On Passover we celebrate the exodus from Egypt. The siddur gives Passover the appellation the “time of our freedom”. Egypt is often called the house of bondage and the Jews are frequently exhorted to remember the day that they left Egypt. There is even a mitzvah to remember the exodus specifically every day.
Many note that Shavuos follows Pesach and the two holidays are linked by the 49 day counting of the Omer. As homily it is said that they are both the same holiday albeit with a large number of intermediate days. Shavuos is the anniversary of the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and is called by the siddur the “time of the giving of our Torah”. Because of this a homily is made that the freedom of Passover was for the purpose of accepting the yoke of heaven.
It is possible to say that in the final analysis everything a person does should be for the purpose of knowing the Creator and serving him. Just the same it is appropriate to reckon freedom as value in and of itself. The Jewish experience of bondage in Egypt was not the type of slavery where the slave is the property of the owner and, is not greatly different from an animal or even an inanimate object. Rather it was like working for a miserable employer. The boss was a low-life tyrant and a fool. The place was a sweatshop that paid coolie wages. To make matters worse it was impossible to quit and leave. As a result just simply getting out of this dismal situation was reason for celebration.
The Chumash emphasizes that Israel left Egypt in the spring. In doing so it is hinting that slavery is like the bitter cold of winter and that freedom is like the temperate weather of the spring. In addition one is exhorted to generally feel as if they left Egypt in their lifetime. Part of refreshing the memory about the bitterness of slavery is eating a very bitter vegetable like horseradish during the Pesach Seder. This is compared to the sumptuous meal, four cups of wine, and comfortable furniture which are signs of freedom.
The point is the political persecution and the oppression of poverty are a curse. They are extensions of the G-d’s curse of Adam and all men that they will earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. The Torah does not want that for the Jewish people and all men. Therefore escaping from the trap of any sort of slavery is reason for celebration. Even if if one does not go to a good situation just getting out of a bad situation is enough. This is even if one must flee into the desert in spite of lacking adequate provisions.
The point that freedom is a preparation for keeping the Torah remains valid. Absolute freedom without anything to fill the time results in emptiness. A person does not live by bread alone rather one lives by the word of G-d. Torah learning and mitzvahs give a person a sense of purpose. One is not just surviving but is fulfilling a higher task. In addition the paths of Torah are pleasant paths. The best way to learn Torah is to spend a reasonable amount of time in a pleasant environment and not to be pressured by other things especially money. Therefore the freedom from being a workaholic allows a person to take up the pleasant and prestigious work of learning Torah and doing mitzvahs.
לע"נ האמה מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנח
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