Vroooooom!! Eli clutched the controls of the speeding race-car as he flew through a chicane, narrowly missing the far corner.

For three nights running they had been competing against each other in Street Car Racer II championship. Competition was tight and Eli was thinking that he had a good chance to win.

And now was the finale.

The second to last lap in the championship, they were both on a draw; they were at the crucial moment in the competition and this next corner was the harshest of all. 'You know whose winning!' shouted Meir from his armchair, still retaining his calm grip and first place position. Eli sharpened his focus. He was right behind Meir, to the left, and Meir had been slicing the road, left to right, preventing Eli a clear take-over. Here's my opportunity, Eli said to himself, preparing for a smooth inside corner, I'm gonna get him at this corner.

For a moment he thought of Daniel, what he might be up to this minute. 'Daniel is right about the sacrifices', he laughed to Meir, 'but this is more serious for me than it is to Daniel. This win is going to be one big sacrifice'.

'Ha, ha!' said Meir, 'just you wait and see'.

Three Days Later:

'And that's why it says 'and G‑d smote the Egyptians with their firstborn,' Eli's father explained to the family and guests sitting at the Shabbat table, 'G‑d told the Jews to get the Pesach offering a few days early. The Egyptians saw the lambs and asked the Jews what they were for. The Jews answered smiling, 'G‑d is going to kill all Egyptian firstborn. The blood of the Pesach lamb will be a sign that G‑d will protect us.' The terrified Egyptian first-born, hearing their terrible fate, ran to Pharaoh, demanding that the Jews be set free.

'In this way,' said Eli's father, 'G‑d made the Egyptians be challenged by their very own people, their first-born. Then later they were completely beaten!'

Eli's mind was far away, preoccupied with a general disinterest. He was still upset that he'd lost the X-Box competition with Meir, which he was so sure he would win.

Since that night, life did not taste too good to Eli. He felt blown. He had hardly noticed Pesach round the corner, but his father's next words made his ears perk up and his back tingle.

'To turn the captors into the freedom fighters, the enemy into the ally,' his father continued, 'that is why G‑d smote the Egyptian first-born - so that they would rebel for the good.'

Suddenly, somehow, Eli understood why he had lost the game. It was as though his 'first-born,' the Competition that was so important to him, had been lost in order that he should be upset… so that now he should want to look for a better choice. The freedom choice; to focus again on his responsibilities and to be successful in the important things in life. Eli reminded himself what Daniel had said to him about sacrifices… You have to give up things you want to do, in order to do the things you should do…

Eli smiled.

It was time for him to rebel.