Once again we are celebrating, with all its pomp and ceremony, rites and rituals, the festival of Pesach which essentially celebrates and commemorates our freedom from slavery in Egypt. The Haggadah tells us that in every generation a person is obligated to see himself as having come out of Egypt. What does this mean? How is this achieved? It does not of course mean that we need to perform some sort of role play of the story, even if Seder night is essentially role playing with everything we do, whether it is eating or talking or drinking, connected to the narrative.

The purpose of all the symbolism of the Seder night and story of the exodus is to help us in a very real way think about and focus on each part of the story and dwell on its message to us today. I cannot help but think that this year the message and story we tell on Seder night will resonate even more than in the past, given the events in Egypt and other parts of North Africa over the last couple of months. No doubt it will be a talking point at some stage of your Seder night.

We have heard very often during these events that the people of the uprisings want to live in a “free democracy” – surely democracy by default is free? The answer of course is no. Just because one lives in a democracy does not mean that one is free. Freedom itself can, as we have seen in other parts of the world, lead to chaos and anarchy. Freedom needs to be accompanied by order, structure and civility.

This is what we will be celebrating over the course of the festival – not simply freedom for freedom’s sake but freedom to live a structured and ordered way of life. That was, and still is, the purpose of taking us out of Egypt and why we are told that each and every one of us has an obligation to see ourselves as having come out of Egypt. We have an obligation to fulfil the purpose of having been taken out of Egypt, namely to receive the Torah on Sinai and become a civilised nation living with a set of rules and discipline which we call Judaism.

When celebrating your Seder night do not forget this message. Ensure that the experience of Seder night is reinforced with the message of what true freedom is and that it lasts at least until next year in Jerusalem!