Emancipating ourselves this Passover
Question: I would like to know more about what a Jew experiences when celebrating the miracles of Passover and how it is expressed in the traditional “Seder”. Thank you.
Answer:
In order to truly understand the heart of a Jew on Passover, one must first comprehend what a Seder is all about. The Seder, in Hebrew - “order”, is arranged as a personal voyage beginning with slavery and ending with freedom. For centuries the Jewish people have spent the first night of Passover tasting symbolic foods and reciting the traditional Passover text, the Haggadah, all in order to remember and relive the Genesis of the Nation of Israel.
The Seder’s rituals and customs, however peculiar they may seem, are intended to captivate the younger generation and immerse them in the Passover experience. It is incumbent upon parents to make the miracle of the exodus a reality for their children. The goal is to harness their active imaginations and make them feel, for one night, the yoke of slavery and the ecstasy of freedom that their ancestors lived through some 3,500 years ago. A child feels the sting of slavery as he eats the bitter herbs and tastes the tears of sorrow when the saltwater hits his palate. In many Jewish homes children shout orders at their “enslaved” siblings as they stage the story of Passover. For a child, this smorgasbord of sensations is the fulfillment of the commandment to remember the miraculous exodus of the Jewish people from the bondage of Egypt.
The deeper beauty of the Passover Seder is the evolution of spiritual meaning the Seder represents at different stages throughout ones life. In our Haggadah we read, “In every generation one must see himself as though he, personally, left Egypt.” As the child experiences a veritable time warp, the Jewish adult is having a more introspective and complex spiritual encounter. The adult must go beyond the literal concepts and truly delve into the spiritual essence of both “Egypt” and “Slavery”.
According to the Midrash, part of our Jewish Oral Tradition, Egypt represents a smug sense of self sufficiency and independence. For Egyptians, the Nile was a constant source of water and sustenance, maintaining a precise cycle of deluge and recession. While many societies would envy this distinctive resource and consistent security, Judaism views the Nile supported existence as a curse.
The curse of “Egyptian security” can only be fully understood when seen in light of the first curse leveled in the world; the curse of the devious serpent. In the story of creation, G-d’s anger with the serpent was so raw and intense that in Genesis 3:14 G-d curses the snake “…upon your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life”. To the untrained eye this may seem a blessing, for now the serpent no longer needs to concern itself with nourishment, for there is dust everywhere it could go. That constant source of sustenance is the foundation for understanding the essence of Egypt. In truth, the serpents curse is the deepest and most painful punishment fathomable.
The word Yisrael means “to struggle with G-d”. The purpose of our life is to grapple with the challenges G-d presents us, and emerge stronger, closer, and more loyal. The curse of Egypt is the same as that of the snake – no struggle necessary. The message from G-d is ‘I am cutting you off. You have no need for me and I want no relationship with you. The Nile is your dust; when you need sustenance do not turn to Me’. Although it was a terrifying experience for the enslaved nation, in the Sinai Desert G-d liberated them from the veil of self reliance and taught them that there is no nation that He provides for more directly than His beloved Israel.
The voyage into the Sinai desert was Israel’s first experience as a nation. The Jewish People were thrust into a barren desert of inevitable death and were sustained with unequivocal divine providence. Pillars of clouds led them by day and a column of fire by night. Heavenly manna miraculously descended on their camp each morning, perfectly apportioned that each should have his share. Just as every need of an infant is lovingly provided for by a parent; in the desert, the Jewish people experienced firsthand that G-d lovingly provided for them in their infancy and that He is their sole source of success and security.
The celebration of Passover is deeper than the deliverance from physical slavery; it is the liberation from the illusions of the world. The shroud of the natural universe is lifted and we see the world for what it is; a dialogue with G-d, our Father in heaven. Any faith in the machinations of man is exposed as false and futile, and we are reconnected once again, to our source and our purpose.
The Passover Seder culminates with a memorial of the Paschal sacrifice. Many associate a sacrifice with atonement however a new dimension to sacrifices can be understood by revealing the secrets of the Hebrew language. Korban, the Hebrew word for sacrifice, comes from the root word, Karov or “close”. Egypt was a society of idolaters, and one of their most revered gods was the lamb. Slaughtering a lamb in Egypt would be guaranteed death, yet in order for the Jews to draw close to G-d, He required exactly that declaration of faith. G-d demanded that the Jewish people acknowledge His kingship in the face of their Egyptian oppressors, jeopardizing their lives by sacrificing the false god of Egypt, for the sanctification of His name. Only through discarding fears of man were we able to truly forge a relationship with our Creator. That is the greatest freedom.
The ultimate experience that we, as Jew, can have at the Passover Seder is to truly emancipate ourselves from mental and spiritual slavery and realize that Hashem is our only King and our sole provider.
