Passover III: The path out of Egypt

I just had an amazing class with my favorite teacher, Rabbi Braun and he shared some beautiful insights on how one can understand and leave their Egypt:

*Note, this discussion of leaving Egypt is not about leaving a geographical place nor does it require any physical movement. An exodus takes place within you. Also, as discussed in the first Nisan Blog Entry, the land of Egypt alludes to the word ‘confinement’ or something that is ‘narrow’ like a strait jacket. Celebrating Passover is about identifying and breaking through whatever it is that constricts us.

There is a big ‘machloket” (question) about what time we actual left Egypt, was it in the middle of the night or was it the next day? The Torah is very ambiguous on the matter, and in different places it says that we left Egypt by night and in other places it says that we left Egypt by day. Is that a mistake? For sure not, it just needs some light shed.

Maimonides, one the greatest Torah scholars of all times, clarifies the contradiction by explaining that the process of leaving Egypt began in the middle of the night when the Pharaoh woke up to find his firstborn child dead and declared that the Jews are free to go. However the completion of the redemption wasn’t until the next day at which point we actually left the land.

From this explanation, we can learn that there are 2 essential stages one must go through to have an Exodus.

How to Leave your Egypt In Style Step 1: Build a Bridge

Look in the mirror and note what the most narrow part of your body is. It’s your neck. And what does your neck separate? Your brain and from your heart. Interestingly, Rashi explains that the word ‘pharaoh’ translates to ‘nape of neck’ in Hebrew, so the King of Egypt is sometimes referred to as the ruler of the neck. I don’t know if this applies to you, but some of us (myself included) are very much caught up by experiences in this world, enslaved by our physical wants and needs, the day to day challenges of work, relationships, the changing in the weather…whatever it is for you, the ups and downs effect us emotionally. They drain us, confine us, and render us powerless at times. While emotions dwell in the territory of our hearts, above the neck we have our brains. Since, it's the highest part of our body, truth has an easier time shining into our brain. It is in our minds that we meditate and have revelations and come to moments of understanding, clarity, and truth.

But, man-o-man, is it difficult to connect the two. It's so easy to intellectually understand the truth of a situation, but it doesn’t necessarily translate into action. For example, I know I shouldn’t eat that pint of Ben and Jerry's at 4:00am just because I don’t want it to take up room in the freezer, but that doesn’t necessarily stop me from doing it. Reason doesn’t always penetrate through the neck. And for myself, I have an exceptionally thick neck.

The first step of leaving Egypt is the recognition that we are free. The pharaoh said so himself. We can now connect the head and all its G-dly understanding to the rest of our being with a bridge. We are not prisoners to our emotional entrapments. The construction of the bridge is the beginning, the Leaving Egpyt by Night part.

BUT BUT, actually leaving, is the hard part. Rabbi Nachman brings down that the greatest distance a person can measure is between their head and heart....and so

How to Leave your Egypt In Style Step 2: Cross the Bridge

It was not until the day that the exodus was complete, when they actually walked out of the land. And so after we build a bridge, we can funnel in the tranquility of truth and understanding that enables us to break the yoke of our physical restrictions. Ultimately, we can reach a state-of-mind and being where life is no longer a challenge. Liberation from yourself. For example, some millionaires are enslaved by their money while a person in a concentration camp can be mentally free. This is because the truest leaving of Egpyt takes place internally.

Both parts, the night and the day are essential to the process. And so we understand that the Torah didn’t make a mistake, rather it was simply expounding upon the art of self-growth.

There is a commandment in Torah to “remember leaving Egypt” and the oral law elaborates, explaining that it really means “In every generation a man must regard himself as if he himself had gone out of Egypt. Therefore every year, every day, every moment we are commanded to be in the process of leaving Egypt. To be engaged in the constant struggle to be free from our constraints. And on Passover we get strength for the whole year to stay on the front line of this battle. We already are free, we just need to cross the bridge.