Image, left: Ramses beating a slave, stone engraving found in Abu Simbel temple in southern Egypt
The minute one loses one's personal sense of worth and a positive self image, he or she becomes a slave.
Lack of self-respect, self-deprecation, and ignorance of one's own marvelous qualities and heritage are tickets to the slave train. Shame or embarrassment about one's ethnic or religious background is tantamount to carrying around an iron shackle with a 50-lb. ball and chain.
These feelings of inferiority are an invitation to let society dictate how you should live your life. People who feel inferior are weak; it's easy to exploit a person with no backbone. Controlled and exploited people are the most miserable creatures on the face of the earth.
For a Jew, one of the most important Passover messages is learning who we are and why we're celebrating. Modern society often discourages us from learning about our wonderful background, our G-d, and what emuna - the full and simple faith in Him - can do for us in every level of life, be it emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and even physical.
Emuna helps you feel good about yourself. As soon as you begin feeling good about yourself, you become free.
Every human has an inherent right to freedom; that's the universal message of the Passover holiday. Happy Passover!
