Ooh Freedom, Ooh Liberty, Ohh Leave Me Alone To Find My Way Back Home (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia -"Liberty")

          Another week passed by, and another horrific shooting occurred in the United States. Like Pittsburgh, and Charlottesville before, this time it was Buffalo. The perpetrator is an avowed racist who included a 180-page manifesto “justifying” his actions with a mix of “Replacement Theory” conspiracy and white paranoia (otherwise known as “white supremacy”) he acquired from Tucker Carleson, QAnon, and assorted hate forums like 4Chan. Over the course of ingesting “Replacement Theory”, white paranoia, and racism for these past several years, a young man’s idea of citizenship, community, democracy, and sacred words of a liberal democracy found in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution became twisted and perverted. Instead of viewing liberal democracy as aspirational affording all people with opportunities for “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”  he now saw liberal democracy as a dystopian place where a Jewish Kabal has organized and manipulated people of color to replace Christian white men and their traditional hierarchy. 

          This week we read from Parsha of Behar. For most of  Vayikra (Leviticus), we learned how the Kohen Gadol, the individual, and a community attains holiness both in terms of interpersonal relationships and with God.   B’nai Israel had been instructed to create “Holy” Time in terms of the seasons, and “Holy” spaces in terms of their proximity to the Mishkan.  Now we read about the laws in which we acknowledge the holiness of Eretz Canaan Israel. We learn that the Jubilee is similar to  Shemitta except on a grander scale, leaving the land to lie fallow for a year while it rests. We learn about the Yovel, the Jubilee year, and all that it entails in terms of our behavior. 

          During the discussion of the Sabbatical year, we read: V’Kidashtem Eit Shat HaChamishim Shana Ukratem Dror Ba’Aretz L’chol Yoshveha Yovel Hi Tiheyeh Lachem V’Shavtem Ish El Achuzato V’Ish el Mishpachto Tashuvu – You shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants; it shall be the Jubilee Year for you, each of you shall return to his ancestral heritage and each of you shall return to his family  Lev 25:10. The context of this verse is clear. During the 50-year cycle, whether the indentured servant has served the usual minimum of six years or not, all indentured servants are to be freed. Everyone returns to their tribal land of origin and everything is then, according to modern parlance, “rebooted”.  The Hebrew word for “freedom” that appears in the verse is Dror. The more common Hebrew word for  “freedom” is “ChoFeSh.” In  Ex. 21:2 Ki Tikneh Eved Ivri Shesh Shanim Ya’avod U’Vashviit Yeitzei LaChofshi Chinam If you buy a Jewish servant, he shall work for six years; and in the seventh, he shall go free (LaChofshi), for no charge. The word Dror, in the context of “freedom,”   appears once in the entire Torah in this context, “Proclaim Liberty throughout the land…” The word Dror appears in one other place in an apparently unrelated context.  In Ex. 30:23 Dror appears as a term for  “pure myrrh”. Why would the Torah use a less common word Dror that has another seemingly unrelated meaning as opposed to the more common word Chofshi (Free/freedom) to describe the declaration of Jubilee? 

          Certainly, the word “Freedom” is more commonly used than “Liberty”.  However, when Patrick Henry made his famous statement, he used the word “Liberty”. “Give me Liberty or give me death”. The Declaration of Independence speaks of “life liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.  The political theorist Hanna Fenichel Pitkin observed that liberty implies ”a network of restraint and order”, hence its use by America’s Founding Fathers in its founding documents and the Liberty Bell.“Proclaim Liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants thereof". Lev 25:10”.    R’ Avraham Bedersi, a late 13th century French Rabbi, explained that both terms Chofesh (Freedom) and Dror (Liberty) are the opposite of bondage.  However, Dror (Liberty) denotes clarity and purity, without any contaminates like "pure Myrrh".  It is not accidental that the Torah uses a word that is the opposite of bondage but connotes “pure” freedom. Throughout the book of Leviticus, the overarching themes have been purity and holiness.  

          So it would make sense that Dror would connote the holiest or purest sense of the concept of Freedom.  R’Avraham Bedersi suggests that Chofesh (freedom) implies the mitigation of slavery, or “freedom from”. Whereas Dror (Liberty) suggests the purest form of freedom, a holy sense of freedom that only exists within the laws and restraints presented in Torah, in other words, a “freedom for” a more sacred purpose. Indeed, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, et al, understood Rabbi Bedarsi’s comments.  Liberty” is a Godly concept.  Liberty invokes holiness and therefore something to which those that live in a democracy ought to aspire. “Declaring Liberty throughout the land”, is an aspirational call for all the inhabitants of the land to live lives of holiness. Declaring a Jewish Cabal that plans and organizes people of color to replace white Christian men perverts and twists the very words that appear on the Liberty Bell. 

