Parsha Pesach 5766

The story is told of the tourist visiting Russia, in the days of Communism, who noticed a long line of people standing in the middle of the street. The tourist approached the person at the end of the line and enquired as to what they were all lining up for. "I don't know", the person shrugged, "I just saw everyone lining up so I figured there must be something worth waiting for, so I joined the line." Our tourist received the same answer from everybody as he made his way to the front of the line. Eventually, he asked the person standing at the front, "What is everybody lining up for?" "I don't know. I was walking down the street and I stopped to tie my shoelace. Next thing I know, there are dozens of people waiting behind me." "Wait a moment", exclaimed the tourist incredulously, "I don't get it. The rest of them, they don't realize there's nothing to wait for. You KNOW there's nothing to wait for. Why are you still waiting here?" "For the first time in my life I'm at the front of the line and you want me to go home?"
We are in the middle of the eight-day (seven days in Israel) festival of Passover or Pesach. Pesach celebrates freedom, the freedom of the Jewish people from slavery in Ancient Egypt.
The Torah instructs us that "In each generation, every person should see themselves as if they are going out of Egypt this very day." The Rambam (Maimonides) and the Baal Hatanya, in their works on Jewish law, teach that it is not enough to remember this freedom in a historical context, but that a person needs to live with and appreciate this freedom in every aspect of the holiday and of our lives.
We often find ourselves lining up for things, trying to be first in line, without even knowing what all the fuss is about. As long as everyone else wants it, it must be something good. It could be what we are waiting and clamouring for is worthless! From time to time, we need to take a step back and look at our priorities, what we are striving for, what we are lining up for.
Pesach is about freedom. Freedom to go against the grain, to live our lives according to our values and our traditions, without being enslaved by any limitation (the Hebrew word for Egypt, Mitzrayim, comes from the same root as Metzarim, boundaries) or passing winds. This will not always be trendy, but not everything that 'everyone else' is clamouring for is necessarily the best thing for us.
May we be free of all kinds of slavery, both internal and external, this Pesach.