Karen Berg
APRIL 2, 2023
This article on the portion of the week was originally published in 2017.
It is so easy to mistake freedom as the ability to do whatever we want. Spiritually speaking, freedom is the strength to refrain from doing what we don’t want.
This is a very special week, as it is the holiday of Pesach, the time the Creator Himself took the Israelites out of Egypt, removing them from bondage. At the Kabbalah Centre we teach that while we ourselves may not be in state of physical ‘slavery,’ we all have at least one thing in our lives to which we are bound. We might be enslaved to alcohol, drugs, or other such forms of addiction while for others it could be power, control, or wealth, or even blaming other people. None of us, as long as we are here in this world, are totally immune to the trickery of the dark side, that force which seeks to keep us subjugated, so that we remain stuck, unable to move forward and experience potential of our soul and the totality of the Light.
"Pesach's energy free us from all that holds us back from the Light."
Yet we know that at the time of the exodus from Egypt, God granted Israelites immunity from this enslaving force, and every year at the same window of time the chains are broken for us as well. Just as the Creator’s divine energy removed the Israelites from their bondage, so too is this same totality of energy available for us in the cosmos this week: Freedom from all that holds us back from the Light. With gift of Light that we receive during Pesach, we too can experience this most divine of privileges.
Of course, just because the energy is available does not necessarily mean we will automatically tap into it, or keep it. What happened after the Creator took the Israelites out of Egypt? They complained. They wanted to return to life as they had known it before. After all, they were comfortable enough and even cared for. Seems a little crazy, right? Who would want to go back to a life of slavery? And yet, this is the challenge each of us will face also throughout not only this week, but the 49 days that follow Pesach, as our sovereignty is still being solidified. As important as freedom is, equally important is what we do with it. On the night of Passover, we may be cut lose from our shackles by the Hand of the Creator, but in the days that follow what we do with our self-determination will be entirely in our hands.
"We are being called to walk away from the behaviors that block our connection to the Light"
The Israelites wished to return to their life of slavery for one reason and one reason only: It was the easier path. It is so comfortable to fall back into our old patterns, to enable the ego by seeking attention for attention’s sake, trying to manipulate situations, or take a little more in the moments where we know we most need to give. This week, we are being called upon to walk away from those behaviors that do not serve our connection to the Light, and to step into a new way of being. Look for the opportunities to create new Light-like patterns, exchanging those short-term pleasures born of the ego for the long-term fulfillment that can only be generated by becoming a creative force.
To be truly free is to be a Creator in our own right, to walk the spiritual path and to do that which will most benefit not only ourselves, but all those around us.
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