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Day 12
Stepping Away
The Oxford Dictionary defines freedom as “The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants”, and the definition of a slave is a person who is forced to work for and obey another, and is considered to be their property or a device, or part of one, directly controlled by another. The question is: do you have freedom?
In contrast to Mitzrayim, yes, we’re free, but if we look at the definition above and the celebration of Pesach, we’re not free. Pesach celebrates leaving Mitzrayim, but have we fulfilled that commitment?
We’re controlled by technology, the internet, society, and our yetzer horah (inclination to do evil). We can’t be authentic until we leave this Mitzrayim. But it’s difficult to give it all up at once. You can’t just put your phone and laptop away forever, but Pesach is a version of ourselves and are able to serve God with true love and kavana (sincerity).
Are we physically free? Yes. Are we spiritually free? Now’s the time to fix that.
--Eliana Heppie, Grade 12, Capetown Torah High. The meaning of freedom, sajr.co.za
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