If we want to understand the personal, inner meaning of a festival, we should look to its intrinsic spiritual essence.
And what is more, we should see the festivals as internal events in the life of the individual, which are reflections of the collective life of the nation.
This approach will open a door for us toward a wider, albeit not immediately apparent, understanding.
Our sages say: "In every generation, each person must regard himself as if he came out of Egypt."
This is the key to a new understanding of the festivals: in order to relive things, we must participate spiritually in the process of our people's birth.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From On Being Free, p. 36, by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz