We are just emerging from the holiday of Passover, our festival of freedom. But freedom from what? We were freed from Egyptian slavery thousands of years ago and we became Jewish nation. But we are still in exile. We do not yet have the redemption. What are we actually celebrating on Passover?
The first redemption from Egypt is a constant process. It is not something that happened years ago. It happens every day on a spiritual level. We are constantly going out of Egypt (the word for Egypt, Mitzraim, is from the word “Metzarim”, limitations). On Passover we go out of our personal limitations; out of whatever prevents us from serving the Almighty with joy.
The first redemption is connected to the last redemption. In other words, they are all one. The redemption from Egypt is one step towards the final redemption. It is an ongoing process which we are still busy with. So it is not something that happened only thousands of years ago. It is the first step towards the goal of Moshaich. However, on Passover we rejoice in the fact that had we not been redeemed back then, we would still be slaves today . So we celebrate our freedom, while realizing it is just a step and part of the process towards the final redemption, may it be very soon.