From Riches to Rags

Billionaire Howard Hughes recently passed away. Here was a man who could have done anything his heart desired. But what kind of a life did he live? Anywhere he wanted to go, he was afraid of being attacked. Anytime he wanted to eat, he was afraid of being poisoned; if he wanted to travel, it had to be in secret; even his own aides he suspected of being bribed… In plain words: His two billion dollars granted him no freedom whatsoever; they made him the most miserable slave imaginable.

When does a person attain true freedom? Above all, it depends on him himself. He has to make up his mind that he wants to be free — including free from his own desires, for they can never be satisfied, and they rob man of his peace of mind.

When a Jew decides to ready himself for “the Season of our Freedom,” for a Kosher and happy Passover, G-d helps him along, and all his trials and difficulties ultimately disappear.