The Chassidic master, living in extreme poverty, had a student volunteer to help him manage his home finances.
One morning, a grateful visitor gave the Rabbi an unusually generous gift of 300 rubles. The student was overjoyed; he’d finally pay off some of the Rabbi’s crushing debt.
But that night the gift was gone.
Confused, he asked the Rabbi for the money’s whereabouts.
The Rabbi answered that a deeply-pained man had visited him that afternoon, pouring out his family’s tale of woes. Meeting the fellow’s immediate needs would add up to a sum of 300 rubles.
The Rabbi was immediately struck by his Divinely-fortuitous ability to bring salvation to this poor man. Then, on second thought, he considered his own situation. Maybe it would be best if he took care of his own problems and gave a bit to the community’s needs?
Facing with an internal conflict, the Rabbi told his student, he took private time for honest introspection. He needed to figure out where these different ‘voices’ were coming from.
Was his first instinct rash impulsivity, and his second thought sane responsibility?
Or was his initial reaction the pure flow of human-goodness, and the second voice a self-serving damper?
The Rabbi searched his psyche. Was there any tinge of self-interest in his giving impulse? Was he looking to be a hero with his self-sacrifice?
He concluded that his first instinct came from his Higher Self; there was no shallow ego. So that was the voice he decided to follow.
He searched. And he found.
Passover is a time to take an honest look at our lives, and to define our personal “Egypts” - the psycho-spiritual obstacles which impede our growth.
The Holiday’s spiritual energy can help us “Pass Over” our limitations, finding our way to Soul Freedom.
One common “Egypt” is the lack of self-awareness.
By self—awareness I mean:
Do you see yourself as separate from your thoughts and feelings, which you can take the time to analyze; or do you think your stream of thoughts IS the real you?
Do you ever explore your psyche, searching for the REAL motives for your behaviors? Or do you just “go with the flow”?
We’re not Chassidic Masters, but we all face moral dilemmas, and internal argumentation.
If we at least question our motives, and actually take the effort to find our truest instinct, I guess we’re already out of Egypt.
Mendy wrote...
The point is actually a thought from the Previous Rebbe, explaining a piece of the Haggada.
We say “this is the bread of poverty that our ancestors ate in Egypt”. In Kabbalistic thought, our “ancestors” represents our cognitive powers. So we are referring to the poverty of cognition that was/is experienced within an ‘Egypt’ condition. This poverty, the poverty of pro-active discernment, the poverty of self-awareness, is an Egypt we want to escape, as we sit at the Seder and as we celebrate our Passover.