It’s been a crazy week. The world with all its worries and bothers is still clamoring for your attention. The first step is to forget all that. Leave it behind. Enter into a timeless space, where you, your great-grandparents and Moses all coincide.

The beginning of all journeys is separation. You’ve got to leave somewhere to go somewhere else. It is also the first step towards freedom: You ignore the voice of Pharaoh inside that mocks you, saying, “Who are you to begin such a journey?” You just get up and walk out.

This is the first meaning of the word, “Kadesh” -- to  transcend  the mundane world. Then comes the second meaning: Once you’ve set yourself free from your material worries, you can return and  sanctify  them. That is when true spiritual freedom begins, when you introduce a higher purpose into all those things you do. 


haggadah Section: Kadesh
Source: http://www.chabad.org/library/howto/wizard_cdo/aid/116903/jewish/1-Sanctify.htm