One of the primary ways we welcome the holiness and spirituality of Shabbos or a holiday is by starting the meal with kiddush – literally, sanctification. By saying the ritual words, we imbue the day and our meal with sacrality. Then, we ritually wash our hands and break our bread.
Yet chefs soap their hands before handling food, and doctors sanitize their hands before seeing a patient.
Why don’t we start by washing our hands and only then make kiddush?
There’s a Chassidic tale of a man trudging through a swamp, his boots caked in thick, wet mud. Clean boots look great; dirty boots, not so much. But there’s no use stopping to clean those boots when they’re still in the mud! It only makes sense to think about cleaning your boots once you’re out of the swamp.
As R’ Moshe Feinstein explains, true to life, there is no perfect moment. There will always be baggage and resistance, lots of fantastic excuses and justifications not to do the things we could or become the people we should be. So we might as well get started at being better humans right where we are, even though we all have baggage.
To be sure, sometimes Judaism does require purification first – a ritual immersion, a sacrifice, purity to enter the Beis HaMikdash and eat some sacred foods; but those are the exception, not the rule. The rest of the time, Judaism does not require cleansing and purification of ordinary people trying to do a little better; you can do better while still imperfect – Kadesh before Urchatz.
It’s one of the core themes of Pesach; redemption for people who don’t necessarily deserve it yet – we just need a kickstart. Cleansing and purification are essential, and they can come next; but first, get started as and where you are. Maybe the perfect moment you’re waiting for is right now.
If our heroes had waited for the perfect opportunity over the moment destiny called, we would have neither heroes nor stories. Taking action is a unifying characteristic; our heroes didn’t procrastinate.
We all have to confront the things that hold us back, but there’s no reason they should stop us from getting started. Our heroes experienced fear and doubt, and there were plenty of reasons not to act, but they acted just the same; that’s how they became heroes!
Thoughts of waiting for a perfect moment and fear of failure or flaws holding you back originate from cowardice and fear. The resounding message of Seder night, our heroes, and beyond is that we ought to act with courage and confidence that at least we are trying to do the right thing.
So, of course you’re not “there” yet! None of us are. But our future, and yours, rests on whether action will overcome fear and apathy.
Because we are the people who make kiddush before we have washed our hands.