TELL May-June 2020

under a street-lamp, so the passerby
asked, “Mulla, what have you
lost?” “I am searching for my key,”
replied Nasrudin, sounding very
anxious. Soon both men were down
on their knees under the streetlamp,
searching for the key. After
a while the man asked Nasrudin:
“Tell me, Mulla, do you remember
exactly where you dropped the key?’’
Nasrudin replied, “In my house.”
Shocked and exasperated the
passerby jumped up and shouted,
“Then why are you searching for
the key out here in the street?”
The Mulla replied, “Because
there is more light here
than inside my house!”
Searching out all the places within
that hold us back in life requires
radical honesty—the courage and
fortitude really to look inside.
The Hebrew word metzar means
‘narrow place’. Mitzrayim is the
name for the land of Egypt, so the
deeper meaning of mitzrayim is ‘a
very narrow place’. Therefore, to
be in mitzrayim is to be in a place
of constriction, despair, darkness.
When we are in mitzrayim we
might feel there is no way out
of the darkness. Our tradition
points to the light at the end of
the tunnel, though: Beginning
with bediqat hametz—the search
for hametz before Pesach—we are
undertaking the journey of our
ancestors, from Mitzrayim through
to Mount Sinai, the moment
of Divine revelation (Pesach to
Shavuot). This is the journey from
the constricted places that we all
struggle with to the place not of
perfection but of equanimity.
What do we need to be focusing
on at this sacred time in our
calendar? Could we be more
patient, more aware of our
surroundings? Are we too busy to
be present to the needs of a loved
one or too caught up in our own
dramas to see or acknowledge
a person standing right in front
of us, begging to be seen, crying
to be heard? Are we too deep in
cynicism to see the beauty that
is revealed to us every morning
or to notice the humble flower
at the potted shrub in the mall?
In the book of Proverbs it is stated:
“Ner Adonai Nishmat Adam.” A
person’s soul is a divine light. Just
as we search for hametz in our
homes with a candle and feather
the night before Pesach, we take
the light in our hearts and search
for hametz in the constricted
places of our being. This spiritual
work is unique for each and
every one of us, since we all have
different strengths and weaknesses.
However, we are all called at this
time of the year to begin this work.
The search for our own hametz
continues beyond Pesach. Our
mystical teachers understood
that the effort to locate our
constricted places and to open
them is an ongoing project. It is
for that reason that we may see
our festivals as signposts. To be a
truly observant Jew and indeed
human being is not only about
observing the laws of kashrut and
of Shabbat but it is also about
observing the way we behave
and regulating our conduct in
the world. When we observe our
actions and try to improve the
way we are with others as well as
ourselves we are slowly liberating
ourselves from the clutches of
mitzrayim and we edge closer to
Sinai and the revelatory moment.
The process and journey is
different for each and every one
of us but it is incumbent upon us
to take the first steps. As Rabbi
Hillel said: “Bechol dor va dor
hayav Adam lirot et atzmo ke ilu
hu yatza mimitzrayim”—It is
incumbent upon every person to
see themselves as having come out
of mitzrayim. I have intentionally
not translated Mitzrayim here,
because I believe that what
Rav Hillel is pointing to is not
the physical location but that
mitzrayim—narrow place—in all
of us. It is incumbent upon each
and every one of us to search for
all those places that hold us back
from realising our true selves
and our true purpose in life.
It is not good enough to search
in places that might look easier—
like Mulla Nasrudin, under a
street-lamp, when the key has
been lost indoors! The Sufi story
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