As we all prepare for Passover, which begins tomorrow (Wednesday) night, I want to encourage you to please consider, at a minimum, eating Matzah and drinking 4 cups of grape juice or wine after sundown, which is approximately 8 PM in Bel Air.
The Seder is a feast celebrating freedom. Freedom means having the ability to make choices on your own, without being held back by internal or external factors. This is true freedom.
We could put together a booklet for every line in the Haggadah explaining how it represents freedom. However, this Passover, I encourage you to take a moment to experience freedom. Not only going through a checklist of things that you must do to technically fulfill the requirements of the Seder, but to go to the Seder with an open mind and open heart. To recognize that 3,338 years ago, Hashem gave us the ability to choose. Hashem gave us the ability to recognize that every setback and every challenge is really an exercise routine meant to help us grow and see who we are in our souls.
When I speak to people who are in recovery, one of the things they tell me is that, by going through the 12-step process, they are forced to face their true selves and reveal their deepest selves.
The Seder is also a process; a 15-step process to true freedom.
Kadesh: Kiddush, sanctification. “Because I’ve created you in this world, because I’ve made you.” Hashem holds us in high esteem. We are holy.
Urchatz: Wash your hands, because we’re all imperfect. You are no less special than anybody else, and you are no more special than anybody else. We are setting the foundation of what it means to have a healthy understanding of who we are: created by Hashem, intentionally holy, and imperfect.
Karpas: We dip into saltwater. We begin to recognize that a profound, deep experience is about to unfold. A taste of bitter water. Tears. Making space for something we’re going to go through. Just a little bit to acknowledge what we’re about to experience.
Yachatz: The simple act of taking the whole self, cracking it, putting away the bigger half in hiding, and showing up with the smaller half, is a way of recognizing that, right now, we are still experiencing the smaller half of ourselves.
Maggid: Telling the story. We try to understand the whole of Egypt as we face our internal demons. Once you face your Egypt, you do not need to experience it ever again.
Rachtzah: Wash hands again. Recognize that while we are still working on ourselves, our hands are still imperfect.
Motzi, Matzah, Maror: We thank Hashem for the experience, the humility, and the bitterness. We experience each one separately.
Korech: We bring them all together. We recognize that the different parts of ourselves, the challenges and the blessings together is what makes us who we are and ready for redemption.
Shulchan Aruch: I am free and can enjoy that Hashem wants to nourish me. He wants me to experience physical pleasure together with divine pleasure. When done correctly, the physical pleasure is also part of serving Hashem.
Tzafun: The Afikoman. We can now reveal the full self that was hidden for a very long time. And who’s holding the bigger piece? The little kid (your inner child?).
Beyrach: Thank you, Hashem. You should be blessed as You gave me this perfectly imperfect life. You made me unique and free.
Hallel: We feel that we belong. The only thing left to do is get up and sing.
Nirtzah: The grand culmination of this entire process is to know that we are desired and wanted. Even if our Seder was imperfect, Hashem wants us.
This is the journey of Passover. From slavery to freedom, from hiding to wholeness, and from shame to song.
Just as our ancestors walked out of Egypt not knowing exactly what would come next, yet trusted that they were led by something greater, we too can walk out of this Seder a little freer than when we sat down. The matzah we eat is called the “bread of affliction”. It is also the bread of faith that our ancestors took with them on their way out. The same humble, simple thing that represents our pain is also the symbol of our redemption. That is the story of every one of us.
Wishing you and your family a kosher and joyful Passover; Chag Sameach!
Rabbi Kushi Schusterman
P.S. If this message resonated with you and you’d like to be part of creating a space where everyone has a place to celebrate, grow, and experience freedom together, please consider making a gift at harfordchabad.org/makeroom. Every contribution helps ensure that no one has to experience Passover alone.