Freedom
V’krotom d’ror b’aretz yoshveha / And proclaim liberty throughout the land
Vayikra/Leviticus 25:10
Well it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody…
Bob Dylan, “Gotta Serve Somebody” from the album Slow Train Coming
Chevra,
Pesach is fast approaching and while some folks may be overly focused on which foods have been deemed assur (forbidden) by the kashrut establishment this year, it’s good to remember that the most meaningful theme of Pesach is the actualization of freedom.
The freedom theme of Pesach starts with the story in the Torah of Israelites deprived of freedom, living in wretched slavery under cruel Egyptians. Under the leadership and guidance of Moshe they are then rescued and redeemed from oppression and bondage by God himself. Later the Torah discusses other types of liberation. In the posuk referenced above Israelites and later Jews are to be freed from their servitude and financial bondage to other individuals through the process of the Yovel or Jubilee year.
When that nice Jewish boy from Minnesota Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) was going through his born-again Christian phase some 32 years ago, he believed that there was a choice that nobody could escape. One would either serve evil, that is, “the Devil” or be good with God – “Serve the Lord.” According to Dylan, one thing was for sure: you’re gonna serve, you’re going to be a servant to something or somebody, you really can’t be free. It appears as if there is quite of bit of truth in this concept. Think about what we serve today. Many people worry that through debt we are being enslaved to the banks and credit card companies. Others worry about the growing power of government and it becoming our master. Some fear the growing influence of Islam and the bold proclamations of fundamentalist Muslim leaders that their goal is to impose their Islamic Sharia law on the rest of the world.
There are so many other things we can become slaves to: negative emotions such as anger, addictions, consumerism, entertainment, “being cool”; the list is actually endless. However, the choice is actually sweeter and broader than brother Bob imagined back then. The choice starts with choosing freedom. This starts with accepting a sort of joyous responsibility not slave-like servitude. When we can see the spark of God in others and make an effort to add something positive to their lives instead of seeing them as a resource to exploit, that’s both serving God and freedom. When we realize that there is no shortage of love, or praise, or goodness and give those things freely, that’s serving God and freedom. When we find that spark of God in ourselves, in our individual unique abilities, skills, and talents and choose to honor them and actualize them, we are both serving God and being free. When we make our practice of Judaism a delicious, joyous, musical, open-minded experience of emotional satisfaction, spiritual comfort, and intellectual freedom, we are serving God and living free.
The Quinoa Scam
Last year I wrote about the kitniot scam played out by the kashrut establishment and the kosher food manufacturers (please read the reprint of this article). This year I have observed some people ecstatic about these same “authorities” allowing the eating of the South American grain quinoa for Pesach having determined that quinoa is not kitniot. Quinoa is certainly not kitniot but no less so than corn. All they are trying to do is give you something else to buy this year that you probably would not normally purchase. Oy vey!
Wishing us all a true Yetsiat Mitzrayim / (Personal, Metaphorical) Exodus from Egypt,
Menashe
Column originally appeared in the April 1, 2011, issue of the Bellerose Jewish Center newsletter, The Messenger.
