Happy Passover

I had an amazing conversation with my friend Matthew this morning about Passover. First we talked about the actual Passover story:

The Passover story begins over 3,000 years ago. The Jews lived in Egypt for many generations. The Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, became worried that the Jews would take over his people and his power. To avoid this, he made the Jews slaves and forced them to build Egyptian temples and cities. This occurred for many generations. Close to the end of the fourteenth century B.C., Moses, a leader of the Jews, asked the Pharaoh to free the Jews.

-- TeacherLINK: Lesson Plans for 5th Graders

Then we talked in a broader way about the notion of "freedom" and "slavery" and the things and people in our lives who make us feel enslaved.

It's Spring and it's a good time to start over, throw off whatever small thoughts or petty grievances you harbor which enslave you. We hold ourselves back from so many things, so many people by being enslaved by old prejudices, old fears, old ways of seeing things.

Isn't it time to see things in a new and fresh way?