By the Grace of G-d 11th of Nissan, 5734 Brooklyn, N. Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

Pesach, the Season of Our Liberation, is not only the first¹ of the Three (pilgrimage) Festivals (Pesach, Shovuos, Succos), but also the "mainstay" of all the festivals. Thus, Shovuos, the Season of Our Receiving the Torah, is directly² connected with Pesach; and Succos is also a reminder³ and extension of Pesach, commemorating the Succos (booths) in which G-d caused the children of Israel to dwell when He took them out of Egypt.

In view of the central place which Pesach occupies in Jewish life, it is clear that the teachings of this Festival are of a most basic and comprehensive nature,⁴ and, like all matters of the Torah ("instruction") which is eternal, they are valid for all times and places.

It follows that even a detail relating to this Festival can serve as an essential instruction; certainly a comprehensive aspect of it, and most especially an aspect which has to do with the very essence of the Festival, namely its being the Season of Our Liberation.

Herein also - in the subject of the Geulo (Liberation) from Egypt - there are many instructions to be found, and we will here dwell on one of them, namely, the manner of the Geulo: The extraordinarily wonderful liberation of the Jewish people from the state of bondage in which they found themselves in those days in Egypt, as it is most powerfully underscored in the Torah:

Had⁵ G-d ever attempted to come and take unto Himself a nation from the innards of a nation, by miracles, signs and wonders... as all that G-d, your G-d, did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

* * *

The state of the Jews before the liberation was that of a nation within the innards of a nation. This denotes two things: The Jews in Egypt, before the liberation, were a "nation" in all respects: with its own language, a separate land, Goshen, where they dwelt and lived, etc. At the same time, however, it was a nation "within the innards" of another nation, which, as our Sages of blessed memory describe it,⁶ was like an "unborn baby inside its mother". The baby yet unborn is in a sense a complete, growing and living being, with a complete body, a head and all limbs. But in truth it is as yet by far not an independent being at all. It has no⁷ mind nor feelings of its own; wherever the mother goes, there the baby is automatically carried, and whatever the mother eats, that is also the baby's source of nourishment, etc.

So it was with the Jews in Egypt before the Geulo. They were, indeed, a "nation" in all respects, as mentioned above, even with a separate land, the land of Goshen; they were "distinguished",⁸ distinct from the Egyptians, by their tongue, dress, etc. Yet they were so enslaved and swallowed up by the Egyptians, that they seemingly⁹ even worshipped the idolatry of Egypt, the lamb. Then came the moment when G-d took unto Himself "a nation from the innards of a nation", a process which began¹⁰ with the Jews taking a lamb which, as already mentioned, was sacred¹¹ to the Egyptians, and openly before their eyes, demonstrated that it is no more than a lamb to be eaten, eaten after being "prepared" through roasting with fire (fire ordained by G-d); to be eaten "its head¹² with its legs and its innards."

* * *

Here we have an instruction:

It is possible that a person will imagine, delude himself and all around him, that he is an independent person, with a mind of his own, his own feelings etc. And when it is pointed out to him that he is very much enslaved and worships the idolatry of the environment and of the nations around - he insists nevertheless, that he is free and independent.

How is such a depravity and such an appalling delusion possible? The answer is that it is the result of "selling" himself into bondage: To ape the thinking of the environment, of the nations of the world ("head"), or to gratify the lust for honor or other cravings (falling under the general caption of the craving for food - "innards"), or to gratify even the lower instincts (symbolized by "legs"), or all of them together - until he becomes no more than "an unborn baby within its mother". However, having succumbed to self-bribery in the form of envy,¹³ self indulgence and pursuit of honor, or, as mentioned above, to the passions symbolized by "head, innards, and legs, " he does not even sense his appalling and miserable slavery of being a "slave to slaves", worshippers of idolatry - to the extent that he deludes himself into thinking that he is a free man.

Comes Pesach and teaches that even when a person finds himself in such a lowly state, there is hope of liberation for him, provided that he remembers what "G-d¹⁴ said to Moshe", remembers the Torah of Moshe, for this will give him the strength to "slaughter"¹⁴ (the lamb), destroy the idolatry, "roast by fire, its head with its legs and its innards" - purifying it all by the fire of the love of G-d, in accordance with the commandment, "You shall love¹⁵ G-d, your G-d, with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might,¹⁷ arousing in him a burning desire to attach himself to G-d body and soul, as it is written, "My¹⁸ flesh and my heart are consumed, for G-d is the strength of my heart and my lot forever."

The process of liberation is then completed when G-d intervenes to "take unto Himself a nation from the innards of a nation," transforming the individual from one extreme to the other, from the nadir of slavery to true freedom, as it is written: "When¹⁹ you will bring the people out of Egypt, you will serve G-d on this mountain" - Yetzias Mitzraim (the Exodus from Egypt) and true liberation is linked with the service of G-d, or to quote our Sages: "They (the Jews) are My servants²⁰ (hence) not servants to servants."

There is the Torah commandment²¹ which makes it incumbent upon every Jew to recall and remember Yetzias Mitzraim every day of the year, both day and night. It is incumbent upon every Jew to do everything possible that this remembrance should not remain in the realm of thought, but should be actualized in the daily life. Then G-d helps him to liberate himself from ”Mitzraim" (limitations) and to attain true independence and freedom. Moreover, the liberation comes in a manner of "signs and wonders" that make it evident and clear "before your eyes".

May G-d grant His blessing that the Festival of Pesach should stimulate everyone to make a true evaluation, free from any self-deception, as to where he stands with regard to the "Season of Our Liberation”, both as an individual as well as a member of the community, in his personal as well as in his communal or public life and conduct, and that the Mitzvo of the remembrance of Yetzias Mitzraim by day and at night, every day of the year, should strengthen and deepen his liberation and freedom. For herein, as in all matters of goodness and holiness, there is always room for advancement, in accordance with the principle that things of holiness should be on the ascendancy.²²

And from the redemption of the individual,²³ may we all soon merit to see the redemption of our whole people Israel, in the manner of the first Geulo - "By miracles, signs and wonders, " etc., and even in a more sublime manner, in accordance with the promise: "As²⁴ in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt, I will show you wonders," wonders even in comparison to the miracles attending the liberation from Egypt, Which will come to pass with the coming of our righteous Moshiach, may it be soon indeed.

With the blessing for a Kosher and Happy Pesach,²⁵

/Signed/ Menachem Schneerson