When you think about freedom, what's the first thing that comes to mind? A lottery ticket with winning numbers? A coconut palm on an exotic beach? A dream job? An apartment, or is that already in the realm of science fiction? Each person has his or her own "freedom."
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In general, freedom is a relative term. A plant feels fine when it has dirt, water, air, and light. It doesn't ask for anything else. An animal, in additional to all that, needs freedom to move and not be kept penned up. But a human being needs something more to feel free – food, intelligence, and a soul. Otherwise, you could be in Zanzibar and still not feel completely happy.
The Jewish people in Egypt lived in a bubble of slavery under the largest power in the world. Their dreams were shelved. But slowly, our leader, Moses, the redeemer of Israel, began to make them understand that they were destined for a different life. For spiritual and physical freedom, and not for pagan culture.
From kindergarten, we have known about the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, the wonderful miracles that God performed. But the Hebrews also had to perform a courageous act on their way to freedom – to take a sheep, which was an Egyptian god, and dedicate it to the one God. It was a major challenge and a small step on the way to freedom. For the first time in hundreds of years, the nation of slaves discovered they could stand up straight and began to talk seriously about spiritual independence.
Passover calls on us, as well, to set out toward true freedom. To sit around the holiday table and remember the dynamic that managed to extract hundreds of thousands from behind an iron curtain. For thousands of years, Jews have sat around the seder table, eaten matza and the items on the seder plate, and told of the Exodus. "Telling your sons," it's called, and it's the most important commandment of the seder eve – passing on a battle legacy.
The Haggadah tells us there are four types of sons, but the Lubavitcher rabbi said that our generation has a "fifth son" – who unlike his four brothers, doesn't even show up for seder.
Our job is to remind him and show him how we are all waiting for him to join us this holiday night.
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