Passover Gives Slavery a Bad Rap
Pesach sure gives slavery a bad rap. After all, the seder’s dominant theme is that of the Israelites moving away from slavery and toward a life of freedom. And the rituals of the night serve to accentuate the motif of freedom: the leaning as free men would do, the four cups of wine (the drink of the wealthy and privileged), the custom to decorate the seder table with one’s finest vessels, the lavish meal and the obligation to see oneself as having left the bondage of Egypt