How can we honestly feel FREEDOM this Passover?

why are we so hung up on a freedom that took place 3500 years ago what about our current depression what about oppression throughout the throughout our history this is the question that the maharal rud of Prague posed in the 1500s and he points out something quite unique about the liberation of Passover he says how did we get liberated we didn't liberate ourselves we didn't free ourselves God freed us so when God freed us that wasn't just the geog graphical Freedom that would have been the case if we freed ourselves if we had escaped or if we had earned the freedom or if somebody a human being liberated us but because God liberated us it wasn't just a geographical Freedom it was an essential Freedom we didn't just become free because of where we were we became free because of who we were that became part of our identity even if we're not always geographically free but essentially at heart as Jewish people we have the ability to be free of Oppression to live free of other people's opinions and to live a life that is in line with our values that is in line with God that is in line with the Torah unpressed by people if we will that in the inside or to put it differently R phrased it like this only the body of a Jew can be an exile the soul of a Jew is never an exile and if we become more Soul oriented we can actually live more freely and I'll show you a story that will illustrate that but hold on I'll tell you something fascinating there's different names that the holiday of Passover is referred to the Torah refers to Passover Asam but the holiday of matah or you know in in tamic literature we refer to it as the holiday of Passover of PES in the prayer literature in the sitter we refer to p as the time of our freedom and I think what's fascinating about that statement is its historical context of when it was end prior to the destruction of the first beta mikash there was no official prayer text there was no prayer book prayer was literally just from the heart that all changed with the destruction of the first Bas of mixus the destruction of the first temple while the Jews were exiled to Babylon 2500 years ago at this point Ezra The Scribe who was the leading Sage together with this court felt that people may not actually pray from the heart at this point because number one we're not living in a land where Hebrew is our native language and it just we might not find the words to articulate prayer number two we may not have the sensitivity to want to connect so if we have a standard text we're going to actually be able to pray and pray consistently in Focus so that's kind of the the basic history behind the text of the sitter the text of the amida and as part of this text when creating the prayers for the holidays he coins Passover by the name the time of our freedom that's right during Exile shortly after the destruction of the bikash we're not in our land we're in a foreign place and we refer to Passover as the time of our freedom because freedom is not just geographical we would love to be geographically free we wait for that day when Messiah is going to come and we're all going to be together but we also have to live at this point until that happens we have to live essentially free we have to be free on the inside we have to live independently from what the world opinion thinks we have to be proud Jews even we don't care what anti-semites think Israel needs to do what they need to do to protect the Jewish people and to protect the sacr of the land despite what the United States or other countries the UN might think it doesn't matter what people think because we have to be free freedom is is highly associated with Sim with joy when we have freedom have joy but other way around as well when we intentionally develop joy we have freedom that's why on the night of Freedom the night of first night of passover of pesak the Aral had a tradition to celebrate and um participate with the Seder with immense Joy with Incredible Sim so I'll tell you a great story about joy and freedom there was Aid named abman scherson he was a kabad activist and Rabbi in France and he was visiting kabad world headquarters for and prior to the hakos to the dancing of the Torah at kabad World Headquarters there was a fan and gathered around the table and they were saying and you got to imagine the scene here thousands of ready to to dance with the T together an an incredible experience and they were saying he was at a little corner saying with a bunch of people and he was actually not able to toast to actually say to actually um um participate in in drinking alcohol he had health issues um his health issues were so extreme to the point that he at this point in his life he was not ambulatory he was in a wheelchair he requested that one of the students bring him a Tanya he felt like he needed a boost and that's really what that Tanya does it gives a soul boost it gives a joy boost he opens to chapter 33 of Tanya which talks about Joy which talks about giving that that that Soul resuscitation and he reads the first line he was on fire he was so enamored he literally popped out of his seat again this guy was in a wheelchair he popped out of his seat and he started dancing with everybody The Joy was palpable The Joy was incredible this guy left Egypt this guy left limitations this guy left boundaries this guy lived freely he didn't Define his life by his current circumstances at that moment and if we as Jews don't Define our life by what other people think and we're proud Jews Israel doesn't Define Itself by World opinion but does what it needs to do we are going to be free not only in the Exile but we'll have the Redemption too that's my story and I'm sticking to it