Rabbi Efrem Goldberg’s old article about how women work too hard is making the rounds again, and many women I know feel it drastically minimizes their efforts. He claims that preparing for Pesach can be done in a day, but that simply doesn’t make sense.
Checking pockets and drawers for hidden candy stashes, kashering the kitchen, shopping, cooking, and handling the necessary Yom Tov cleaning all take significant time. While he’s right that there’s no obligation to do a full spring cleaning or declutter the entire house and garage, his perspective feels out of touch with the reality of running a household. If he truly believes all the checking, kashering, shopping, and cleaning can be finished in a single day, he must be living in a one-bedroom apartment with no kids.
His message about not overburdening oneself beyond what halacha requires is valuable, but it’s understandable why many people feel his framing downplays the legitimate workload involved.
And then, in a strange twist at the end, he changes his tone and suddenly advocates for *more* work. According to Rabbi Efrem, making salt water and charoset is “fun” and essential, and anyone who takes a shortcut is betraying tradition—while cleaning the house is dismissed as drudgery that any normal person despises. The contradiction is bad enough, but what about the complete disregard for human nature? Some people genuinely enjoy cleaning or at least find deep satisfaction in having a spotless kitchen or living room. Why is a shortcut that avoids cleaning acceptable to him, while a shortcut that avoids cooking is a betrayal?
Additional points
Goldberg may not explicitly mention women, but the burden of Pesach cleaning overwhelmingly falls on them in many households. So when he presents an argument minimizing the workload, many women naturally feel like their efforts are being dismissed. I've heard from them.
He argues that if it takes more than a day of additional cleaning, then it’s not really Pesach cleaning but rather spring cleaning. The problem is that this distinction is easier to make in theory than in practice. Even just the halachically required cleaning—checking all the places chametz might be, kashering the kitchen, and preparing everything for the chag—takes real time and effort. Much more than a day, without crossing into spring cleaning for large homes inhabited by children.
Yes, there are people who take it to an extreme, locking their kitchens down a week in advance and going way beyond what’s necessary. But most people who feel frustrated with his article aren’t those people. They’re the ones who are doing what they reasonably believe is necessary and still find it takes more than a day. Saying “this should only take a day” can come off as dismissive when, in practice, it simply isn’t realistic for most households.
