Deborah Lipp

Passover is a celebration of freedom. I have a few thoughts about today that are ripe meditation subjects.

First is the notion of freedom. Passover is primarily a holiday of political freedom; as we contemplate freedom from slavery, we are obligated to contemplate those who are not free. Wherever anyone is enslaved, we are taught, we ourselves are not free. We must meditate
upon those who suffer so we can understand their suffering, but meditation is not enough. We should be prepared to act.

There is also inner freedom. Passover is a time wherein we can contemplate that which enslaves us. What binds you? What are you stuck with? What are you slave to? What runs you? What conditions, habits, addictions, relationships, needs, and desires do you have that prevent you from being truly free?

Passover is also a descent and resurrection. This is a universal motif in religion and myth. A god or goddess or hero descends into hell, suffers trials, and is miraculously able to return from hell after a harrowing journey, to be reborn in a way that redeems his/her people.
This is true of the descent of Inanna, of the abduction of Persephone, of the descent of Hercules, of the Wiccan tale of the Descent of the Goddess into the Underworld, and of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Jewish version is unique in that it is the entire Jewish
people who descend and are resurrected, and therefore it is the tribe of the Jews, not any one person, who embody the redemption of the Jewish people. Perhaps this is why Moses does not enter the Holy Land; because there cannot be a single Savior of the Jews (except the Messiah); the Jews must save themselves.

The Jews journey to Egypt in pride and success but are enslaved. Slavery, symbolically, is Hell. Through a series of miracles, the Jews are led out of slavery, and in their long and arduous journey they are reborn as a new people, newly monotheistic (after that little calf
business) and with a set of laws. Thus resurrected, they enter the land of Israel.

So, resurrection. That’s a big one. But more important is the journey into and out of hell. Our lives follow trajectories of darkness and light. We are going one place la la down the road. Then we are in some other place, and it is hell. What the fuck happened? Our lives are
utterly unrecognizable. Yet we continue to journey. We can resist or accept but there we are. In Wicca we are taught that embracing the darkness leads to transformation; that only when we embrace Death can we know Rebirth. So it is a good time to ask: What do you resist? What embrace do you refuse? Is that refusal preventing you from moving on?

May your resurrection be blessed, and may you be truly free.