With hostages still being held and the war continuing it seems that as we prepare for Passover, freedom takes on an even deeper meaning this year. For we too as witnesses to this horror are being held hostage. 

Just as the Torah has many levels of understanding, so does the holiday of  Passover. We not only celebrate external freedom but internal freedom as well. 

Holocaust Survivors have shared that the Nazis could break them on the outside but they couldn’t do so on the inside. Although at times it became quite dim, there was inner burning of Freedom that couldn’t be extinguished.

So many people tell us they live in a constant state of worry and anxiety which also  includes our young people of all ages. Observing  the customs of Passover gives us the opportunity to connect to an uplifting  energy gift from G-d and receive help to become free within. 

This freedom which Passover celebrates,  is one  of the most precious gifts a person  or a nation can possess.  Yet  freedom has broad  connotations both for the individual and entire nations. No less important than living freely in our physical world  is freedom of the mind and spirit. 

On the deeper level of  understanding, the Exodus  saga represents the soul’s journey to freedom. The Moses vs. Pharaoh story is biblical allegory of the battle between our healthy personal  mental states which makes  us  truly free and all that which prevents us from achieving that state of inner freedom.  

When Moses asks Pharaoh to free the slaves, it sounds as though he  is asking  for a three day “reprieve” to allow the Israelites  the time  to worship G-D  in the middle of the desert. They will  journey three days walking distance from Egypt. (“So said G-D of Israel: let my people  go so they will worship me”)

This  request  is repeated  throughout  the entire “Negotiation”  and is exactly  what  Pharaoh understands this request to be. In Pharoah’s  mind  there is no demand  for absolute  freedom but a three day ceremonial request. 

Why would  he refuse the request even after  the infliction of the plagues  on his country? He could have sent his huge army to make sure  that the Israelites actually  return to Egypt after three days.

In the deeper understanding of the story, Egypt translates as the places of restriction ruled by Pharaoh which represents our lower desires. Moses’ struggle for freedom for the Hebrew slaves as well as G-D’s final triumph is to enable us to leave Egypt and experience  tranquility within by connecting to a higher consciousness. 

This  inner freedom is deemed so important we are given the opportunity to re-enact  leaving Egypt and become free again each year during our Passover seder. 

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