If you haven’t seen Braveheart I strongly suggest you find a couple of hours this coming week of Pesach to get a cup of tea, or maybe something a bit stronger, and sit back to watch one of the greatest films ever made. He may not be the most Jew friendly guy in the world, but Mel Gibson sure knows how to make a good film. The message is freedom; freedom from oppression and the tyrannical rule of a seemingly far superior force. It’s the victory of the underdog, the power of determination and the strength of vision and passion.
It doesn't matter how many trips you staff to Thailand, it's tough to fully come to terms with the horrendous issue of human trafficking. Women and men, young girls and boys, trafficked and used for forced labor and worse. Thousands of people who cannot choose what to do with their time, with their life, with their body. It's unimaginable. Then there are the perpetrators. Organisations, and individuals. Hundreds of heartless people who are inflicting pain on their fellow humans, because they value power and money over human dignity and compassion. And then there are the heroes, those few people who are choosing to use their time, life and body to do something about it.
Pesach is not about commemorating an event that happened in the past. It’s about embracing the Jewish philosophy of the nature of reality. Its about realizing that our job is to bring about good in the world and to worry too much about "reality" getting in the way. Ask any great leader, and they will tell you that they worked hard, and then some crazy miracles happened. As Jews, we believe that we live in a purposeful world, and that the power behind the universe will make miracles to help us fight for lives of meaning, dignity and goodness for ourselves, our families and for all mankind. Pesach is about the Jewish people realising that for the first time.
Another angle on Pesach is a bit mystical. The word for Egypt in Hebrew is Mitzrayim which comes from the same root letters and the word Metzarim meaning "The land of limitation". When we were slaves in Egypt, we lived in a world of limits imposed by a society that cared more for itself than for us. When we left Egypt, we left the "land of limitation," and became a nation of idealists, dedicated to building a society that values human dignity above its own comfort.
Pesach is teaching us to look at ourselves and break free from our own limitations, from our oppressors, from our slavery to self-doubt, fear, anger, lust, judgment, unhealthy habits, values and relationships, and to help others to do the same.
My favorite line from Braveheart is: “Every man dies, not every man really lives.”
This line is one of those lines that has inspired and fueled many on their journey towards becoming "unlimited" by societal norms, and really living for the good of others, and themselves.
Pesach is a time to ask ourselves these questions and to realize that there is great hope for us and for all those we hope to help. 3461 years on from leaving Egypt, and 70 years on from the liberation of Auschwitz, Jewish parents are still telling the story to their children, a story of oppression, redemption, survival, a story which involves the underdog, through a commitment to what is right, through determination, vision and passion, not just surviving but actually reaching out to help the other underdogs, doing our best to fix ourselves and the world around us.
Now that’s something worth really living for.
Chag Pesach Sameach!
Dov Ber Cohen
Director of Education, Justifi.org