Passover celebrates the Israelites’ leaving Egypt and becoming free, and the holiday got me to thinking about my own freedoms.

I could have easily been born in Zimbabwe, Israel or England. On a blind date, somehow my Israeli mom, who had just finished her army service, met my father, who was raised in Rhodesia (today it’s Zimbabwe). He left Africa to live in London, and eventually found his way to the United States. It’s all very complicated, but the end result was my sister and me!

So I missed out on having the very sexy southern African accent, but I was blessed with the ability to call Old Glory my own. To me the American flag is one of the most beautiful and powerful symbols of freedom in the world.

Freedom is all around us, and yet, I usually don’t pay attention to how lucky I truly am. So there might be 500 television stations and nothing to watch, but wow – I have so many choices. Ask a person living in Cuba what’s going on in the world, and most only have access to the government-controlled newspaper.

The Jewish people leaving Egypt wanted freedom so badly that they could not afford to wait. The reason we eat matzah is that they took the bread and left on the run, before it had time to rise. I guess we could claim to be the first people who indulged in fast food on the way to attaining our freedom.

Because we were slaves, Judaism has laws regarding slavery. For instance, after seven years of being a slave, the person must be set free. Men are not allowed to permanently own other men. As a sign that a slave has been freed, his owner would pierce his left ear.

So not only can Jewish people claim fast food, we are also fashionable trendsetters. (How many young men sport earrings today in their left ear?)

As always, we’ve taken our freedom seriously, as we have gone from fast food to feasting. Passover seders are all about celebrating and appreciating our good fortune in style. Jewish law commands that since Passover is a joyous and memorable holiday, we should drink four glasses of wine. Who could ask for a better way to celebrate freedom than by having a great meal, a few glasses of wine in a comfortable reclining chair and a happy setting?

The seder is filled with symbols of the difficult times and misery our forefathers endured. We eat the maror to remember the bitterness of being slaves, and the charoset is symbolic of the mortar the Jews had to make for their Egyptian taskmasters. Slavery was certainly not a fun time for the Jewish People or for any people. But we survived, and now we celebrate!

So Passover comes once a year, and we get to review our people’s accomplishments over a nice, lengthy meal with friends and family. First, we got great fast food and other culinary items to our credit; second, because we have experienced the misery of slavery, we are more compassionate to others in similar situations as well being trendsetters with great fashion sense. Finally, it’s always good to take time out to appreciate how lucky we all are, and what better way to do it than with family, friends, fine wine and freedom.

Happy Passover!

Masada Siegel can be reached at “[email protected].