FREEDOM’S JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR … RESPONSIBILITY?

Nisan 21, 5782 / April 21-22, 2022 - Pesach - Day 7
Torah: Exodus 13:17 - 15:26

Maftir: Numbers 28:19-25
Haftarah: 2 Samuel 22:1-51

Nisan 22, 5782 / April 22-23, 2022 - Pesach - Day 8
Torah: Deuteronomy 14:22 - 16:17
Maftir: Numbers 28:19-25
Haftarah: Isaiah 10:32 - 12:6

Additional reading: Shir Hashirim - The Song of Songs

----------------------------------------------

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Feigel bat Kreina and D'vorah bat Feigel.

 
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at: https://bnaihayim.org/  

Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We’re continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya’akov. On April 26, we'll be at page 5 (my pagination) of Chapter 6 of BT Berakhot (40a) - "...אמר רבא בר שמואל משמיה דרבי חייא" - "Raba the son of Samuel said in the name of R. Chiya:...” The reading may be found at: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QOGujnXBhbJalQbfp3vPpK7TeeZejXZo/view?usp=sharing 

Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you can read here: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com   
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source. 
-----------------------------------------

FREEDOM’S JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR … RESPONSIBILITY?

"And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had sent the people away that God did not lead them through the way of the Philistines, though that was near, for God said, 'Lest the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.'" Exodus 13:17

The Women's Dance

The Torah reading for the 7th day of Pesach includes the famous Song of the Sea. This song is the Israelite victory song, a paean to God after the destruction of the Egyptian army at the Reed Sea. But the victory and song follow just a few verses after the Israelites complained to Moses about their fears, and their desire to return to Egypt. In its first fragile moments, while the oppressors were still around, freedom was a scary proposition! Who will feed us? How will we survive? Who is this Moses? Where are we going? What are the Egyptians going to do to us? Let's go back to the security of slavery! We miss it! And the kvetching begins again shortly after the Reed Sea events. All the while, Moses must have been thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?"  

Rabbi Barukh Abba Rakowsky suggests that the Israelites had dreamed only of being free of their hard labor, but had not dreamed of total liberation from slavery. Absent such a dream, God feared that the first time they faced difficulty they would want to return to Egypt and to slavery. That is why God sent them "the long way". Maybe that is why the Israelites spent 40 years in the desert.

One thing that is abundantly clear throughout the Torah and rabbinic texts is that we each have responsibility - to God, to ourselves, to each other, to the world. Freedom, whether from slavery, or from political oppression, or from chemical addiction, or from anything that prevents us from living up to our potential, often frightens us, because then we are responsible for at least trying to live up to that potential.

That is the difficulty to which Rabbi Rakowsky refers. Slaves have no choice but to do what they are told - so they are not responsible for their actions. Similarly, according to Jewish law, slaves are exempt from many of the mitzvot - but free people are obligated for observing all of them. This means that we are not truly free until we accept responsibility for ourselves and take up the challenges of life.

 

Mo'adim L'Simchah! Shabbat Shalom! 

Seasons of Joy and a Shabbat of Peace!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom - Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RabbiRichardFlom 
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT Yevamot 88a
---------------------------------------- 
Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net 
Send requests for dedications of Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net 
To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net