Rabbi Fabian Sborovsky discusses the significance of freedom at Passover.
With Pesach falling later in the spring due to the leap-year, we find ourselves with a little more time to think about and prepare for our Festival of Freedom. There is much anticipation, and so much on our to-do list as well: ridding our homes of all traces of chametz with the ultimate of spring cleanings, shopping for kosher for Pesach foods, preparing for the seder, and of course the cooking of delicious traditional Pesachdik foods.
There is an irony that a festival celebrating freedom requires so much work, preparation, and attention to every detail so that we can observe it in the proper way. But is all the meticulous work not contrary to the spirit of being released from bondage, some argue? Are all these restrictions and meticulous control not reminiscent of shackles, they ask? What sort of freedom can all these regulations celebrate? The answers, require an exploration of the key concepts behind the festival celebration.
In our liturgy, not only is Pesach referred to as Chag HaMatzot, festival of unleavened bread, but also as Zman Cherutenu, the festival of our freedom. At the Seder we begin telling our story by pointing at the matza and declaring Ha Lachma Anya (this is the bread of affliction), to explain its purpose during the seder. Soon to be followed by joyful singing declaring ‘Avadim Hayinu, ata Bnei Chorin’ – ‘we were slaves [avadim], but now we are a free people! [bnei chorin]’ reflecting the Hebrew word cherut for freedom. Interestingly, however, the words cherut, or bnei chorin, do not appear even once in the entire Hebrew Bible.
“It may not be so ironic after all that we have to invest in our freedom with work and preparation“
The biblical word for freedom is chofshi, used in the context of a slave going free, a person who can do what they like, with no one to tell them what to do. The word chofshi is perhaps more familiar from ‘Lihiyot am chofshi be’artzenu’ to be a free people in our land in Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem. Another biblical word for freedom, liberty, or release is d’ror.
We find it in the context of the Jubilee year in Leviticus 25:10 ‘You shall proclaim liberty [d’ror] throughout the land for all its inhabitants’. D’ror connotes a release from specific debts and responsibilities. But to describe the concept of freedom at the heart of what it means to be a Jew the rabbis chose a different word, cherut. Unlike the freedom of chofesh, which implies doing what one likes, cherut is freedom with a purpose, as in G-d’s message to Pharaoh: ‘Let My people go that they might worship Me’ (Exod. 9:1). Cherut is the freedom the Israelites acquired at Mount Sinai, in the form of a covenant.
Pirkei Avot, one of the most well-known writings in Rabbinic Judaism, illustrates this point with some word play. Interpreting the biblical verse: ‘And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven [charut] upon the tablets (Exodus 32:16), it states: ‘Read not charut [graven] but cherut [freedom]. For there is no free person but one who engages in the study of Torah’ (Pirkei Avot 6:2).
Cherut denotes freedom with a purpose, to be free to bind ourselves to God and an obligation to higher ideals. Crucially, it assumes engagement, connectedness, and study. Cherut is a freedom dependant on our obligations and interconnectedness over mere individualism.
It may not be so ironic after all that we have to invest in our freedom with work and preparation. When it comes to our annual Pesach preparation, as well as our search for chametz, let us be more conscious of the way we express our Jewish bonds of freedom and liberation, of peoplehood, responsibility, and connectedness not only to each other but to a shared humanity and all who still long to be free.
Chag Cherut Sameach!
Pesach Pop-Up Announces Hours
Gourmet Butchers and Deli has confirmed its opening of its Pesach Pop-Up Shop 2024 will be 7th April at 10am. Additional opening hours have been released for its entire stint which ends on 25th April at 1pm. As an upgrade this year Gourmet has announced it was donated state of the art cash registers by Ring A Till which will greatly help its service to the community.
Marshall Frieze and Simon Williams, the joint management team for the shop, said: “We’re working hard behind the scenes to make sure we have a superb selection of your favourite products with some great offers and prices. And we’ll also be adding some new items that we are sure you’ll love.”