Pesach: Jewish Independence Day

Israel is first called a people in the Chumash when they grow to a size too large to be called an extended family. At that point they spread out and become independent. Pesach, however, is hailed as the day of our freedom because it is the day the children of Israel departed from bondage in Egypt. Likewise many nations celebrate the day that they shook off foreign domination as their national day. There is something in the human personality that associates national freedom from foreign control with national independence. Perhaps the Chumash was the first to note this phenomenon or maybe every national celebration of independance is an extension of Israel's national freedom.

In all cases the principles of national liberation should be repeated in a festive way. Some do it with fireworks and parades. The Jews do it with a Pesach Seder. There, the story of the exodus from Egypt is recounted in accordance to the Biblical mitzvah, "You will tell your child on that day saying, this is for the sake of that which Hashem did for me when I left Egypt," (Shmos 13:8).

The main message is that Israel was redeemed by Hashem in a miraculous way, to be His treasured nation, and to exclusively inhabit the Holy Land. We retell the ancient story through the prism of bringing the first fruits of the new season to the Temple in Jerusalem. In it we acknowledge our humble beginnings, sufferings in exile, and miraculous redemption.

A festive meal is eaten with a special plate set aside with foods that remind us of the holiday's message. There is a roasted shank bone to recall the lamb that we sacrificed in Egypt. In addition there is an egg to recall the tasty holiday offering brought to the Temple. There are bitter vegetables to remind us of the bitterness of slavery, and there is the sweet paste charoses, made to look like mortar, to remind of us of the hard labor of slavery. There is a vegetable to remind us of the fine foods produced by the land of Israel.

We chant poems and songs of praise. Four cups of wine are drunk symbolizing the four fold promise of redemption. A fifth cup is set aside for Elijah the prophet who will tell us if we should drink another in honor of our coming into the Holy Land. We recognize that as long as we are under any sort of foreign domination that our freedom is not complete. Therefore we conclude by saying, "Next year in Jerusalem," in the hope that the meshiach will come and our next Seder will be in the rebuilt Beis HaMikdash.

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