The Torah refers to Passover as the holiday of Matzot. The reason is to teach us that leaving Egypt was the first step to becoming a nation. We had to learn what it means to be free.
Tag: Freedom
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Slaves Cannot Serve God Fully
If a slave states that he prefers slavery to freedom, he is punished. This is to teach us that slavery is not the normal state of a person. God wants us to be free people.
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Don’t Rely on Others
One of the problems with the Jews was that they were used to having all of their needs taken care of. One of the lessons of the Torah was that we should not rely only of God but have to work to take care of ourselves. That is what freedom really means.
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Freedom Comes With a Price
The portion starts out with the Jews avoiding going directly to the Land of Israel lest they get into a war with the Philistines and run back to Egypt. It ends with the Jews fighting Amalek. They had to learn that there was no going back to Egypt.
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God Wants Action From Us
The reason for the Pascal Sacrifice before the plague of the killing of the first born was that God wanted to see that the Jews were willing to take action for their freedom.
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Don’t Be A Frog
The Jews were not enslaved all at once. It was a step-by-step process. First special taxes were levied on them. Slowly more and more of their freedom was taken away until they suddenly realized that they were enslaved.
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The Cure for Ingratitude
פרשת חקת / ט’ בתמוז תשפ”ב
When the well that was following the Jews in the wilderness dried up after the death of Miriam the people complained that they had a better life in Egypt. What is amazing is that the people complaining were born after they left Egypt. They were totally taken care of by God. They did not have to earn their food. They were not grateful for all that God gave them.
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The Limits of Freedom
פרשת בהעלותך / י”ח בסיון תשפ”ב
The Complainers are back again in this week’s portion. They will continue to plague Moses throughout the Exodus. The question is what they were really complaining about. The limits that the Torah places on us. That we cannot do whatever we want in society.
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Freedom Means Being Responsible
פרשת בהר / י”ד באייר תשפ”ב – כ”ט בעומר
In this week’s portion we learn about the Jubilee year in which all Jewish slaves are to set free whether they want to be free or not. The question is who would not want to be free? The answer is that a slave has no worries about his sustenance. His master makes sure he has food, housing, etc. The goal of the Torah is that we should be free to make our own decisions.
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The Importance of Ritual
פרשת מצורע / ה’ בניסן תשפ”ב
The real question of the wicked son is why to we need all this ritual to celebrate Passover. Can’t we just do a simple ceremony and get it over with? The answer of course is that we need the ritual since without we will forget why we were brought out and made into a people.