Pesach

Although we were redeemed from Mitzrayim on the first day of Pesach, the geulah was not complete until the seventh day when Hashem drowned the Egyptians in Yam Suf. The Seforno explains that until then we were still as slaves running away from their master. But when our "masters" drowned in Yam Suf, we became fully free.
Perhaps we can extend this idea a bit further: The ultimate conclusion of the Exodus occurred when we entered Eretz Israel and built the Beit Hamikdash, as we conclude the fifteen stages of the geulah in the Haggada with "vehichnisanu l'Eretz Israel ubana lanu et beit habechirah." Until that point we were still running away from Egypt - physically, mentally and spiritually. The forty years in the desert were needed to extricate Egypt and all that it represented from within us. Once we entered Eretz Israel we were fully redeemed people, ready to utilize our freedom and direct it towards getting drawing nearer to Hashem and His will. We created a society in Eretz Israel which was the antithesis of all that Egypt represented, one of holiness, purity, and total dependence on Hashem and His Torah. We were then able to build the Beit Hamikdash and spread the Torah's ideals across the world.

As individuals we must all go through these stages of geulah, extricating ourselves from our personal mitzrayims and fully freeing ourselves from them. We must then utilize this freedom to sanctify ourselves by creating an environment of holiness and purity for ourselves and our families, ideally in the holiness and purity of Eretz Israel. Finally, we must build a Mikdash to spread holiness to all around us.
As in the days when we left Egypt, may Hashem continue to show us miracles with the coming of the Moshiach speedily in our days.

Good Yom Tov.

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This is a weekly column contributed by Aloh Naaleh an organization devoted to motivating Jews to make Aliya.
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