Passover has always been perceived as the most Israeli holiday, associated with the smell of cooking and cleaning, the extended family gathering, and the traditional reading of the Haggadah about the Exodus from slavery to freedom. This year, the Festival of Freedom takes on a different, more complex and tense tone, according to clinical psychologist Itamar Pascal. **Freedom, Rewritten by Fear** Pascal wrote that as people sit around the Seder table, “the skies above us remain tense, and the security tension with Iran reminds us that personal safety is not taken for granted.” He said that within this uncertainty, “our freedom takes on a deeper and sharper meaning than ever before.” He described freedom as “much more than a Jewish concept of going free,” calling it “a state of consciousness of inner security and the ability to feel calm and protected.” He said that when reality imposes constant alertness, “the sense of personal freedom is directly harmed.” He added that freedom is not expressed only in the ability to move from place to place, but also in the possibility to plan plans and maintain a routine without anxiety taking over the agenda. Pascal described the current situation as “a kind of transparent prison,” saying that although people are not in physical captivity, “the anxiety of escalation and threats from the air reduces the emotional living space.” He wrote that when a person is under continuous stress, “the brain shifts into survival mode,” adding that “the body is tense, the thoughts race around extreme scenarios, and the simple ability to enjoy the moment is reduced.” **What People Can Control** Pascal said one of the most significant challenges in coping with a security threat is uncertainty, which he called “a central component in states of stress and anxiety.” He wrote that the biblical Exodus was “first and foremost a journey into the unknown, an act of courage based on a deep hope for change,” and said, “Our task today is to find that same hope within the complex reality of the war.” He said the key to mental resilience lies in choice, writing, “True freedom is the ability to choose the response to the existing imposed reality.” He added, “We have no control over decisions made on the other side of the border in Lebanon and far away in Iran, but we do have control over the amount of news we consume, the way we mediate the situation to children, and the small actions we take to calm the mind.” He said effective coping begins with identifying fear and giving legitimacy to feelings, and that simply acknowledging “that we are going through a difficult and unusual period” can ease the accumulated burden. He wrote that mental freedom is built by creating “islands of sanity” within everyday life, such as “a quiet coffee break without a mobile phone or a good conversation with a friend without dealing with security matters.” Pascal also said stress may manifest as back pain, chronic fatigue or sleep difficulties, and that these are signs that the mind is trying to process the existing situation. **The Holiday Under the Pressure System** Pascal wrote that in psychological treatment, “we deal with building a protected internal space, a kind of safe mental place that allows us to remain more stable and calm even when the world outside is stormy.” He said this year’s Passover is an opportunity to pause and reexamine freedom, writing that “the war and the tension are a current reality, but they do not have to define our self-identity.” He said, “Freedom is first and foremost a state of consciousness.” He added that “the more we know how to be there for one another and understand the difficulty of those around us, the better we can find a way to cope together.” He concluded that “the greatest freedom is knowing that we are not alone in this story,” and said “Israeli togetherness and the ability to maintain a smile even when it is hard are the strongest tools we have.” He ended by wishing, “May we all have a quiet Passover, a holiday of moving from fears to security and true freedom in every sense.”
