Dvar Torah for Pesach

Here are some goals which people choose to pursue in life.

Honor. Sex. Food. Bodybuilding.

Maybe one of these appeals to you. To the average person they certainly sound reasonable. Here are some more.

Money. Wisdom. Communication. Happiness.

Again, for the average person, pretty reasonable choices. Here's another one.

Murder.

Murder? Could someone, or even a whole group, rationally justify murder as a life's goal? Could people really view murder as a mitzvah? Reb Noson writes that Rebbe Nachman told him that such a group actually existed. In fact, says Reb Noson, the root of every misguided idea lies in holiness.

For example, God commands Jewish courts to administer the death penalty for certain offenses and flogging for others. (Adultery is an example of the former, eating pork of the latter.) The Arizal writes that the courts administered these punishments they set aright those supernal workings which were broken by the sin. Yet if corrupted, righteous indignation and avenging God's honor lead to terrorists executing "quality attacks" on innocents.

The mistaken thinking that sex is the goal of life comes from the fact that the first mitzvah in the Torah is "be fruitful and multiply." Money is necessary to purchase all the necessities–how can one live without it?! If one thinks like that he'll never have the time, or the calm, to pray properly.

What has all this to do with Pesach? Pharaoh was of the opinion that a slave is a slave is a slave. Now, fact is, all of us are corrupt to some degree. Some are in love with food, some with happiness, some with wisdom. Sometimes our preferences change. After all, it isn't overly difficult to be in touch with one's inner-Pharaoh.

Pharaoh, of course, was wrong. We may be corrupt, but we're by no means incorrigible. As stiff-necked as we are, as much as Pharaoh has us enslaved, we can still change and be freed. The first thing we need is the honesty to realize that the food-Pharaoh (or money-Pharaoh, etc.) is not irreplaceable. There may be someone better qualified to lead us in pursuit of our chosen goal, someone who can teach us how to pursue and practice our goal in holiness.

However, that's only the beginning. The only way to fully uncorrupt ourselves is by choosing the true goal, the 10^th goal, prayer. Having shed our servitude to Pharaoh does not automatically make us our own masters. The lessons we learned on his knee are deeply embedded within us.

By singing God's praises–acknowledging the wonders of His creation, great and small–our belief that He is more powerful than Pharaoh grows and grows. We come to realize that we can change, that we can overcome our flawed thinking and flawed behavior, no matter how many flaws we may have.

We come to realize that Pharaoh is not our master, but God. Then we are free.