Freedom from Old Baggage

Photo by engin akyurt

An increasing number of Christian churches observe Passover on their own, or they join a synagogue for this annual celebration. The following are some inspirations that take us beyond the material appearance of the events of Passover.

“How can we make this night really different? How can we turn the Seder from just another gathering into a holiday with a contemporary message that resonates for us…?

"Passover traditions instruct us to clear our homes of [chometz], leavened products, and to maintain a yeast-free, non-fermented diet for the week. We do so to recall the haste with which the Israelites fled from Egypt, having no time to wait for their bread to rise. The break from slavery had to be quick and clean; the Israelites had to leave unfettered by baggage.

"Although we enjoy extensive freedom in the United States, we, too, spend much time waiting for our bread to rise. We are enslaved by old baggage–which takes many forms. It may be accumulated material possessions, the piles of work on our desks, the responsibility of caring for our homes and lawns, worries about our investments, or our need for top-quality clothes, automobiles, and vacations.

"We are also personally enslaved by the narrowness of our thoughts. In fact, one mystical understanding of the word Mitzrayim, the Hebrew word for Egypt, reads 'Mi-tzarim' which literally means 'out of the narrow, constricted place.'

"According to this teaching, while we may not have labored under Egyptian taskmasters, we remain bound by our internal fears and doubts...Passover reminds us that each of us is in need of liberation from our own Egypt."¹ 

— Jacob J. Staub

Resentments more than anything in life,
cut us off from the source of Simcha [Joy, Bliss] and prophecy.
We simply have to let go...
Fears and hatreds have similar dynamics.² 

— Reb Hershy W., The Anonymous Haggadah

Resentment. Fear. Hatred. Talk about baggage! They are often the source of our suffering. Reb Hershy W’s paraphrased message in light of Passover is: 'let go, and let God.'

Spiritual living requires inner transformation again and again and again.

The path of inner Torah leads you
to reach beyond this [limited] conscious state
to an essential [S]elf that is one with the Infinite.

This is the act of liberation from a personal Egypt,
which Torah makes possible on a daily basis.³

— Menachem Mendel Schneerson

There's really only one difference
between Matzah and Chometz.
They're both made from flour and water,
both baked in an oven
and both provide nourishment.

But one stays flat and humble
while the other fills itself with hot air.
That's why Matzah is a key ingredient
for leaving your personal Egypt:
As long as we are full of delusions
of self-importance, there's no way to break out
and grow to a new level.

Once we make ourselves small,
we can fit through any bars
and fly past any cloud.⁴

— Menahem Mendel Schneerson,
translated by Tzvi Freeman

The smaller the ego, the greater the Light.⁵

— Kabbalist Rav Kalonymus Kalman HaLevi Epstein

Waves of the Ocean

[1] Rabbi Jacob J. Staub • http://jacsweb.org/Hagadah/16  • 03.01.2001 AX 7306

[2] Reb Hershy W. • http://jacsweb.org/Hagadah/16  • 03.01.2001 AX 4002

[3] Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, excerpt from Be Within, Stay Above/ Meditations from the Wisdom of the Rebbe, translated by Tzvi Freeman • https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/148194/jewish/Where-the-Self-Lives.htm • 03.15.2001 • AX 2965
Below is the complete text:

Over the years, you build an awareness of self: who you are, what you like and dislike, how you feel about things. This is the mind of da’at—a place of consciousness, of knowing and feeling “I exist.” It is the most visceral of minds, closely linked to the emotions.

Consciousness is not evil. The problem is the way a human enters into his consciousness and identifies with it. What is actually only an awareness of self becomes your actual self. It is an act of self-imprisonment, as you become trapped in a tight cell of self-definition.

The path of inner Torah leads you to reach beyond this conscious state to an essential self that is one with the Infinite. This is the act of liberation from a personal Egypt, which Torah makes possible on a daily basis.

[4] Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Be Within, Stay Above/ Meditations from the Wisdom of the Rebbe, translated by Tzvi Freeman • https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/120441/jewish/Between-Matzah-and-Chametz.htm • 04.01.2010 AX 5885

[5] Rav Kalonymus Kalman HaLevi Epstein, Let Go of Ego, https://www.kabbalah.com/en/articles/let-go-of-ego/ • 10.16.2022 AX 7128

This article includes edited excerpts from the
Congregation Beth Shalom Newsletter, Fairfield, Iowa, April 2001

© Copyright 2001 Joy Hirshberg
All rights reserved.
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