Consciousness at the Passover Festive Meal- This Time its Personal

This Monday night, March 25th, people the world over will be getting together to enjoy a festive meal to mark the beginning of the Passover holiday. And while re-telling the story of the exodus by the Israelites from Egypt a few thousand years ago is central to the night's activities, the question I'd like to ask is why? Why do we retell the same story every year; and why do we have a meal with iconic dishes unique to this night? Is this merely an anachronistic 'movie night' where instead of watching a movie together with our favorite snack foods we sit around, munch out, toss back a few glasses of wine telling tales of a victory from a bygone era? Or is there something more, metaphysically or otherwise, going on?

I would suggest that at all times whatever it is we are doing, being present to our actions requires asking why. Don't just do it. Think about what it is and why it is we are doing it. Without this awareness, life can feel empty. With this awareness, we do much more than continue a chain began by our ancestors. We work on ourselves, our souls and in turn the world. This is the central theme of this holiday and, not coincidentally, to leading a purposeful life.

Our sages of blessed memory gave us many tools to maximize the relevancy of this night. For starters there's a playbook, the Haggadah, with detailed directions for the night. The festive meal itself is called a Seder, meaning "order" and the playbook shows us the intended order of the night. The playbook even includes questions for us to ask of ourselves. There is a Seder plate filled with specific foods, and a stack of matzos. Were the sages control freaks who enjoyed the idea of making sure we asked their favorite questions, ate their favorite dishes in their favorite order for generations, just for kicks? Is this just some empty tradition, the passing of the proverbial torch with the emptiness of an email based chain letter? From my perspective, certainly not! Our sages knew that within the fabric of the creation of our world, the Creator had left a cosmic opening on the 15th of Nissan for us to tap into. And all of our so called "traditions" were uniquely chosen to assist us with maximizing this opportunity. An opportunity to achieve freedom by escaping from a closed and limited mindset. To see a grander vision than we can presently see with these blinders on. We can cross a sea, get manna from heaven along the way, and make it to the Promised Land.

The limits of a blog entry don't allow for a detailed explanation of why each particular dish and paragraph was chosen to accompany this Holiday feast. Most importantly though, let’s begin with a big picture understanding behind the purpose of all of this. It is our personal obligation as thinking, feeling people to live a life of purpose. To do that we must make a personal effort to struggle with a desire to know and understand. This is how we free ourselves from the expectations and agenda of society at large and the people in our lives in particular.

Our sages put this production together and passed it down to give us the opportunity to hit the pause button, gain perspective, and take the steps necessary to make our lives better in the here and now. The exodus was not merely a physical journey but a timeless spiritual one. And in every generation we have our own personal journeys to make, insights to discover and work to do to enhance the lives of our brothers and sisters the world over. So as we partake in this festive meal and go through the rituals that our ancestors did, let's not waste the opportunity given us by just going through the motions. Open a door to your soul and invite consciousness in. Let’s seek out a deeper, more personal meaning. If we all do our part the world will surely be better for it.