“Yehudah ben Teima says: Be bold (audacious) as a tiger, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, and strong as a lion—in striving to fulfill the will of the Almighty” (Mishnah, tractate Avot 5:20).
Rabbeinu Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, in Mesillat Yesharim, quotes this verse from Ethics of the Fathers in the chapter on zerizut—alacrity.
How can we apply these recommendations to pre-Passover cleaning?
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Bold as a Tiger
This is about getting up in the morning. How much you can get done in a single morning! Everything you accomplish in the morning is blessed, as it says in our weekly Torah portion (Vayakhel, Shemot 36:3): “…and they continued to bring him freewill offerings every morning.” In the text of the portion, the word “morning” appears twice, because you really do get twice as much done in the morning.
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Light as an Eagle
This is about joy, says Rav Wolbe. Clean your home as though you have grown wings! Put on your favorite music! Splash around with the children in the middle of cleaning!
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Swift as a Deer
This is about the pace at which you move and the accompanying “sweat of your brow.” The author of Kav HaYashar writes: “And the sweat shed for the sake of a mitzvah bears witness that the festival is approaching.” And, as Rabbi Nachman says, zei'ah (זיע"ה—Hebrew for sweat) is an acronym for the words 'זה היום עשה ה (the Almighty has made this day); the verse continues: נגילה ונשמחה בו —“let us rejoice and be glad in it” (in this day) (Tehillim 118:24).
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Strong as a Lion
[Literally—a hero, like a lion]. What is heroic about cleaning? Finishing what you start that same day. Do not leave tasks unfinished or areas (such as closets) open. That is a truly heroic deed! Otherwise, we have a thousand projects started, and our strength… has run out. Better to choose one corner and sort it out completely!