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Do You Remember Hearts Were Too Cold; Season Had Frozen Us Into Our Souls (Peter Monk & Phil Lesh - "Passenger")

           In the Haggadah we read, B’chol Dor V’Dor Chayev Adam Lirot Et Atsmo K’Ilu  Hoo Yatzah M’Mitzrayim-“In every generation on is obliged to see himself as though he himself had actually gone forth from Egypt." Implied in the Haggadah is the notion that “the Telling” of the Pesach story will be much more meaningful if we put ourselves there. As much as we complain about the Pesach preparations, the cleaning, the cooking, the washing, and the shopping; we prepare ourselves. In a sense, we began the process of putting ourselves back in Egypt at the time of the Exodus over the past few weeks. As we celebrate the final days of Pesach, we are reminded that Yetziat Mitzrayim did not end when B’nai Yisroel marched out of Egypt. Yetziat Mitzrayim continued for weeks, marked Kriyat Yam Suf (the crossing of the Reed Sea). Yetziat Mitzrayim continued for months, marked by Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai) nearly two months later (50 days). Yetziat Mitzrayim continued for a year, marked by the completion of the Mishkan and the beginning of the journey to Eretz Canaan. Yetziat Mitzrayim continue for 40 years until an entire generation passed away replaced by children and grandchildren born as free souls.

          This Shabbat is the last day of the Pesach Festival, it is a Yom Tov similar to the first two days of the Pesach Festival. The only difference is that we do not participate in a Seder. Also, the final day of Pesach is marked by Yizkor. The Torah portion for the 7th Day of Pesach is that excerpt from Parsha Beshallach, which includes the narrative of Bnai Yisroel being sent out of Egypt and one week later arriving at the shores and then successfully crossing the Yam Suf. The Torah reading for the 8th day of Pesach is an excerpt from  Devarim, Parsha Re’eh (14:22-16:17). Moshe is speaking to the generation born in freedom, invoking the memories of their parents and grandparents' experiences as slaves as he re-iterates the laws necessary for a community to function: The laws of Second Tithes (think social safety net), remission of loans, being charitable to the less fortunate and finally, the re-iteration of the sanctity of the Shalosh Regalim - the Three Festival: Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot. 

          How are we supposed to fulfill the Haggadah’s obligation of Lirot Et Atsmo K’Ilu  Hoo Yatzah M’Mitzrayim - see yourself as if you left Egypt if the narrative of Yetziat Mitzrayim is at least a 40-year experience? Perhaps the answer is playing out in Ukraine. A people fights for its freedom against the tyranny of Putin’s Russia. A small group of Ukrainian soldiers in a Mariupol steel factory holds out against the Russian army. The symbol is powerful and unmistakable. Some analysts invoke the image of the Alamo. When a small band of Texans fought off the Mexican Army for a while only to be overwhelmed and killed. That event served as an inspiring reminder as Texas fought to break away from the Mexican Empire. A more Jewish symbol that is certainly more geographically and Pesach relevant occurred 80 years ago this week. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was a small group of starving Jews who resisted the Nazi war machine for three weeks. The symbol of a small band of starving Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto filled with courage faith, a few guns and Molotov cocktails would inspire not only other WWII partisans but also those Jews who fought for the birth of Israel and continues to provide meaning today. 

          Whatever happens to those soldiers in the battle for Mariupol, we are witnessing the creation of a symbolic national moment. For any people that have been forced to struggle for their freedom, any community that has had to struggle to throw off the shackles of slavery and tyranny, symbols of that struggle are vital. Symbols of those events unite those who experienced the event and participated in that particular national moment and narrative.  Symbols of those events also bind future generations to their past by giving those future generations a meaningful present. Perhaps seeing ourselves as having left Egypt reminds us that freedom and liberty should never be taken for granted but instead is something that requires faith, and courage to fight for when necessary.

Shabbat Shalom & Chag Sameach,
Rav Yitz

Two Kinds of Freedom; Freedom From And Freedom To Be (John Barlow & Bob Weir - "Lost Sailor")

 

          We have schlepped boxes from the basement to the kitchen. We have emptied our pantry of all the Chametz (all the “non-kosher for Pesach” foods and platters. We have filled the pantry with our Kosher for Pesach dishes, and cooking utensils. We set up a shelving unit to hold the kosher for Pesach food. We have closed-up cabinets and drawers that hold our regular year-round kitchen stuff.  We have carried out our Chametz and “disowned” it.  The bedrooms have been cleaned ( and what our son found while cleaning his room was ruly incredible!). We made numerous trips to the supermarket, so much so, that I have my own reserved parking spot. We have cleaned the kitchen over and over and over again. Of course, there is the yearly discussion of the menu: the Chef wants to make different dishes as she has grown bored making the same foods year in and year out. However, those of us who work as her sous chef and actually eat the food. yearn for the comfort of the same seasonal holiday foods that have been served every year.  The kitchen is about 15 degrees warmer than the rest of the house because it seems that the oven has been on all week. Yes, the Pesach preparations seem never-ending and filled with discussions and arguments about which spouse is strict or lenient regarding what is and is not Kosher for Passover and which Rabbi supports the respective spouse’s interpretation.   Indeed it seems very easy to get bogged down in the minutiae and the detail that we forget the purpose of this slave-like labor and preparation. 

