In this week’s Parsha, Bo, the Jewish people finally leave Egypt. But the Torah teaches us that before they could physically walk out of the country, they had to take steps to break three "mental chains". Let's all take a minute to first think about a time we were afraid to do something... not because it was dangerous, but just because we were worried about what everyone else would think. Maybe it was answering a question in class when we weren't 100% sure. Maybe it was wearing a shirt that wasn't "in style." Or maybe it was saying "no" to a group of friends when they were doing something wrong...we have all been there. That fear of standing out? That is actually a form of slavery: when we live like that, we are slaves to other people's opinions. Back to the "mental chains":

Step 1: The Courage to Be Different - The first chain to be broken was peer pressure. G-d tells the Jewish people to take a lamb—which was the god of the Egyptians—then paint its blood on their doorposts. This would indicate Jewish homes which the Angel of Death would 'pass over' - hence the name of the festival. 

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks famously taught that this was the most important moment of the Exodus. Why? Because the Israelites had to publicly reject the culture around them. It wasn't enough to just leave quietly at night; they had to take a stand. They had to be willing to be "counter-cultural". G-d was asking them: "Are you ready to stop acting like Egyptians? Are you ready to stop worrying about what the neighbors think?" Real freedom is the confidence to be yourself. It’s walking down the hallway and being proud of your values, even if it makes you "different."

Step 2: The Power to See Others (plagues) - But being confident in yourself isn't enough. You can’t be so focused on your own freedom that you forget everyone else. This brings us to the second chain: Selfishness.

Just before the Jews leave, there is the Plague of Darkness. The Torah gives a very strange description of this plague. It says the darkness was so thick that "No man could see his brother". The commentaries explain that this wasn't just physical darkness. It was a spiritual darkness where people had become so self-absorbed that they had literally stopped seeing the people around them. We think darkness is an empty room, but the Torah teaches that true darkness is a room full of people who don't care about each other. It’s easy to live in a bubble where only one’s grades and friends matter. But that bubble is a prison. To be free, one has to burst the bubble and actually notice the person sitting alone at the next table.

Step 3: The Discipline to Act Now -  So, we have gained the courage to be ourselves, and we are actively looking out for others. The final chain to be broken is Passivity—waiting for someone else to tell us what to do.

In this Parsha, G-d gives the Jews their very first mitzvah: Rosh Chodesh (The New Moon). Interestingly, the Jewish calendar in biblical times was set by the rabbis at the beginning of each month - it wasn’t automatic. Even though the moon's cycle can be calculated mathematically, G-d  commanded that the new month could only be sanctified when witnesses could actually see the moon and the court declared it. Why? Because G-d wanted us to decide. A slave waits for orders. A free person takes ownership of their time. This connects perfectly to the Matzah which is another important theme of leaving Egypt. When the moment to leave came, they rushed out before the bread could rise. They didn't wait around. The lesson of the New Moon is clear: we must take responsibility, rather than wait - for example we shouldn’t wait for teachers to tell us to study, take responsibility and put in the effort to revise: G-d gave us the calendar so we could determine the time. We must be active, not passive.

So, as we head into Shabbat, we all need to try to master these three steps of freedom: to be brave, like Rabbi Sacks taught us - don't be afraid to be different. To be kind, making sure we really see the people around us. Finally, to be active and take ownership of our time.

Written by Lyora, Grade 10