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The holiday of Pesach is the “time of our freedom,” when the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt. From Pesach we draw strength and energy to be redeemed from all other exiles, including the present one.
The ultimate purpose of the Redemption from Egypt was to receive the Torah on Mount Sinai. “When G-d will take the nation out of Egypt, they will serve G-d on this mountain” (Shemot 3:12). Just as G-d took us out of Egypt to serve Him on Mount Sinai, G-d will redeem us from the current exile to study His Torah and fulfill His mitzvot. When we make an effort to serve G-d in these areas, we hasten the ultimate Redemption.
The resolution that we take to worship G-d is actually easier to fulfill now, during the holiday of Pesach, after we have eradicated the Chometz (leaven) from our homes and burnt it. Chometz represents the evil inclination, as we recite before the burning: “Just as I am eradicating the Chometz from my home and my property... so should you remove the evil inclination from within us.”
After we burn the Chometz from our homes and within our hearts, G-d will likewise remove the yetzer hara, so it will no longer be able to disturb us from performing mitzvot. After burning the Chometz we are in a state of spiritual freedom, which makes it easier for us to fulfill mitzvot in the most perfect way.
This lesson is particularly apt for the Jewish children, the soldiers in Tzivot Hashem, G-d’s army. Leaving Egypt symbolizes the birth of the Jewish people as an independent nation. The period of wandering in the desert corresponds to childhood, when the Jewish people gradually matured into a people capable of controlling their own destiny. When they reached Mount Sinai and accepted the Torah, they symbolically entered the age of “bar mitzvah,” when a girl of 12 or a boy of 13 accepts the yoke of mitzvot and becomes responsible for his or her own behavior.
After Pesach begins the period of sefirah, counting the Omer, the 49 days leading up to Shavuot, when G-d gave the Torah to the Jews. During this period in the desert, the Jews were like children who had reached the age of education (six or seven) but not yet bar mitzvah. They are obligated in some mitzvot but not all – just like the Jews in the desert received certain mitzvot before they reached Sinai.
The days of sefirah are days of education and preparation for receiving the Torah. As we enter the holiday of Pesach, the holiday of our freedom, it is a most opportune time to accept good resolutions in study of Torah and fulfilling mitzvot, as a preparation for the ultimate Redemption.
Good resolutions are especially appropriate today, the 11th of Nissan, which is the 109th birthday of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach. The best present we can give the Rebbe is to study his teachings and become active in the many mitzvah campaigns that he introduced and promoted for the benefit of the Jewish people. The Rebbe’s final campaign was a call to disseminate the Torah’s teachings on Moshiach as a preparation for the ultimate Redemption. Then the redemption from Egypt which we celebrate on Pesach will merge with the final Redemption, may it happen immediately.
(Based on an address of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, to the children of Tzivot Hashem, chol Hamoed Pesach 5744.)
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