The message about freedom and justice in the biblical narrative of the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt has been a source of inspiration to many throughout history icluding, in modern times, the civil rights movement among the black people of the USA, the Indians in the slums of South America, Catholic exponents of liberation theology in Argentina, Peru and Colombia in the 1970s and many others. They have all read of the Israelites’ “liberation movement” as though it was their own struggle.

The message of Passover is as much about materialism as it is about idealism. There is a recognition of our human material needs – a promise of a land “flowing with milk and honey”. And, at the same time, there is an ambition to rise above the material level. There is the concept of an ethical standpoint. Everything represented by “Egypt” – oppression, corruption, inequality and lawlessness – is rejected on moral grounds. Instead, a vision is formulated of a society in which justice and freedom reign.

The story of the Exodus is retold every year during the Jewish Passover and its theme is always relevant. We still live in a time of oppression and an absence of freedom but we hope for a better future. The road to this “promised land” goes through a desert and there is no other way to reach one’s goal than to join the rest of humanity on the road.

This passage does a great example of how the freedom and justice in the biblical narrative of the Israelites has toucher more then the jews but has spread to many parts of the world making it a true inspirational story. 


haggadah Section: Introduction