heart. "And an earthenware vessel... has no remedy"—this means: those who have sinned greatly, like an earthenware vessel that never releases what it has absorbed—they have no remedy except through brokenness of heart and bitterness over the sins they committed against the will of the Creator, blessed and exalted be He. And certainly, "the Lord is near to the brokenhearted" (Psalm 34:19), and He will accept them.