Passover's message to Jews and those under oppression
Rabbi Steve Burg shares the meaning of the holiday
Passover begins this Friday night at sundown — marking the freedom of the Jewish people from slavery in Ancient Egypt and their exodus, as led by Moses.
Lasting eight days, Passover is the oldest and longest continuously celebrated holiday on the Jewish calendar.
As Jews all over the world get set to begin the Passover holiday, Rabbi Pinchas Taylor of Plantation, Florida, told Fox News Digital that the "exodus paradigm is embedded in the roots of America."
"It is the recurring exodus theme that undergirds all manifestations of American freedom and the force that makes our country better."
"Passover is the message of America," he said. "It is the battle cry of American patriotism that galvanized the War of Independence, the storyline that inspired the fight to end slavery and the message that holds the key to making this country greater by empowering its citizens today."
Yes, he added, "Passover celebrates the fact that God freed the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. The Jewish community annually retells the story and relives the experience on the anniversary of the exodus."
Rabbi Taylor shared thoughts with Fox News Digital about Passover, which begins April 15, 2022. He described the story of the exodus as "timeless." (Rabbi Pinchas Taylor/Chabad.org)
But he also stressed, "The early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony viewed their emigration from England as a reenactment of the exodus. America was their promised land; crossing the Atlantic Ocean was the Red Sea; and the King of England was the Pharaoh."
Taylor pointed out that "during the American Revolution, George Washington was commonly compared to Moses — and when the Continental Congress named the first committee to design a great seal, or national emblem, for the country, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson chose an allegorical scene with Moses standing on the shore, extending his hand over the Red Sea."
George Washington, the first president, is shown in this engraving from 1837. He was commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War during 1775-1783. Engraved by W. Humphreys after a picture by G. Stewart and published in The Gallery of Portraits with Memoirs, London Charles Knight, Ludgate Street. (iStock)
While Passover honors the freeing of the enslaved Jewish people in Egypt, Taylor said that the art, symbols and literature in the fight for abolition "were saturated with biblical texts like ‘Let my people go!’ and the enslaved population found strength and inspiration in the story of the exodus."
Taylor described the exodus as "timeless."
The parting of the Red Sea, illustration from the Old Testament, engraving by Bequet, Delagrave edition, Paris, France, circa 2002. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)
"It is the recurring exodus theme that undergirds all manifestations of American freedom and the force that makes our country better," he told Fox News Digital.
"The exodus teaches that every individual is endowed by his creator with purpose. Ultimately, no outside force will succeed in enslaving or victimizing you. No matter your situation, God will take you out of your affliction."
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He noted that the "quest" for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness "has inspired people to strive for freedom and to throw off tyranny. However," he added, "if we look at the human condition, there are many self-defeating behaviors plaguing society today, which lead in the opposite direction — personal enslavement and the pursuit of misery. Our society has come a long way, and outside oppressors do not exist as they once did. Instead, perhaps the primary challenge today is combating oppressors from within."
Taylor decried today's victim mentality and the tendency of many to believe they are being "exploited."
A Haggadah is shown with a Seder plate to celebrate the holiday of Passover in this file photo from 2011. (AP Photo/Stace Maude)
"These ideas are self-imposed limitations that might have been reinforced by parents, peers and politicians who tacitly perpetuated your sense of victimhood," he said. "Our society now seems content to point fingers and assign blame, losing the sense of intractable spirit that enabled Americans to fight through prior hardships," he said.
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"The inspiration to break free from this personal enslavement is derived from the same place that inspired freedom from outside forces — the Passover story. Hebrew scriptural tradition teaches that the Passover Seder is to re-experience the exodus on a personal level in the present day."
"The message of Passover proclaims, ‘You are not a victim who is limited by external factors, but a victor who God empowers to break free and achieve your destiny.’"
In his view, the geographical place, Egypt, can also be "a state of mind."
"This is emphasized by the fact that the Hebrew word for Egypt, mitzrayim, also means ‘limitations,'" said Taylor.
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"The ‘inner-Egypt’ is limited thinking, feelings of powerlessness and spiritual constriction. Taking the Israelites out of Egypt happened in a moment; but taking the ‘Egypt’ out of the Israelites required 40 years in the desert."
"We can choose to be motivated by hope and perseverance rather than by victimhood."
The Florida-based rabbi said that too many Americans today "have developed the mentality that we are not in control of our destiny and have been shackled by the limiting views of inner Egypt. Letting others dictate our progress in life is a recipe for defeat — and a pattern that must be broken."
"The message of Passover proclaims, ‘You are not a victim who is limited by external factors, but a victor who God empowers to break free and achieve your destiny.’ We can choose to be motivated by hope and perseverance rather than by victimhood."
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He also said, "May the message of Passover be a reminder that we are ‘One Nation under God’ and a land of opportunity. Here, you can be everything you dream you can be."
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