Pesach uproots the drive to idolatry

משכו ידיכם מע"ז כו'.

"Draw your hands away from avodah zarah..." (Mechilta on "mishchu ukchu lachem tzon").

Chazal read the command "draw forth and take for yourselves sheep" as also meaning "withdraw your hands from avodah zarah" — the Korban Pesach itself was the act of renouncing idolatry.

כי פסח ומילה הם מ"ע שיש בהם כרת.

For Pesach and milah are positive mitzvos (mitzvos asei) that carry kareis (for their neglect).

These two mitzvos are unique among positive commandments in that failing to fulfill them brings the severe penalty of kareis — marking them as foundational to a Jew's very bond with Hashem.

ומילה הוא תיקון ליצרא דעריות שא"א להתקדש בזה בלי סייעתא דשמיא בכח בריתו שחתם בבשרנו.

And milah is the tikkun for the yetzer of arayos (illicit desire), for it is impossible to be sanctified in this matter without siyata diShmaya (Heavenly assistance), through the power of His bris (covenant) which He sealed in our flesh.

Bris milah rectifies the drive toward immorality. A person cannot overcome this yetzer by his own strength alone; the covenant sealed in our flesh draws down the Divine help needed to attain kedushah in this area.

ופסח הוא תיקון ליצרא דע"ז ובכח שחיטת הפסח נתבטל ע"ז וכל כת דסט"א כדאיתא בזוה"ק בשחיטת טלה שהיא ראש דכל ע"ז ונמסר לבנ"י שישחטו וישרפוהו באש.

And Pesach is the tikkun for the yetzer of avodah zarah; through the power of the slaughtering of the Korban Pesach, avodah zarah and every faction of the sitra achra was nullified — as is brought in the Zohar Hakadosh regarding the slaughter of the lamb, which is the head of all avodah zarah, and which was handed over to Bnei Yisrael to slaughter and burn in fire.

The Korban Pesach rectifies the pull toward idolatry. The Egyptians worshipped the lamb (the sign of the zodiac of Nissan), which the Zohar calls the root of all avodah zarah; by Hashem's command Bnei Yisrael slaughtered and burned that very deity, thereby breaking the power of idolatry and the forces of impurity at their source.

לכן סמך חג המצות לאלהי מסכה לא תעשה לך.

Therefore the Torah juxtaposed Chag HaMatzos with "molten gods you shall not make for yourself" (Shemos 34:17).

The placement of the warning against idols right next to the festival of Pesach hints that the essence of Pesach is the uprooting of avodah zarah.

ויתכן שלכן אח"כ שהי' גלוי לפניו ית' שעתיד בהמ"ק לחרוב ולא יעשו פסח.

And it is possible that for this reason afterward — since it was revealed before Him, may He be blessed, that the Bais Hamikdash was destined to be destroyed and they would no longer be able to bring the Korban Pesach —

Hashem foresaw that with the Churban the Korban Pesach would cease, and with it the annual nullification of the idolatrous drive that it accomplished.

נתן כח לאנשי כנה"ג לבטל יצרא דע"ז.

— He gave the power to the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah to nullify the yetzer of avodah zarah.

In place of the Korban Pesach, Hashem empowered the Men of the Great Assembly to abolish the very desire for idolatry, as related in the Gemara — a continuation of the tikkun that the Pesach had effected.

ויתכן ג"כ לומר שבשנים שביטלו הפסח לכן נכשלו בע"ז בימי מלכי ישראל.

And it is also possible to say that in the years when they neglected the Korban Pesach, they consequently stumbled into avodah zarah in the days of the kings of Yisrael.

The flip side of this principle: during the eras when the Korban Pesach was not properly observed, the protective force against idolatry was absent, and so Bnei Yisrael fell into avodah zarah in the time of the monarchy.

וזאת עיקר השבח ביציאת מצרים שנתבטל כח ע"ז בעולם.

And this is the essential praise of Yetzias Mitzrayim — that the power of avodah zarah was nullified in the world.

The deepest significance of the Exodus is not only physical freedom but the breaking of the grip of idolatry upon the world.

וז"ש מתחלה עובדי ע"ז היו אבותינו כו'.

This is the meaning of "In the beginning our forefathers were worshippers of avodah zarah..." (Haggadah).

The Haggadah begins our story with idolatry precisely to highlight that the redemption was, at its core, a redemption from avodah zarah.

וע"י יציאת מצרים ופסח נעקר יצרא דע"ז וקרבנו המקום ב"ה לעבודתו:

And through Yetzias Mitzrayim and the Korban Pesach the yetzer of avodah zarah was uprooted, and HaMakom, Blessed is He, drew us near to His service.

By means of the Exodus and the Pesach, the very root of the idolatrous drive was torn out, and in its place Hashem brought us close to serve Him — exchanging avodah zarah for avodas Hashem.

Summary: Pesach and milah are the two mitzvos asei bearing kareis: milah rectifies the yetzer of arayos through the covenant sealed in our flesh, and Pesach rectifies the yetzer of avodah zarah, for slaughtering the lamb — the head of all idolatry — broke its power at the root. The essential praise of Yetzias Mitzrayim is the nullification of idolatry in the world, a tikkun later entrusted to the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah, through which Hashem drew Bnei Yisrael near to His service.