We’ve just come out of the Seders on Passover — the festival of freedom. We sat at the Seder table, retold the story, tasted the bitter and the sweet, and declared once again, “In every generation, a person must see themselves as if they personally left Egypt.”
But if we already left Egypt over 3,000 years ago, why do we keep revisiting it? Why do we still need to see ourselves as leaving?
Chassidic thought teaches us that Passover carries a threefold message: past, present, and future. Each dimension reveals a layer of redemption — and all three are alive within us today.
First, the past.
Passover is a time to commemorate our miraculous salvation from Egypt. Like a national anniversary, we look back with profound gratitude for the moment G-d intervened in history to rescue us and forge us into a people. It’s not just about remembering — it’s about honoring that moment with appreciation, as if to say, Thank You for taking us out.
Then, the present.
The Hebrew word for Egypt — Mitzrayim — shares a root with the word for “narrowness” or “constraint.” Chassidic teachings explain that we each face our own personal mitzrayim—internal limitations, doubts, or struggles that confine us.
Passover is also a celebration of the power G-d gives us in the here and now —the ability to break through those barriers. The same G-d who took us out of Egypt empowers us today to rise above what holds us back. Every day brings the chance to grow, to free ourselves, to move forward.
And finally, the future.
We end the Seder with the words, “L’shana haba’ah b’Yerushalayim” — Next year in Jerusalem. This isn’t just a poetic tradition. It’s a real and active hope. The story of the Exodus doesn’t end in the desert or even in Israel. It ends with a vision of global peace, healing, and G-dly awareness — an era of redemption through Moshiach.
The Rebbe taught that the Exodus was the first redemption, but not the final one. Passover plants in us a yearning and a trust that just as G-d redeemed us once, He will redeem us again.
May we merit that time speedily in our days. And may we each play our part by doing one more mitzvah, one more act of kindness, to help bring it closer.
