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When we speak about Passover, we are not speaking about a historical event, but about an inner process that every person must go through. The entire story of Egypt, Pharaoh, Moses, and the exodus is happening within us.
There are two main forces in a person. One is the force of Pharaoh—our ego, which separates us, distances us from others, and keeps us confined within our narrow, self-centered perception of reality. The other is the force of Moses—a small point within us that awakens and begins to pull us toward something higher, to unity, connection, and the revelation of life’s ultimate meaning and purpose.
At a certain stage in human development, we begin to feel that our ego no longer satisfies us. It becomes restrictive and suffocating. Then, we begin to ask about the meaning and purpose of oru lives. This awakening is the point of Moses within us.
But at the same time, the ego, which is represented by Pharaoh, grows stronger. It resists, separates us, and hardens our heart. “Heart” in this instance refers to our egoistic desires, those that are self-serving at the expense of others. We feel an inner struggle. On one side, we posses a desire for connection, for something higher, and on the other, a force constantly pulls us back into separation and self-concern.
Pharaoh is not an enemy in the usual sense. It is a force that operates according to the program of creation. Its role is to reveal the evil within our egoistic nature, to show us how incapable we are of achieving connection via our inborn egoistic desires. Without Pharaoh, we would remain in a comfortable but limited state, never reaching the purpose of creation.
This is why the process intensifies. First, there are “years of satiation,” where we feel relatively comfortable in our egoistic life. But later come the “years of famine,” which is a growing dissatisfaction, emptiness, and pressure that forces us to search for something much bigger and greater than our egoistic lives.
The people of Israel within us, which are our inner desires that aim at connection, initially resist this process. They prefer comfort. They say, “Leave us alone. Why make things worse?” This is exactly how we behave in life. We generally prefer to remain in familiar conditions rather than confront inner change.
But the process cannot be stopped. Nature pushes us forward.
Eventually, we reach a state where we feel they can no longer remain in egoism, yet we also cannot escape it on our own. This tension builds until it leads to a breakthrough, the exodus from Egypt, the exit from egoistic control.
This is where the symbols of Passover assume an inner significance to the process of our exiting our egoistic nature and entering a new, second nature of connection, love, and bestowal.
Matzah represents the force of bestowal in its pure form. It is “unleavened bread,” which means without ego. It symbolizes the state where we use only the force of giving, without mixing it with egoistic intentions. In order to exit egoism, one must rely only on this pure force.
Maror, the bitter herb, represents the bitterness of egoism. It is the feeling of how painful and unbearable our egoistic nature truly is. Without this bitterness, we would never want to leave it.
The process is simple in principle but difficult in practice: we begin to distance ourselves from egoistic use of our desires and aspire for connection with others. Along the way, we feel bitterness, resistance, and inner struggle. Howevver, gradually, we acquire the force of bestowal.
After the “seven days of Passover,” meaning after we have established this force within us, we can begin to work with the ego itself, to correct and integrate it with the force of bestowal. Then the ego is no longer an enemy. It becomes a partner in building a higher form of connection.
The key point is this: we cannot remain in Egypt, i.e., in our egoistic desires. Even if we want a quiet, comfortable life, the system of nature will not allow it. Just as throughout history the Jewish people were repeatedly pushed out of places where they tried to settle peacefully, so too internally, we become pushed out of our egoistic nature.
This process is inevitable. The only question is whether we go through it consciously and willingly, or under pressure and suffering.
If we understand the process, if we begin to work with these forces of Pharaoh and Moses correctly, then even the ego itself begins to help us. It pushes us forward, reveals what needs to be corrected, and ultimately leads us to unity, connection, and to the revelation of the higher force within that connection.
Based on “What Is Passover? – Part 1 of 2 | Jtimes with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.” Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Posted in Quora, The Times of Israel