          This Shabbat marks the first day of Pesach, Zman Cheiruteinu – the Time of our Freedom, as well as being Shabbat, Yom Menucha, and a Day of Rest.  Because Pesach comes once a year and Shabbat occurs fifty-two times a year, on this particular Shabbat, Pesach tends to be our focus. We didn’t just partake in a Shabbat dinner; we participated in a Seder.  We don’t read from the weekly Torah reading, we read that part of the Torah that focuses upon the narrative of the first Passover celebration in Egypt as B’nai Yisroel was about to become a free people and leave Egypt. U’Lekachetem Agudat Eizov Utvaltem BaDam Asher BaSaf V’HiGaTem El HaMaSHKoF V’El SHTei HaMZuZoT MiN HaDaM Asher BaSaF V’ATeM Lo TeiTZu ISh MiPeTaCH BeiTo Ad  BoKeR -  You Shall take a bundle of hyssop and dip it into the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood that is in the basin and as for you, you shall not leave the entrance of the house until morning (Ex. 12:22). At some point during that tension-filled night, B’nei Yisroel would be freed. What was the exact moment of their freedom? What minute, what hour in the night were these slaves finally freed? The text does not tell us. No specific time is mentioned. Rather, the text tells us that by morning the slaves would be freed from slavery. And we would become obligated to retell this story to each generation.

            So we are obligated to tell this story to each generation. What is more, we are commanded to see ourselves as if we were actually slaves in Egypt and freed that night. Yet all we can say is that we were freed at some point during the night. At what exact time, who can say? Yet each week. we know exactly what time we stop. We know exactly what time we light Shabbat or Yom Tov (Festival) candles in order to usher in the Sabbath and the Chag (Festival). We know exactly when these moments begin and when these moments conclude.  Needless to say, when my son and I are sitting in Shul on Friday night, ushering in both the Sabbath and the Festival of Pesach, we will emit a large cleansing breath, knowing that our preparations are finished, and our work leading up to Zman Cheiruteinu, the Time of Our Freedom, is complete (or as complete as it can be). I know that when my son and I walk into our home, and the Seder Table is set, the candles are glowing and my wife and daughters are sitting quietly for just a moment catching their collective breaths, they are aware of this powerful moment.  At that moment of quiet and calm, we see Shabbat and Pesach conflate into the deepest possible understanding of freedom. At this moment, the final boxes have been put away, the preparation finished, the meal is cooked and we can now partake of freedom. Yes, we are free to sit, free to eat and drink. We are free to ask questions. We are free to offer answers. We are free to discuss and we are free to tell the story. Because we are free to do these seemingly trivial things: eat, drink, ask questions, answer, discuss, and tell stories; we understand and appreciate not only Pesach- Zman Cheiruteinu (Time of Our Freedom), but Shabbat- Yom Menucha (a Day of Rest) as well.

 Peace and Chag Kasher V’Sameach,
  Rav Yitz  

Freedom From and Freedom To Be (John Barlow & Bob Wier- "Lost Sailor")

Whenever we travel with our children back to the United States, I always feel compelled to give them a history lesson about the country in which they are citizens. Make no mistake; the experience that our children are getting by living outside of the United States has been wonderful in terms of perspective. However because our children learn about Canadian history, we tend to home school them in regards to U.S. History, Civics and Government.  We had a wonderful learning opportunity when we visited Philadelphia for a simcha (a happy occasion). I insisted that we see Independence Mall,  (where the Congressional Congress signed the Declaration of Independence), the Liberty Bell, and even Valley Forge, (where General Washington and the Colonial Army spent a horrible winter) prior to their battle with the British. Of course I enjoyed it. However the most meaningful moment for my children occurred while looking at the Liberty Bell. Our children looked at it and we made them read the inscription on the Bell: “Proclaim Liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants thereof. Lev 25:10”. First we asked our children what that meant. Then we asked them what book this verse was from? They thought about it for a moment and then realized that it was from the Torah. They didn’t realize that Lev., short for Leviticus, is English for VaYikrah.  The most fascinating moment occurred when they realized that the people who made the bell, and used that quotation, were using a pasuk from the Torah. Then they asked the obvious question, “Why did they use a verse from the Torah and why that particular verse for Liberty Bell?”

