We received an e-mail this morning from someone, full of pain and disillusionment. He claims that he felt uninspired by the 'once-in-28-years' Birchas Hachama this morning and he doesn't feel inspired from Pesach either. He hates learning Gemara and he feels that in general, religion has become empty and is not what it used to be. He also explained that he uses p-rnogrohy to escape from the existential dilemmas of his life. And I quote one line here: "I feel that many things I read on your website are missing the mark because you are using Torah to help people break free, but often this addiction stems from a frustration that is born of a disconnectedness with religion itself".
Dear Holy Jew,
There could not have been a better time to pose these questions then Erev Pesach. The bondage of Mitzrayim indeed symbolizes your situation. And Yetziyas Mitzrayim is about connecting anew to Hashem in a very basic way, a way so basic that even non-Jews can relate to it.
I want to say that you really hit the nail on the head. How can we use Torah to inspire people when they are completely disconnected from Hashem?
And herein lies the secret of Yetziyas Mitzrayim. We indeed could never have gotten the Torah and become the Jewish people if we hadn't first left Mitzrayim. The entire uniqueness of the Jewish nation and the amazing levels that we can reach through Torah would all have been way beyond us. We were stuck in Mitzrayim. We were slaves, at the 49th level of impurity. We were like animals. Can an animal become a Jew? Can an animal receive the Torah?
I want to ask you please to take the time to read Chizuk e-mails #445 through #450 on the bottom of this page. It may take you a half hour or so, but it will give you a new perspective on what Hashem wants from us in this world and what Yetziyas Mitzrayim is all about. If you don't have time today, perhaps you can copy and print it out to read on Pesach.
It is indeed only after we have left Egypt that can we start counting Seffirah and slowly build ourselves up, day by day, until we receieve the Torah and become the Jewish nation, the nation of Hashem!
May we all achieve and feel a true Yetziyas Mitzrayim tonight.