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"Let my people go!" -- This is the common quote we tend to associate with the freedom of the Jews from Egypt. However, this is not exactly accurate.  The second half of the quote is equally important, yet somehow usually gets forgotten.  What Moshe really says to Pharaoh is: "Let my people go so that they may serve God." In this week's parsha, Parshat Bo, we learn that freedom has a purpose. When the Jewish people are finally freed from their slavery in Egypt, it is so much more than just purely freeing an oppressed people-- it is freedom for the purpose of serving and worshiping God. 

We see that freedom must have a purpose through a few different events that take place in this week's Parsha. Prior to God taking the Jews out of Egypt, He commands them to bring a Korban Pesach. Through this commandment, God insists that the people themselves take an active role in their own freedom and that they earn it. They must preform this mitzvah in order to show their love and trust in God, that He will redeem them. The Korban itself demonstrates the Jews' service to God, and it is only by bringing this sacrifice that they merit being redeemed and earn their freedom. 

Additionally, in Parshat Bo we learn about the annual holiday of Pesach. Pesach may be seen as celebrating the end of a terrible chapter for the Jewish people - the chapter of slavery.  However, really it celebrates the beginning of a new chapter -  the process of becoming a nation. The purpose for their freedom is to begin their journey of unifying as a nation. The final aspect of this purpose concludes when the Jewish people receive the Torah at the holiday of Shavuot. Therefore, Pesach is the beginning of the process and Shavuot is the culmination. From this we can see that the freedom that we celebrate on Pesach is not an end unto itself but only finds its purpose when we receive the Torah. 

Along these lines, this example can be represented through the Matzah. We learn about Matzah when the Jews are freed and begin to hastily leave Egypt. Just like the holiday of Pesach itself, matzah represents the beginning of a process. Matzah is the first, most basic, form of bread. Once the Jewish people reach the time of Shavuot, the  end of the process of becoming a nation, they bring a korban consisting specifically of bread. Bread, the most developed form that can result from the combination of flour and water, represents the completion of a process.  It makes sense that on the holiday that celebrates the purpose of our freedom - receiving the Torah, we use a food that represents the completion of a process.  

From this week's parsha, Parshat Bo, we see that there must be a purpose for freedom. This year, we were given the opportunity to spend a year free from the pressure of tests and papers.  We must use this freedom to excel in its purpose-- to grow and evolve into better Jews and better people. Freedom is a gift given to us for a purpose; find that purpose and pursue it!