(ה) רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הָיָה אוֹמֵר, כָּל שֶׁלֹּא אָמַר שְׁלֹשָׁה דְבָרִים אֵלּוּ בְּפֶסַח, לֹא יָצָא יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן, פֶּסַח, מַצָּה, וּמָרוֹר. פֶּסַח, עַל שׁוּם שֶׁפָּסַח הַמָּקוֹם עַל בָּתֵּי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְמִצְרַיִם. מַצָּה, עַל שׁוּם שֶׁנִּגְאֲלוּ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְמִצְרַיִם. מָרוֹר, עַל שׁוּם שֶׁמֵּרְרוּ הַמִּצְרִים אֶת חַיֵּי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְמִצְרָיִם. בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ כְאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות יג), וְהִגַּדְתָּ לְבִנְךָ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לֵאמֹר, בַּעֲבוּר זֶה עָשָׂה ה' לִי בְּצֵאתִי מִמִּצְרָיִם. לְפִיכָךְ אֲנַחְנוּ חַיָּבִין לְהוֹדוֹת, לְהַלֵּל, לְשַׁבֵּחַ, לְפָאֵר, לְרוֹמֵם, לְהַדֵּר, לְבָרֵךְ, לְעַלֵּה, וּלְקַלֵּס, לְמִי שֶׁעָשָׂה לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְלָנוּ אֶת כָּל הַנִּסִּים הָאֵלּוּ, הוֹצִיאָנוּ מֵעַבְדוּת לְחֵרוּת, מִיָּגוֹן לְשִׂמְחָה, וּמֵאֵבֶל לְיוֹם טוֹב, וּמֵאֲפֵלָה לְאוֹר גָּדוֹל, וּמִשִּׁעְבּוּד לִגְאֻלָּה. וְנֹאמַר לְפָנָיו, הַלְלוּיָהּ:
The tanna of the mishna further states: In each and every generation a person must view themself as though they personally left Egypt, as it is stated: “And you shall tell your child on that day, saying: It is because of this which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt” (Exodus 13:8). In every generation, each person must say: “This which the Lord did for me,” and not: This which the Lord did for my forefathers. The mishna continues with the text of the Haggadah. Therefore we are obligated to thank, praise, glorify, extol, exalt, honor, bless, revere, and laud [lekales] the One who performed for our forefathers and for us all these miracles: God took us out from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to joy, from mourning to a Festival, from darkness to a great light, and from enslavement to redemption. And we will say before Him: Halleluya.
R. Sholom Noach Berezovsky 1911-2000, Netivot Shalom, Shabbat p. 86-87
It warrants explaining the meaning of the remembrance of the exodus from Egypt according to the interpretation of verse "YHWH who freed them form Egypt." (Numbers 23:22) (אל מוציאם ממצרים). The Torah does not say that Hashem freed the Israelites from Egypt in the past tense, but rather that that Hashem freed them in the present tense. And it is written that on each leyl Pesach the experience of the exodus from Egypt is renewed for the children of Israel. And this is why the Torah reads "and freed them," (מוציאם--in the plural), because it was not a single freeing alone, rather each and every year there is a freeing.
And therefore, the matter of the exodus is not a one time thing, but rather an eternal process (ענין נצחי) that happens each and every year.
ויקרא כה:לט-מב, נה
וְיָצָא 41 כְּשָׂכִיר כְּתוֹשָׁב יִהְיֶה עִמָּךְ עַד–שְׁנַת הַיֹּבֵל יַעֲבֹד עִמָּךְ: 40 וְכִי–יָמוּךְ אָחִיךָ עִמָּךְ וְנִמְכַּר–לָךְ לֹא–תַעֲבֹד בּוֹ עֲבֹדַת עָבֶד: 39 כִּי–עֲבָדַי הֵם אֲשֶׁר–הוֹצֵאתִי אֹתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם לֹא 42 מֵעִמָּךְ הוּא וּבָנָיו עִמּוֹ וְשָׁב אֶל–מִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ וְאֶל–אֲחֻזַּת אֲבֹתָיו יָשׁוּב: כִּי–לִי בְנֵי–יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲבָדִים עֲבָדַי הֵם אֲשֶׁר–הוֹצֵאתִי אוֹתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם אֲנִי יְקֹוָק אֱלֹקֵיכֶם: 55 יִמָּכְרוּ מִמְכֶּרֶת עָבֶד:..
Leviticus 25:39-42, 55
39 If your kinsman under you continues in straits and must give himself over to you, do not subject him to the treatment of a slave. 40 He shall remain with you as a hired or bound laborer; he shall serve with you only until the jubilee year. 41Then he and his children with him shall be free of your authority; he shall go back to his family and return to his ancestral holding.—42For they are My servants, whom I freed from the land of Egypt; they may not give themselves over into servitude... 55 For it is to Me that the Israelites are servants: They are My servants, whom I freed from the land of Egypt, I the Lord your God.
נוסח ההגדה
מתחלה עובדי עבודה זרה היו אבותינו. ועכשו קרבנו המקום לעבודתו...
Text of the Haggadah
At first, our ancestors served a foreign service, but now, the Place draws us near in service…
John O'Donohue, from To Bless the Space Between Us
For Freedom
As a bird soars high
In the free holding of the wind,
Clear of the certainty of ground,
Opening the imagination of wings
Into the grace of emptiness
To fulfill new voyagings,
May your life awaken
To the call of its freedom.
As the ocean absolves itself
Of the expectation of land,
Approaching only
In the form of waves
That fill and pleat and fall
With such gradual elegance
As to make of the limit
A sonorous threshold
Whose music echoes back among
The give and strain of memory,
Thus may your heart know the patience
That can draw infinity from limitation.
As the embrace of the earth
Welcomes all we call death,
Taking deep into itself
The right solitude of a seed,
Allowing it time
To shed the grip of former form
And give way to a deeper generosity
That will one day send it forth,
A tree into springtime,
May all that holds you
Fall from its hungry ledge
Into the fecund surge of your heart.
Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, or possessions – we cannot be free.