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Exodusfrom Egypt Cortesy of: (C) [http://aish.com/aishint/about/] Aish
HaTorah, Los Angeles
Rabbi Nachum Braverman
                            LESSONS OF FREEDOM
Every Jewish holiday is an opportunity for growth and self-discovery;
Pesach is the time to learn about freedom. On Seder night, every Jew must
feel that he himself has gone out of Egypt. Freedom is not acquired once.
It needs to be continually learned and reacquired. You can be free in a
prison cell and a slave in a "free" country, for true freedom is internal
and the harshest oppression is not outside.
The essence of slavery, Torah tells us, is self-concern. Preoccupation with
myself, my success or failure, and with others' respect, robe me of the
freedom to choose and act. I am a slave to anxiety and compulsion. A man
who can't stop smoking isn't free nor is one who dreads pain and rejection.
Heroes make a statement of freedom by their willingness to risk themselves
for an ideal. When Natan Sharansky refused to leave his prison without his
book of Psalms, he proclaimed his determination to maintain conscience at
any price. His freedom is breathtaking. The worst enslavement is not
external. It's self-concern.
Throughout the Torah, "leaven" is the symbol of ego. Pompous with air and
insubstantial, it looks impressive but yields no nourishment. Ego is a
facade without substance, skin deep power. Bruno Bettelheim reports that in
World War II, the rich suffered most in the concentration camps because
they were crippled by the sudden loss of social position and respect.
A free man is neither fancy nor pompous, but independent of image, wealth
and respect.
Matzah is humble, wholesome, and nourishing. It represents freedom.
Cleaning the leaven from our homes, we search for the crumbs of ego that
enslave.
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                        Other Topics about Pesach:
[http://www.kehilasmy.org/holidays/ [http://www.kehilasmy.org/holidays/
pesach/izrabstva.cfm] [new] From    pesach/pesacha.cfm] [new] When YOU
Slavery to Freedom (Russian)        were going out of Egypt (Russian)
[http://www.kehilasmy.org/holidays/ [http://www.kehilasmy.org/holidays/
pesach/peskey.cfm] [new] Universal  pesach/pguide.html] Laws of Pesach
Key to Freedom (Russian)            Bekitzur (English)
[http://www.kehilasmy.org/holidays/ [http://www.kehilasmy.org/holidays/
pesach/pesach.cfm] Lessons of       pesach/pfsons.html] Philosophy: Four
Freedom (English)                   sons (English)
[http://www.kehilasmy.org/holidays/ [http://www.kehilasmy.org/holidays/
pesach/pesachr.cfm] Lessons of      pesach/pstory.html] Ones on Passover
Freedom (Russian)                   - story (English)
[http://www.kehilasmy.org/holidays/ [http://www.kehilasmy.org/holidays/
pesach/pinsite.html] The Original   pesach/pes7day.cfm] [new] 7th Day of
Story (Russian)                     Passover (Russian)
    [http://www.kehilasmy.org/holidays/pesach/hagadah.html] [new] Funny
                      Haggadah shel Pesach (Russian)
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