I had an embarrassing but learning experience recently.  I was at the movies and walked in with my popcorn and a cup of diet coke.  Then in a moment of pure klutziness, I dropped the soda all over the place.  I went out for a refill and to get some rags to clean it up.  The young man behind the counter told me, "Don't worry about it.  Show us where it is and we will take care of it."
       As the movie began, other patrons thanked me.  I was surprised.  But I learned that most people, when they make a mess, leave it for others to step in.  The other patrons expressed their appreciation that I had arranged for someone to clean it up.  I was surprised; in my mind it goes without saying that I would try to clean it up.  Simple human courtesy requires it.  In the end, a young man working a minimum wage job cleaned up my mess.  And I did not even get his name.
       The whole incident reminded me of the beginning of this week's Torah portion.  Each day the High Priest put on a linen garment and carried the ashes from the daily burnt offering outside to a special place.  There was no glory in this job, no public ceremony, no fancy garments, and no deep religious insight.  Cleaning the altar was a job that had to be done behind the scenes.  In fact, the Rabbis declared that the portion is called tzav - "command" because Aaron needed special encouragement to fulfill this ritual.  Cleaning up the altar was simply a job that had to be done.
       Perhaps it is serendipitous that this portion is usually read the week before Passover (known in Jewish tradition as Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbat.)   Passover is the time we ought to express our appreciation to the people who do the clean-up work behind the scenes.  A large part of Passover is a major Spring cleaning.  Kitchens are scrubbed clean and any food containing bread or other non-kosher-for-Passover ingredients is locked away.  New dishes are brought out, the stove is scrubbed and the burners are run at full blast.  The refrigerator and the microwave are cleaned and a huge shopping list is filled.    And only then, when all this work is done, are we ready to begin the huge job of cooking large Passover seders, often for households full of people.
       Last week I spent a good part of the day preparing our synagogue kitchen for Passover.  The person catering our seders and I worked with two young men for hours cleaning and koshering.  I admire their work.  And now the cooking will begin.  I will lead a seder in the synagogue and most those attending will be blithely unaware of the amount of work that went into this project.   It is easy to avoid thinking about those who do the really hard work behind the scenes.
       Often it is women who take on the burden of preparing a home for Passover.  It is an immense, under-appreciated job.  Women often say, half-jokingly and half-seriously, we were slaves in Egypt and now we are ...   slaves to the difficult laws of Passover.  If women had written the Torah it would be different.  I understand those who simply close down their homes and go to resorts or out on cruises for Passover.  It is extremely tempting.
       Perhaps it is time to show our appreciation to all those underappreciated people who do all the busy work behind the scenes.  We should thank those who clean our offices, those who mow our laws, those who pick up our garbage.  If we have a favorite restaurant we should thank those back in the kitchen providing us with meals.  And certainly within our own families, we should thank those who do all the busy works to make our households function.  And men, if you have a wife like I do, who does an immense amount of work to prepare a kitchen and cook a seder, give her an extra hug tonight.