The seder is over, the hour is late, there are dishes everywhere…
Do you feel free yet?
Are you free? Those aren't the same question.
In Mitzrayim, the Israelites made their Pesach sacrifice at night, dressed for departure. They weren't physically out of Mitzrayim by any means. Pharaoh had one more second thought ahead, and he sent his army after them after he ordered the Israelites out.
At that moment, the Israelites certainly didn't feel free. Their escape was not complete.
But they had begun to be free. By preparing themselves to leave, by accepting the ritual of the Pesach lamb, they had acted as free people. One midrash notes that God had done almost all of the heavy lifting to effect the Exodus — instructed Moshe and Aharon, sent the plagues, issues the instructions — while the people saw only Pharaoh's refusals to let them go, and his added demands on their slave labor. And yet, the midrash says, God would not complete the Exodus without seeing that the Israelites could take an action of freedom first. They had to start to be free, before God would liberate them.
Paradoxically, to become free required an act of obedience — to God's instruction. The equation of the night of Pesach became the equation of the Torah: Freedom = Responding to God's commands. The opposite of slavery is not: You can do whatever you want. The opposite of slavery is duty.
Feeling good, safe, or relaxed isn't the measure. Acting this moment for a sustained purpose, a longer-term vision, is the measure.
So while you thought you were slogging through dishes and stacking up the extra chairs…this is what you were really doing: Taking the first of fifty steps toward Mt. Sinai, toward the encounter with God and God's teachings. Becoming free.
Leave a Reply