Rabbi Michael RosensweigChag ha-Cherut: Autonomy and Liberation in the Pursuit of Transcendence

Chag ha-Matzot is a holiday that joyously celebrates personal freedom and national liberation as it commemorates the exodus from Egypt and Klal Yisrael's extrication from bondage and servitude. Indeed, the yaaleh ve-yavo insertion in birkat ha-mazon and shemonah esreh identifies the chag as "zeman cheruteinu". The themes of geulah (redemption) and the methodology of "derech cherut" (hesebah, 4 kosot etc.) pervade the Pesach seder. However, a narrow focus on the motifs of political autonomy and personal freedom, while more universally appealing and certainly spiritually significant as well, does not accurately capture the true character of the celebration.

Many mefarshim note that the experience of yeziat Mitzrayim was transformative and its impact enduring. The Torah repeatedly revisits the theme of the exodus, projecting it as a linchpin of Jewish identity, and the foundation and anchor of many mizvot (see Ramban, end of Parshat Bo). Undoubtedly, this perspective explains why the impact of Pesach, the festival of freedom, was never perceived to have been diluted or compromised by the too numerous subsequent persecutions that plagued the Jewish people. Evidently, the redemption from Egypt transcended mere liberation; it reflected and stimulated a profound recognition of Hashem's transcendence, as well as his singular providential relationship with the Jewish people.

In this vein, the Rambam (Hilchos Chametz 7:1, Sefer Hamizvot, aseh 157) emphasizes the obligation to elaborate the miracles and Divine intercession that occurred on the night of 15 Nissan, rather than focusing on the liberation of the exodus per se. Only when he conveys (7:2) the appropriate message for a child or simpleton, exemplifying the flexible character of the educational obligation of "vehigadeta le-bincha", does he accentuate the experience of liberation itself! [See also 7:5-7.]

Indeed, the Rambam's depiction of "matchilin be-genut u-mesaymin be-shevach" (7:4, expounding and expanding the mishneh Pesachim 116a and gemara op cit.) further illustrates his more expansive posture on this mitzvah. The Talmud records a debate between Rav and Shmuel whether one focuses on the theme of servitude-redemption by reciting avadim hayinu, or that of the spiritual impoverishment-advancement of our ancestors, embodied in the passage of "mitchilah ovdei avodah zarah" etc. The very suggestion that we would emphasize the religious component reflects a more complex perspective on the significance of the exodus. Our practice (as noted already by R. Chananel, and reflected in the standard text of the hagadah) is to refer to both passages, beginning with "avadim hayinu". However, the Rambam intriguingly formulates the recitation of these two sections as if each one is a parallel "beginning" ("keizad matchil u-mesaper she-betechilah hayu avoteinu biyemei Terach umilifanav koferim...u-mesayem be-dat ha-emet...ve-chein matchil u-modia she-avadim hayinu...u-mesayem be-nisim ve-niflaot she-naasu lanu u-bechirateinu"). Moreover, he implies that the religious motif is prior (though in his hagadah, as in all standard hagadot, it is not), and depicts the liberation almost as an afterthought ("u-bechirateinu").

The Rambam's presentation conveys that the avadim hayinu liberation experience, which we in fact celebrate, requires the spiritual quality of life context and perspective supplied by the "mithilah ovdei avodah zara" account. The gemara (Pesachim 116a) records that Daru, a slave who was liberated and supported in his effort to enter into a new plane of existence was ready to appreciate the passage of avadim hayinu only if he first internalized the profound concepts of praise and thanksgiving. These notions which lie at the foundation of sipur yeziat Mitzrayim (see Sefer Hamizvot no. 157, and the links to mikra bikurim etc.) are not merely superficial acknowledgements, but constitute a core recognition of Divine providence and the priority of seeking transcendence and spiritual meaning.

Chazal relate that authentic freedom entails living a purposeful, spiritual life that is dedicated to Hashem and directed by his Torah ("ein ben chorin ela mi sheosek be-mitzvot"). Hallel during the seder is introduced by a fervent declaration of our obligation to express hodaah and shevach (lefikach anachnu chayyavim lehodot...). It begins by proclaiming "halelu avdei Hashem" which is rabinically understood to contrast to "avdei Pharoh"! The emphasis on the opportunity to surrender to transcendence and authentic meaning is unmistakable. The Aruch ha-Shulchan suggests that maror remains a central motif during the seder because despite its evident unpleasant associations, it served a constructive function in cultivating the quality of discipline that could upon liberation be channeled into meaningful spiritual life, as avdei Hashem. The central prohibition against chametz, symbolic of unrestricted growth, particularly unpredictable and even dangerous in an unconstrained state, underscores the inadequacy of directionless liberation. Only in the context of kabbalat ha-Torah at mattan Torah on Shavuot was it possible to celebrate chametz in the form of the korban shetei ha-lechem.

The Maharal (Gevurot Hashem) and others note that the challenges that tested the fledgling Jewish nation under Pharoh's tyranny far exceeded physical servitude, the absence of autonomy, and even cruelty. The derashot of parshat arami oved avi reflect a range of dehumanizing and desensitizing tactics that severely eroded and undermined the very basic quality of Klal Yisrael's personal and national identity. The litany included in the Hallel introduction - me-avdut le-cherut, me-evel le-yom tov, me-yagon le-simchah, me-afeilah le-orah, mi-shibud le-geulah - are not synonymous, but register the multiple dimensions in which this liberation was a singular, and profoundly transformative national experience that infused spiritual purpose and a fundamental identity to Hashem's chosen nation.

The Maharal explains that subsequent exiles and persecutions did not detract from the enduring impact of yetziat Mitzrayim and the cherut established then, because Klal Yisrael attained a permanent intrinsic stature as a liberated nation whose aspirations and character could never be altered, notwithstanding artificial obstacles that might hinder the pragmatic expression of this national persona. [It is interesting to integrate the celebrated perspective of Ibn Ezra regarding Bnei Yisrael's slave and liberated mentality into this analysis.] ]In this sense, too, it is a truism that "veotanu hotzi misham", that both the collective Klal Yisrael, and also each generation and individual not only benefited from but was the actual object of Hashem's transformative, providential intervention in yetziat Mitzrayim. [See also Maharal, Gevurot Hashem, on this theme.] Certainly, the prominence of hoda'ah and shevach in sipur yetziat Mitzrayim is related to the enduring and profound transformative impact, and especially its primary spiritual orientation.

Surely it is no coincidence that the ultimate symbols of the holiday of cherut and geulah were the korban Pesach, a korban suffused with the theme of emunah and religious commitment (see Korban Pesach: A Symbol of Faith and Commitment), and matzah, the focus of hallel and hodaah (See also Matzah as an Expression of Hodaah). On Chag ha-Matzot we truly celebrate the motifs of autonomy and freedom, albeit in its most religiously aspirational and halachically authentic form.