The Fragility of Freedom

By Rabbi Berel Wein, Aish.com
In the measured cadence and soaring beauty of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (a speech that American students were once required to commit to memory) there appears a phrase at the end -- "a new birth of freedom." Lincoln hit upon a basic value in Jewish life and in the Torah.
Freedom, rather than being a permanent and expected state of being, is fragile and rather rare in human history. Therefore, because of its very fragility and scarcity, freedom has to be treasured, appreciated and constantly renewed. Every person and every society regularly requires a new birth of freedom to maintain its hard-won liberty.

Passover is a holiday of constant rebirth and renewal.

And this is one of the basic messages of Passover. The Haggada teaches us that "in each and every generation the Jew has to envision himself or herself as though he or she just left Egypt and its bondage." Passover is therefore not merely a commemorative holiday, though it is that as well, but more importantly it is a holiday of constant rebirth and renewal.
In our prayers, we refer to Passover as zman cheruteinu -- the time of our freedom. This implies not only past freedom but current freedom as well. Passover demands from us that we continue to struggle and appreciate our freedom. It is not without dangers and weaknesses. It must therefore be zealously guarded and always renewed.
[more]