Freedom

Just before this past Passover (which is to say the one we just passed over, which is in the past, so get over it), Rabbi gave a Shabbat sermon about freedom. I thought it was great and apparently others did too, because by popular demand, he emailed it out. I read it at our own seder, so you've already heard it, but I thought I should post it here because:

1. There has been some other popular demand for another For My Kittens post.
2. This piece is worthy of immortalization (or at least as long a life as Google allows it).
3. I can get it posted a lot faster than something I have to come up with myself.

I promise, I'll post something of my own soon (and I realize this is the second post in a row of someone else's work), but here's something to tide you over, even if it is a do-over from Passover, over which you've already pored (or at least listened to) in the recent past that just passed over us.

Our Rabbi attributes this to Rabbi Eli Friedman...

Ah, the Festival of Freedom. What a lovely celebration.

 

Only one problem. What exactly is freedom?

 

Any teenager will tell you, freedom is the freedom to do whatever you want.

 

That's ironic, because the same young people clamoring for the freedom to do whatever they want have no idea what they want.

 

And they are not the only ones. A quick survey will show you that more people than you think have no idea what they really want out of life.

 

Oh sure, they'll tell you they want peace, health, and prosperity. But that is more a list of what they do not want: conflict, illness or struggle. People also don't want pandemics, natural disasters, melting ice caps, religious oppression, systemic racism, police brutality, and a host of other things. But once their life is free of everything they don't want, ask them what they do want - most don't know.

 

The past year has been a relatively easy one as far as this question goes. Ask anyone what they want, and they all answered quickly: an end to the pandemic; freedom from COVID.

 

But when we are finally free from COVID, that gnawing feeling will return to many hearts: what do I want?

 

And if so many people can't point to exactly what they want, how can those people ever maximize the freedom of being able to do and have whatever they want?

 

When we were kids we used to laugh at the joke about the guy shouting, "I'm free! I'm free!" and the little boy saying, "So what, I'm four!" [It took me a long time before I finally got this joke!] The punchline is irrelevant but on the other hand, if a person is free to do as they please but has no insight into what is pleasing, then, "You're free; so what?"

 

***

 

So what do we want? It's hard to tell. We're such complex, multilayered beings that sometimes, to our confusion, different parts of us want opposite things, and we're left struggling to decipher what we want and what we really want.

 

We want the pleasure of junk food; but we really want the lightness that comes from eating healthy.

 

We want the thrill of being reckless; but we really want the stability of being responsible.

 

We want indulge in laziness; but we really want the results that come only from hard work.

 

We want the effortlessness of the easy way out; but we really want the satisfaction of the hard job well done.

 

We want the rush of resentment and the sweet taste of revenge; but we really want the sublime feelings of forgiveness and reconciliation.

 

We sometimes want those who love us to leave us alone; but we really want those who love us to never, ever leave us.

 

We want the carelessness that comes from being needed by nobody; but we really want the inner joy that comes from being needed by somebody.

 

We want the childish glee that comes from having no responsibilities; but we really want the deep pride that comes from having awesome responsibilities.

 

We want the meaningless fun of being single and unattached; but we really want the meaningful attachment of marriage and the blessed burden of loyalty.

 

We want the cheap silliness of meaningless days and nights; but we really, really want the blessing of a meaningful life. 

 

We want the obscurity of being like everyone else; but we really want the richness of being true to ourselves - the Chosen People.

 

We want to ignore our religious obligations; but we really want to do as many Mitzvot as we can.

 

We want the bliss of pretending to not notice that our souls are hungering for something deeper; but we really want the gratification that is only found by feeding that hunger with Yiddishkeit.

 

We want the uncomplicated existence of living for today; but we really want the transcendence that we get from living for a higher purpose - service to others and service to G-d.

 

We want the guilty pleasure of tasting sin; but we really want the weightlessness of innocence.

 

We want the power rush of raw arrogance; but we really want the unsinkable calm of authentic humility before G-d.

 

 

We want the adventure that is making it up as you go along; but we really want the firmness that is knowing what is true.

 

We want the guilt-free existence afforded by atheism; but we really, really, want the unmatched happiness that comes from a deep and abiding faith in G-d.

 

We want the low expectations of victimhood that comes from believing we need G-d and He doesn't need us at all; but we really want the empowering challenge of knowing that G-d needs us and our Mitzvot more than we could ever need anything. 

 

***

 

Now we have a definition of freedom. Freedom is the freedom to have what you really want.

 

Freedom to have responsibility; hard work; accomplishment; forgiveness; closeness to loved ones; being needed; having awesome responsibilities; loyalty; a meaningful life; Jewish living; Mitzvot; knowledge of how to feed the soul; a higher purpose; innocence; humility; knowing what is true; deep, abiding faith; and being needed by our Creator.

 

Well then, my friends, if that's what freedom is, there's only one place that carries that: a life lived carefully by the wisdom of the Torah.

 

***

 

Moses informed Pharaoh of G-d's words: "Let me People go, that they may serve Me."

 

Freedom isn't Pharaoh saying you can go. That is just the beginning.

 

True freedom is when G-d writes the secret to a life of freedom, carves it in stone, and gives it to you. Now, if you wish, and you choose to serve G-d, you are free.