Artword courtesy of Chabad.org
A WEEKLY TORAH THOUGHT BY RABBI MORDY
While we technically start the holiday of Passover tomorrow night, this Shabbos, known as “Shabbat Hagadol,” the Great Shabbos, leads us right into the holiday. Because it’s a busy day, I’ll try to be as brief as possible. Passover celebrates the Jewish people’s liberation from Egypt. The Hebrew word from Egypt is “Mitzrayim,” which, not coincidentally, is the same root word as the Hebrew word that means “limitations.” While the Jewish people were free from slavery in Egypt on a physical level, they also needed spiritual freedom. What’s that? Freedom to optimize their potential, freedom to actualize their authentic selves, freedom to become the nation they were meant to be. In the spirit of that spiritual liberation, let us all take a moment to think of a trait, a habit, a belief, or just a “thing” that keeps us bogged down or limited in a way doesn’t allow us to fulfill our potential. Even if it’s small, we all have a “something” we’d be better off without—and now’s the perfect time to be free of it. We just have to do it—good for us, good for the world! Good Shabbos and Chag Kasher V’sameach!