When and How Did the Passover Holiday Start?
Passover is the most significant inner state a person and humanity can go through. It symbolizes the beginning of true spiritual development, the exit from exile, from slavery to our ego, and the beginning of redemption, i.e., of living in a new nature of bestowal and harmonious connection.
This is why Kabbalists consider Passover the greatest holiday. It represents spiritual birth. Just as spring marks the renewal of nature, Passover marks the person’s renewal. It is the starting point of the entire spiritual path, and that is when and how the holiday of Passover starts.
Today, what is happening in the world is directly connected to this process. Humanity is increasingly feeling pressure globally, socially, economically, and psychologically. This pressure is no accident. It is the same force that once acted in Egypt, and today it acts on a global scale, urging us to recognize our egoistic nature and the need to rise above it.
Egypt in the Passover story represents our ego, and we are approaching a collective “Egyptian exile.” We feel more and more that we are trapped, unable to truly connect, to solve our problems, and to find meaning. This is the state that precedes redemption.
Passover comes at a very special time of the year. Between Purim and Passover there is a unique period when people are more open, sensitive, and receptive to inner transformation. There is a natural awakening in people, even if they do not understand its source.
That is why the time of Passover is very important. It is an opportunity.
Kabbalists thus explains that Passover is not about what happened thousands of years ago. It is a living process that is happening within us right now. “The actions of the fathers are a sign for the sons” means that everything described in the Torah is a template for what we must go through internally.
Redemption means that we begin to feel and understand the higher force that operates reality. We begin to see how everything is connected, how life unfolds before birth, during life, and after it. We no longer feel confined to a limited existence.
This is the state we are being led to. Therefore, Passover is an inner state of exiting our ego, of rising above separation, and of entering a new level of connection where the upper force becomes revealed between us. Today, more than ever, the world has become ready for such a transition.
Based on the video “How Is What’s Happening in the Region Tied To Passover?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
How Does the Passover Holiday Commemorate the Exodus from Egypt?
What we call “Egypt” in relation to the Passover story is not a place on the map. It is a state within us. It is the rule of our ego, our constant desire to benefit ourselves at the expense of others. This ego confines us, limits us, and defines the narrow reality in which we live, one that is between birth and death, in constant struggle, dissatisfaction, and separation.
Pharaoh represents this ego in its full power. It has complete control over us, dictates our thoughts, our desires, and our relationships. Under its rule, we cannot truly connect with other people. Even when we try, we remain locked within ourselves.
However, in this ego, a new point can awaken. This new point is called “Moses.” It is a small but powerful desire that begins to pull us outward, i.e., out of ourselves, out of egoistic perception, to something higher. It asks whether there is more to life and a different way to exist.
This is the beginning of the exodus.
To come out of Egypt means to rise above this egoistic nature. It means to internally cleanse ourselves, i.e., to purify our intentions, to shift from self-benefit to connection with others. When we begin this process, our relationships change. We stop blaming each other, fighting, and competing in a negative way against one another. Instead, we begin to build a positive form of connection, mutual understanding, and even love.
This inner transformation opens a completely new perception of reality.
We no longer experience life as temporary and limited to the span of our physical existence. Instead, we begin to feel a broader and deeper reality, which is not bound by time, space, or individual existence. It is a state of connection, of unity, where life is felt as continuous, whole, and infinite.
This is what it truly means to come out of Egypt. In other words, the exodus from Egypt is an inner transition that every person needs to undergo. Today, more than ever, humanity is being pushed toward this realization: that only by rising above our ego and connecting with one another in a harmonious fashion can we enter a new, boundless form of existence.
Based on the video “Passover Terms Explained by Kabbalah” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.