I recently asked a group of students how they’d feel if I left for a long walk- without my wallet- became famished, and when passing McDonalds, snuck in and stole a cheeseburger. They thought it was crazy and politely informed me that A) They were pretty sure I kept kosher and cheeseburgers are pretty high on the “do not eat” list and B) taking food without payment is stealing, and as an observant Jew, that’s not something I should be doing. Most of these students had recently shared that their view of freedom included making their own decisions, so I pointed out that in choosing to steal and eat that burger I was merely exercising my freedom of choice. Am I not free to choose?

One of the greatest themes of Passover (Pesach) is Freedom. We were freed from our slavery and bondage in Egypt and finally able to serve G-d, Hashem, without oppression. It is, however, easy to wonder if we went directly from one form of servitude to another. When we serve Hashem, aren’t we limited to exactly that which He requires of us? What about that makes us “free” ?

Every human being is a soul; yet housed in a physical body with limitations and desires and needs. It is through serving Hashem that I am able to free myself of becoming a slave to my body (ie: the urgent rush to steal a cheeseburger as I smell food when passing McDonalds) and can make higher level decisions that I can be proud of.

Egypt in Hebrew is “Mi-tzrayim” which can also be read as “Mai-tzarim,” meaning “from constriction.” We are taught that our redemption was not only from Egypt itself, but from a mindset of limitation and constriction. When I chose to serve Hashem and perform His commandments, it is those very actions that free me from becoming a slave to my physical desires and emotional whims. Serving Hashem is what makes me truly free; just leaving Egypt wouldn’t have cut it 🙂

We are taught that Passover is a time when we can access this power of freedom; changes for the better that we are trying to make all year have extra spiritual “oomph” to them when we make a renewed effort on Passover itself.

Wishing us all a Passover of change for the better, toward greater freedom than we’ve ever experienced thus far!