There are many different starting points of the story, many different times where we could identify that the story is set in motion. One such point is when the Israelites cry out.
The Israelites sighed from their hard work and they screamed, and their cries rose up to God… And God heard their moaning, and God remembered the covenant… (Exodus 2:23-24)
The story didn’t start with a major event, not even with words, but with a cry, a collective moan from the people who had endured generations of servitude. It is their cry that reaches the heavens and cracks open the possibility of redemption. It is their cry that affects God and brings them closer to salvation.
The Kabbalistic tradition offers us the notion that Mitzrayim (Egypt), is not just a physical place, a location on a map, but it is it’s literal meaning - a narrow place. Mitzrayim is understood then as any experience of constriction, any narrowness, any oppression. Pesach and the process of seeking redemption is expanded to allow for the possibility of liberation from any narrow place. And it starts with a cry. It starts with identifying, naming, connecting to that experience.
We each have that in our lives. We each can look at the world and see many other places of Mitzrayim. We must cry.
This Pesach, I hope we are free from all the narrow places in our lives. May we be inspired to cry out just like the ancient Israelites. May we affect God, cracking open possibilities of redemption in our lives and all over the world.
Shabbat Shalom, and Chag Kasher v’Sameach, Rabbi Sarit
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