Pesach and Personal Freedom: Why True Spiritual Growth Sometimes Means Standing Apart

Bill Gates’ son once went to study at a university in France. After a week, he sent his father an email: “Everything here is great and my friends are wonderful. But I feel uncomfortable arriving at university in a sports Mercedes while all my friends come by train.”

The next day he received a reply: “No problem. I transferred another 50 million to your account. Buy yourself a train.”

Behind the humor lies a deeper idea: sometimes the right path is not simply to follow what everyone else is doing.

The Unique Nature of Pesach

Just before the Exodus from Egypt, the Jewish people were commanded to offer the Korban Pesach and received precise instructions for how to perform it. After completing those commandments, the Torah adds a mitzvah to preserve this practice for all generations: “You shall guard the matzot… and you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an eternal statute.”

Rabbi Baruch of Mezhibuz offers a beautiful insight. Normally, God’s guidance in the world follows a clear pattern. A person first does teshuvah, repents, and only afterward receives divine forgiveness and spiritual elevation. As our sages taught: “Open for Me an opening like the eye of a needle, and I will open for you an entrance wide enough for wagons.”

Pesach stands apart. Here, the divine light arrives even before a person has fully prepared through repentance. The phrase “God passed over the entrance” can be understood to mean that during Pesach, God skips over the stage of preparation we are usually required to initiate. We receive a powerful spiritual awakening even without prior effort. That is why the Torah calls it an “eternal statute,” something beyond ordinary understanding.

Commands in Plural and Singular Language

If we examine the language of the commandments related to Pesach in Egypt, we notice that they are written in the plural form, addressing the entire Jewish people collectively.

However, later in the Torah reading of Ki Tisa, when the commandments of Pesach are repeated, they appear in the singular form: “You shall observe the Festival of Matzot,” and “You shall not slaughter the offering with chametz…”

Why the shift?

Perhaps the Torah is hinting at an important lesson.

A Warning Against Spiritual Complacency

Pesach is unique because the sanctity of the holiday descends upon everyone who observes its mitzvot, even if they did not prepare spiritually beforehand. When the Torah speaks in plural language, it addresses the nation as a whole. The collective only needs to perform the basic actions required for the holiday such as removing chametz, bringing the offering, eating matzah and maror, and so on.

But when the Torah speaks in the singular, it addresses the individual. Even though the nation receives the spiritual light automatically, each person is encouraged to invest more effort personally.

“You shall observe the Festival of Matzot” suggests personal preparation. Do not rely solely on divine inspiration from above. If you prepare yourself beforehand, you can reach far greater spiritual heights.

Similarly, “Do not slaughter My offering with chametz” can be understood as a warning not to carry inner chametz, spiritual negativity or ego, into the sacred experience. And “Do not leave the offering until morning” teaches that one should not wait until after the holiness of the Seder night to begin personal growth. Preparing earlier allows one to receive more.

Individual Growth Within the Community

We often hear about the importance of staying connected to the community and supporting its collective spiritual growth. This is true and essential. Yet it is also important to recognize that if a person can elevate themselves beyond the minimum standard without harming or overshadowing others, they are allowed and even encouraged to do so.

Consider the great spiritual leaders of Jewish history. What would have happened if they had decided to serve God only at the level of the crowd instead of responding to their inner calling? The world would have lost immense spiritual leadership.

The same applies in the material world. If innovators and entrepreneurs had chosen only the safest, most ordinary paths, countless advancements would never have occurred.

Perhaps sometimes it is worth choosing the fast Mercedes instead of the train everyone else takes.

The Message of Pesach: Personal Freedom

Pesach is the festival of freedom. It teaches that while we are part of a community, we are not meant to remain spiritually bound by its limitations when we have the ability to grow further.

The Torah invites us to break free not only from physical slavery but also from spiritual conformity. Each person is encouraged to spread their wings and pursue their own path toward deeper freedom and connection with God.