Finally Free
According to one authority we will always have to express our gratitude to G-d for the Exodus from Egypt even in the Messianic Age, despite the fact that the miracle of the Redemption will dwarf the miracle of the Exodus. Without freedom we acquired at the Exodus we could never have attained anything. We would not have been able receive the Torah. And if not for the original experience of the Exodus that continued for thousands of years, we could never reach the Messianic Age. Chassidic thought teaches us that the Exodus from Egypt contained the potential energy for all subsequent liberations.
Our Obsession
Remembering the Exodus is one of the Commandments mentioned in this week’s Parsha. We are obligated to remember the Exodus every day and every night. Many of the rituals of Judaism — from the Passover Seder to the laws against usury and false weights and measures are associated with the Exodus, in one form or another. So important was the Exodus that the Ten Commandments begin with G-d “introducing” Himself as “I am the One who took the Jewish People out of the land of Egypt, from the House of Bondage.”
This obsession with the Exodus is summed up succinctly in the words of the Mishnah (also cited in the Haggadah): “in each and every generation, one must view himself as if he left Egypt.”
Why?
Granted that freedom from slavery is a major part of our history; granted, without freedom there would not be a Jewish nation, but why the obsession with the Exodus? To remember the Exodus one night a year would make sense, but why are we obligated to remember the Exodus each and every day and night? Why do we need so many tangible reminders of this historical event?
Our Sages were anticipating this question when they stated that “In each and every generation one must view himself as if he just left Egypt.” The Exodus is not an event of the past, but an ongoing process.
Indeed, the Alter Rebbe in his classic work, the Tanya, adds the words, “In each and every day” to the Mishnah’s reference to each and every generation. In addition, the Tanya adds the word “today.” One mus see the process of the Exodus on a daily basis.
As was explained in many of these essays, the word Mitzraim, Hebrew for Egypt actually connotes a state of confinement, physical or spiritual.
All periods of exile, our Sages stated, were named after the Egyptian/Mitzraim exile. All periods and forms of exile share the characteristic of constraints that have been imposed on us, either form tyrannical forces or from the seductive forces of assimilation. Some forms of exile were imposed externally and some are actually induced from within. The common denominator is that Mitzraim/exile forces inhibit our spiritual energy, crush our spirits, and make us vulnerable to all that which is negative.
But one does not have to be in the depths of despair to appreciate the need to get out of Mitzraim. No matter how much we might have progressed, there is still something that confines, inhibits or limits us if only we are expected to climb even higher. What was perhaps acceptable today will not be enough tomorrow. The psychological pressures that tell us that we can rest on our laurels is no less a form of Mitzraim than all the others.
Going out of Mitzraim then is the process of removing all the impediments to our spiritual progress no matter how high we have climbed and no matter how much we have achieved.
As such, our remembrance of the Exodus is not simply remembering an event of the past, but it is an ongoing process.
When we realize that the Exodus is a current and continuing event, it makes the remembrance of it far more meaningful and alive.
Are We just Treading Water?
This analysis, however, can also raise a rather troubling question, which, if not answered can lead to a sense of frustration and even depression.
The question is, do we ever realize our goal of true and complete freedom? Do we have to anticipate forever dedicating our lives to fighting the obstacles? Isn’t it depressing to be in a constant struggle to be free? Would anyone be happy to fight an incessant war against those who would want to deny our freedom knowing that the effort will prove futile?
To preserve our sanity, don’t we have to finally be free, once and for all, so we can focus on the positive areas of growth and not be fixated on defending our liberty?
This question is actually what our prayers for the Final Redemption and the coming of the Moshiach are all about. Why do we ask for the Messianic Age? There are many good answers to this question. However, one good reason is that it will finally allow our quest for true freedom to be fulfilled. At that juncture we will be able to focus our attention on the purely positive elements of life that are the source of true joy and satisfaction.
Growth through Adversity is Not the Goal
And while we certainly have developed the ability to grow by virtue of the adversity and threats to freedom that we had to overcome, the ultimate Redemption is one that will show us how we can grow without adversity.
Unfortunately, we have so conditioned ourselves to learn how to thrive on adversity; we tend to forget that the goal is actually the realization of a victory over evil and pain.
Remembering the Exodus in the Messianic Age: Two Views
With this introduction we can understand the dispute between two sages in the Mishnah as to whether we will continue to mention the Exodus from Egypt in the future Messianic Era.
According to one authority (Berachos, end of Chapter one, cited in the Passover Haggadah), we will always have to express our gratitude to G-d for the Exodus from Egypt even in the Messianic Age, despite the fact that the miracle of the Redemption will dwarf the miracle of the Exodus.
The reason for this is that without freedom we acquired at the Exodus we could never have attained anything. We would not have been able receive the Torah. And if not for the original experience of the Exodus that continued for thousands of years, we could never reach the Messianic Age.
Chassidic thought teaches us that the Exodus from Egypt contained the potential energy for all subsequent liberations.
Other Sages (Ben Zoma), however, disagree and maintain that in the future we will no longer mention the Exodus from Egypt.
The second view needs to be understood. Why wouldn’t we remember the Exodus from Egypt in the future? Wasn’t it the process that established us as a nation? Shouldn’t we give credit where credit is due? Isn’t this comparable to the person who never forgets his first job, because it was the key to all future successes?
In light of our earlier discussion we can understand why t will no longer be necessary and advisable to focus on the past experiences of freedom because we will have entered into a totally new dimension of existence, one in which positive energy does not have to be generated from the challenge of coping with adversity.
To best appreciate the beauty of growth within the realm of positive energy itself it behooves us to minimize our preoccupation with the negative experiences of the past, even as they relate to them as the catalysts for growth.
This does not mean that in the future Messianic Era we will not know of the suffering of the past and how G-d delivered us from them. That would be impossible because these painful memories are recorded in the Torah for posterity. It is the emphasis on these negative events—even how they translate into positive energy—that will become obsolescent.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Bo by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
