The lesson of Passover
Established in 1841, Punch magazine was arguably England’s most irreverent publication. The satirical British magazine mocked and ridiculed the royal family long before the other publications that followed suit. Many years later Malcolm Muggeridge, a former editor of Punch, eventually moved on to become a fervent religious man. During a BBC interview with Malcolm Muggeridge, the interviewer was questioning how the sultan of satire, the prince of Punch, could make such a radical transformation and become religious. How could he stifle such a magnificent free spirit as his?
Muggeridge’s answer was a classic. He said he had a friend who was a famous yachtsman, an accomplished navigator of the high seas. A lesson he once gave him in sailing would provide the answer to the reporter’s question. The yachtsman taught him that if you want to enjoy the freedom of the high seas, you must first become a slave to the compass!
On Friday, April 6th, Jews, the world over, will begin celebrating the Passover holiday. The holy day of Passover is when the Jewish people gather to remember the 210 years of our enslavement in Egypt and celebrate becoming a free people.
Passover represents more than just freedom from physical subjugation and slavery. Physical liberation is only a part of true liberty. In fact the very first Passover, 3,324 years ago, the liberation was deeper than simply being freed from slavery; that was just the beginning!
Indeed, Passover, or in biblical terms the “Time of Our Liberation,” denotes a true freedom – one that includes the deliverance of the individual from internal slavery, limitations and constraints.
As in the lesson from the yachtsman, the Passover gift of freedom was accompanied by a gift of a compass for life! As we read in the narrative of The Passover Hagaddah in the story of the exodus; G-d took the Jewish people out of Egypt for the purpose of sharing with us and thus all of humanity, the wisdom and instruction of His Torah on Mount Sinai.
We see clearly that liberty on its own is not a wholesome answer to slavery. Our world is struggling with this truth in our times. We bring liberty and democracy to peoples across the globe, giving them the freedom to decide their own future. Yet this ability alone is in many cases self-destructive.
Democratically elected tyrants and perpetrators of evil are certainly not the freedom that our men and woman risk their lives for, day in and day out! True liberty can only be expressed by ascribing to the ethical and moral code that serves as a compass. Perhaps this was on the mind of Benjamin Franklin when he said: “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!
As we prepare to once again relive the story of our slavery and our subsequent freedom, we are asked to remind ourselves where in our life we are enslaved, and what can we do to get back to the direction provided to us by the compass we were given at Mount Sinai!
Rabbi Levi Cunin, Chabad of Malibu