Slavery does not only mean hauling stones—today, it takes the form of cleaning and entertaining children.

In fact, it begins weeks in advance: the refrigerator is emptied, the cupboards are cleared out, every corner of the apartment is inspected under a magnifying glass. But tonight it comes to an end—with the beginning of the Exodus from Egypt, the journey from slavery to freedom for the Jewish people. The Exodus did not happen only about 3,500 years ago; it has been repeated every year on this very day ever since.

Today, Jews no longer build pyramids, but we clean our homes as if we were suffering from a compulsive neurosis. The matriarch of the house drives us on no less forcefully than the slave masters of ancient Egypt. She does not need a whip—her cold stare and iron voice are entirely sufficient to strike fear into the family.

Then there are the children, who have been out of school for weeks and have gone completely stir-crazy from boredom.

And then there is something else that sets this year’s Passover preparations apart from all the others: the sirens. At night, they tear us from our sleep and drive us into the safe room. During the day, they interrupt our cleaning rhythm. You get used to it—somehow—but the exhaustion remains. This year, the pre-Passover slavery feels far more real than usual.

And yet all of that ends tonight, when we leave slavery behind us and set out on the road to freedom with matzah in hand. No more pathological cleaning, the children play with their new toys, and the queen of the house finally relaxes.

Passover: Finally relax and munch on matzah. AI-generated

According to Jewish tradition, time does not move in a straight line but spirals upward—each anniversary carries within it the energy of the original moment. So today truly resembles the first Passover, and the same power of liberation can be felt today as it was then.

That gives us hope. The war against Iran began during the season of Purim—the festival on which the Persian Jews were once saved from destruction. Perhaps the day on which we were delivered from Egypt will also be the day on which we are delivered from our enemies today. The spiral of history keeps turning—and we turn with it.

But even if that does not happen, and the war continues, we are still grateful for liberation from Passover slavery. A great deal of the tension falls away, and we return to the normal routine of wartime life, which by now we have almost grown accustomed to.