Shabbos + Pesach = ?

Shabbos + Pesach = Double the spiritual energy!

Shabbos and Pesach coincide this year, but they are really quite different, even opposites. Shabbos is the day G-d rested; Pesach is the day we escaped helter-skelter from Egypt. Shabbos is a day to eat, rest and enjoy; Pesach is a time for matzah, marror and a "long read to freedom" before the meal is served. The two events make an unlikely pair, but if G-d put them together, they must carry a good lesson for us.

Pesach came first, Shabbos next. 

 

Only after we left Egypt did Hashem instruct us in the once-a-week rest-day. There you have Judaism summarised: Pesach + Shabbos = the whole Jewish experience.

Pesach is the time to let go of the negative, silence the naysayer within and break free of our real or imagined glass ceilings. Pesach is the time to leap from bad habits and unhealthy perceptions; the time to tell yourself you don't have to be a slave to the personality you are embarrassed by.

Shabbos is the time to enjoy, to connect. Shabbos only really happens after you have slipped out of the prison of your fears and failings. Then you have the luxury of being able to pause, breathe and link in to the Source. 

That's Judaism in a nutshell: You can always break free of whatever holds your soul back, and then you can revel in the spiritual beauty of  touching your inner truth.

 

When Pesach kicks off on a Shabbos, G-d is telling us that we can tackle our tough stuff through a relaxed and comfortable process, unlike the angst and stress of the original hasty departure from Egypt. 

 

Sounds like a plan :)