What does Egypt represent in modern life?
By Rabbi Shalom Landau.
Rabbi Landau explains that Egypt is not only a place in history but a system: a life where someone else owns your time. Today it isn't bricks and chains anymore. “It's your inbox. Your calendar. The lie of ‘just one more thing.’”
In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau writes that a person living in his inner Egypt thinks like a slave. He believes his whole worth is how much he gets done. The Pharaoh of today doesn't wear a crown. He whispers, “Just one more thing and I'm done,” and calls it success.
The way out comes every week. Shabbos says you are not owned, and “stopping is the Exodus.” In the book he suggests a small practice: as Shabbos begins, before the blessing over the wine, look at the candles and say quietly in your heart, “Now I am free.”
Watch Rabbi Landau's teaching · Also taught in: teaching 2
Related concepts: Freedom you can hand over · Busy can be a way of running
In A Soul at Peace: The Sabbath Is Leaving Egypt
Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level
Surface claim
Egypt is any life where someone or something else owns your time.
Deepest human truth
You belong to Hashem, not to your business, your boss, or your never-satisfied ambitions.
More questions from this teaching
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