Slavery Today
Passover is called the "Time of Our Liberation." This term expresses not only the theme of the holiday, but contains a lesson to apply in our lives throughout the year, in any time and in any place.
On Passover the Jewish people were freed from more than physical subjugation and slavery. Rather, the "Time of Our Liberation" denotes a true freedom, the deliverance of the individual from all limitations and constraints. "Not only our ancestors did the Holy One, Blessed Be He, redeem from Egypt, but He redeemed us together with them."
G-d took the Jewish people out of Egypt for the purpose of giving them His Torah on Mount Sinai, thereby enabling them to observe all its commandments. This was the sole reason for the exodus.
A Jew attains true spiritual freedom when one lives according to the Torah. But what is spiritual enslavement today?
A Jew is "enslaved" when being subordinated to the non-Jewish world, when one is ashamed to be different. When a Jew allows him/herself to be swayed by the conventional "wisdom," it is a sign of an inner spiritual servitude. By contrast, when a Jew refuses to be influenced by the environment and persists in observing mitzvot, the Jew is free.
The concept of servitude exists on an inner level as well, when a person is held prisoner by ones habits and inclinations. Enslavement to one's baser instincts is also a form of subjugation. True liberation is attained when a Jew overcomes their evil inclination and is master of all his actions.
