The major theme of Passover is freedom. When God liberated the Jews from the hands of the Egyptians, the Jews weren’t going to have a free-for-all where they could go wild and do whatever they wanted. No, God liberated them so that they would be free to serve Him, as seen in this quote: “I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt to be for you a God.” True fulfillment would come from worshipping God and following the holy Torah.
When human beings are free to do whatever they please, it often leads to disastrous consequences. The people in Sodom and Gomorrah were “free”; they became so sinful and wicked that they had to be destroyed. The ancient Egyptians were “free,” and they were horribly cruel to the Jews.
Today, you see people with seemingly endless wealth constantly getting into trouble because they live their life without any restrictions. How many celebrities get into car crashes or end up in rehab or get divorced many times over? A lifestyle of excess, without rules, is not a good life at all. When you have access to everything, you cherish nothing.
I experienced this myself, though not on such a major scale. Before I converted to Judaism, I was an atheist. I’d never read any of the commandments or followed a set of morals and ethics for my life. I decided I was a good person according to my own standards. Did I ever give charity? No. Did I go out of my way to help others? Never. Was I into self-improvement? Not at all.
When I first started learning about Judaism, I thought, “Wow, there are so many rules. It’s so suffocating.” But the funny thing is, the more observant I became, and the more commandments I began to follow, the freer I felt.
When I started keeping Shabbat, I was free to relax, spend time with my family and friends, connect with God and shut off the outside world for the day.
When I started keeping Shabbat, I was free to relax, spend time with my family and friends, connect with God and shut off the outside world for the day. When I joined the community, I felt free from the isolation and loneliness I experienced in my childhood. When I went from believing I was in complete control of my life to trusting that God was calling the shots, I was liberated.
That last one is the key to a happy life. As someone who has always suffered from anxiety, one of the ways I deal with it now is thanking God for the challenges I face. I don’t always know why my car breaks down, I get a very expensive bill in the mail or I have a panic attack, but I trust that God has a plan. There is some lesson I need to learn when I have a struggle. Perhaps God is giving me strength to face even bigger challenges in life.
I urge you to think about the challenges in your life and what’s keeping you from being free to connect more to God. What is stopping you from having inner peace? There are so many stressors and pressures in our modern world. We are overworked and underpaid, we are inundated with bad news on a daily basis and, on top of all that, we all have our day-to-day drama.
But this Passover, we don’t have to let it bring us down anymore or feel oppressed. I recommend you take a moment to pause and to pray. Pour your heart out and do a trust fall. If you let God catch you, He will.
Focus on what your soul really needs – a connection to God – and this Passover, you will truly feel free.
Kylie Ora Lobell is the Community and Arts Editor for the Jewish Journal.
