Spiritual Freedom

Many of us are already knee deep in Pesach preparations, and we all know that it can get overwhelming at times. There is so much to do and we can't begin to imagine how it will all get done: inspecting the house for that inevitable Cheerio that lay hidden between the cushions, kashering the kitchen from floor to ceiling, cooking for two Seders and so much more. True, you always have those families that have been "Pesadik" since Purim already, but we don't like those people and refuse to talk to them!

In the mire, however, we can't forget the most important preparation of all - the spiritual preparations needed for achieving true freedom. Much more than a mere commemoration of our ancestors' release from the shackles of Egyptian bondage, Pesach is the time of the year that each of us can achieve liberty in the deepest sense. I am referring to spiritual, emotional and intellectual freedom. The only question is how do we do that?

Perhaps the answer rests with understanding the meaning behind the emblem of freedom; the matzah. Matzah, in its elegant simplicity, (it can consist of nothing other than flour and water, anything else renders it unfit) reminds us that they pathway to true freedom lies in our ability to recalibrate our balance between what we view as luxury and what we perceive as necessity in our lives. Fill in the blank: "I can not live without _______ !" Whatever word occupies that blank is what you are a slave to. "I can not live without my I-Phone! I cannot live without my two annual vacations. And, if G-d forbid, my cable service went down for the week, I don't think I could survive." Anything that you perceive that you can not live without is exactly what enslaves you in the shackles of spiritual and emotional bondage.

I remember when we first moved back to the U.S. after a decade of living in small apartments in Jerusalem. We never had a dishwasher (Ali had one, namely me, but I never had one). I remember the first night we moved into our new American home I stayed up late into the night trying out this wonder of technology called the garbage disposal. This little gadget was destined to change my life. How I appreciated the fact that I didn't have to scrape the plates into the garbage before washing them. What an amazing luxury!

I'll never forget that terrible, unforgettable day when my new gadget, which I had come to depend on, broke down.... panic! Get the plumber out here immediately! How can I live one day without my garbage disposal? Later I reflected how odd it was that in a few short months my relationship towards that garbage disposal had transformed so dramatically. I no longer viewed the device as a luxury that made my life easier, but as a necessity without which life was not worth living! I had become a slave to my garbage disposal. (Ok, so I am dramatizing this a little, but you get the idea).

On Pesach, we reflect on the matzah, on its ungarnished plainness, and remember that the key to true freedom is simplicity. We need to relearn the art of appreciating the gifts in our lives and seeing them not as necessities that cannot be lived without but as enhancements that make life more pleasurable.

Sorry to cut this short but I have to go back and search for that Cheerio.

Rabbi David