This week we read the double Parsha of Behar/Bechukotai. These final two parshiot offer us insight into another dimension of Kedushah. For most of  Vayikra (Leviticus), we learned how the Kohen Gadol makes himself holy. We have learned how the individual makes himself/herself holy. We have learned how the entire nation makes itself holy. We have learned how holiness permeates all are physical activities including what we eat, how we treat others and the relationships that may and may not have.  We have learned how we designated holiness in terms of seasons and special occasions. Now we read about the laws in which we acknowledge the holiness of Eretz Canaan Israel. We learn that the Jubilee is similar to  Shemitta accept on a grander scale, leaving the land to lie fallow for a year while it rests. We learn about the Yovel, the Jubilee year and all that it entails in terms of our behavior. Sefer Vayikra concludes with the Torah explaining the rewards for following these and all the commandments that God gave us at Sinai as well as the punishments that would befall us if we fail to observe these commandments.  

During the discussion Yovel, the Sabbatical year, we read: V’Kidashtem Eit Shat HaChamishim Shana Ukratem Dror Ba’Aretz L’chol Yoshveha Yovel Hi Tiheyeh Lachem V’Shavtem Ish El Achuzato V’Ish el Mishpachto Tashuvu – You shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants; it shall be the Jubilee Year for you, each of you  shall return to his ancestral heritage and each of you shall return to his family. The context of this verse is clear. During the 50 year cycle, whether the indentured servant has served the usual minimum of six years or not, all indentured servants are to be freed. Everyone returns to their  tribal land of origin and everything is then, according to modern parlance, “rebooted”.  The interesting thing about this verse is the Hebrew word for freedom. Ordinarily “freedom” is “ChoFeSh.” The word ChoFeSh is used when the concept of freeing the indentured servant is first mentioned  in Parsha Mishpatim Ex 21: 2 Ki Tikneh Eved Ivri Shesh Shanim Ya’avod U’Vashviit Yeitzei LaChofshi Chinam: If you buy a Jewish servant, he shall work for six years; and in the seventh he shall go free (LaChofshi), for no charge. The word use in this week’s Parsha is DROR. The word DROR  appears once  in the entire Torah in this context, “Proclaim Liberty throughout the land…” Dror appears in Ex. 30:23 however it means “pure myrrh” Why would the Torah use Chofshi (Free/freedom) in Exodus and then use the word Dror (liberty) at the end of Leviticus in Behar/Bechukotai?

Certainly the word “Freedom” is more common than “Liberty”.  When Patrick Henry made his famous statement, he used the word “Liberty”. “Give me Liberty or give me death”. R’ Avraham Bedersi a late 13^th century French Rabbi explains that both terms Chofesh (Freedom) and Dror (Liberty) are the opposite of bondage.  However Dror (Liberty) denotes clarity and purity, without contaminates. Much like the term Dror is used to describe the pure Myrrh.  It is not accidental that the Torah uses a word that is the opposite of bondage but connotes a “pure” freedom. Throughout the book of Leviticus, the overarching themes as been purity and holiness.  So it would make sense that Dror would connote the holiest or purest sense of  the concept of Freedom.  R’Avraham Bedersi suggests that Chofesh (freedom) implies the mitigation of slavery whereas Dror (Liberty) implies the total abolition of slavery.  Left with that understanding we lose the nuance of “holiness” that accompanies Dror.

Liberty is not solely confined to people. It extends to the land. It extends to every aspect of life.  Freedom is something that is given or taken by people. Liberty  is not something that a person gives to another, nor is it something that a person gives to animal. Rather “Liberty” is a godly concept.  Liberty invokes holiness and therefore something that God grants to people and to “all the inhabitants”.  Since we are all created in God’s image, since God breathed God’s spirit into the first man (Gen. Chapter 2); one could argue that Liberty is an internal concept. Someone may be a slave, but their soul is free, therefore they are in a state of Liberty.  Liberty is the spiritual version of freedom. 

Shavuot, the commemoration of the Matan Torah (the Giving of the Torah) begins a week from this coming Shabbat.  Perhaps freedom suggests a lack of slavery or servitude. Liberty suggests that the highest level of freedom is one in which only the rule of law governs all of us equally, without bias or prejudice. As we explained “Liberty” to our children, it was re-assuring to think that those who inscribed the Liberty Bell, understood that Liberty was the most noble and the most pure form of Freedom. Needless to say, our children were impressed when they realized that our Torah was so integral in the establishment of the United States, their place of birth.

Peace,

Rav Yitz