SPIRIT

A Pesach Message 
T

he story of Pesach, of 
the Exodus from Egypt, 
is one of the oldest and 
greatest in the world. It tells 
of how one people, long ago, 
experienced 
oppression and 
were led to lib-
erty through a 
long and arduous 
journey across 
the desert. It is 
the most dra-
matic story of 
slavery to freedom ever told, 
one that has become the West’s 
most influential sourcebook 
of liberty. “Since the Exodus,” 
said Heinrich Heine, the 19th 
century German poet, “free-
dom has always spoken with a 
Hebrew accent.”
We read in the maggid 
section of the Haggadah of 
Rabbi Gamliel who said that 
one who did not discuss the 
Pesach lamb, the matzah and 
the bitter herbs had not ful-
filled their obligation of the 
seder. Why these three things 
is clear: The Pesach lamb, a 
food of luxury, symbolizes 
freedom. The bitter herbs 
represent slavery due to their 
sharp taste. The matzah com-
bines both. It was the bread 
the Israelites ate in Egypt as 
slaves. It was also the bread 
they left when leaving Egypt 
as free people.

It is not just the symbol-
ism, but also the order these 
items are spoken about in the 
Haggadah that is interesting. 
First, we speak of the Pesach 
lamb, then the matzah and 
finally the bitter herbs. But this 
seems strange. Why do the 
symbols of freedom precede 
those of slavery? Surely slavery 
preceded freedom so it would 
be more logical to talk of the 
bitter herbs first? The answer, 
according to the Chassidic 
teachers, is that only to a free 
human people does slavery 
taste bitter. Had the Israelites 
forgotten freedom they would 
have grown used to slavery. 
The worst exile is to forget that 
you are in exile.
To truly be free, we must 
understand what it means 
to not be free. Yet “freedom” 
itself has different dimensions, 
a point reflected in the two 
Hebrew words used to describe 
it, chofesh and cherut. Chofesh 
is “freedom from,” cherut is 
“freedom to.” Chofesh is what 

a slave acquires when released 
from slavery. He or she is free 
from being subject to someone 
else’s will. But this kind of lib-
erty is not enough to create a 
free society. A world in which 
everyone is free to do what 
they like begins in anarchy and 
ends in tyranny. That is why 
chofesh is only the beginning 
of freedom, not its ultimate 
destination.
Cherut is collective free-
dom, a society in which my 
freedom respects yours. A 
free society is always a moral 
achievement. It rests on 
self-restraint and regard for 
others. The ultimate aim of 
Torah is to fashion a society 
on the foundations of justice 
and compassion, both of 
which depend on recognizing 
the sovereignty of God and 
the integrity of creation. Thus, 
we say, “Next year may we 
all be bnei chorin,” invoking 
cherut not chofesh. It means, 
“May we be free in a way that 
honors the freedom of all.”

The Pesach story, more than 
any other, remains the inex-
haustible source of inspiration 
to all those who long for free-
dom. It taught that right was 
sovereign over might; that free-
dom and justice must belong 
to all, not some; that, under 
God, all human beings are 
equal; and that over all earthly 
power, the King of Kings, who 
hears the cry of the oppressed, 
intervenes in history to liberate 
slaves. 
It took many centuries for 
this vision to become the 
shared property of liberal 
democracies of the West and 
beyond; and there is no guar-
antee that it will remain so. 
Freedom is a moral achieve-
ment, and without a constant 
effort of education it atro-
phies and must be fought for 
again. Nowhere more than 
on Pesach, though, do we see 
how the story of one people 
can become the inspiration of 
many; how, loyal to its faith 
across the centuries, the Jewish 
people became the guardians 
of a vision through which, ulti-
mately, “all the peoples of the 
Earth will be blessed.” 

The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks 

served as the chief rabbi of the 

United Hebrew Congregations of the 

Commonwealth, 1991-2013. His 

teachings have been made available 

to all at rabbisacks.org.

A WORD OF TORAH

Rabbi Lord 
Jonathan 
Sacks

50 | APRIL 21 • 2022 

“FREEDOM IS A MORAL 
ACHIEVEMENT, AND WITHOUT A 
CONSTANT EFFORT OF EDUCATION 
IT ATROPHIES AND MUST BE 
FOUGHT FOR AGAIN.”

