Friday, July 2, 2021

Free to Serve God – a Nod to Liberty and Independence

Weekend of July 4th (coinciding with Parshat Pinchas)

by Rabbi Avi Billet

On this July 4th weekend, it is appropriate to consider what the Declaration of Independence meant for the United States, and what it came to mean for the world. One of the most-oft quoted lines from that document is “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” 

These Rights are completely in consonance with Judaism, as we have the exhortation to choose Life (ובחרת בחיים), to embrace Liberty (בחירה חפשית – within reasonable societal parameters), and to serve God with joy (עבדו את ה' בשמחה, and rebuke comes תחת אשר לא עבדת את ה' א-לקיך בשמחה). Of course the “Pursuit of Happiness” can be interpreted in different ways, but it can also be subsumed under Life and Liberty – if we have those two, then the pursuit of Happiness is open to us as well. 

The Braisa in Avos (6:2) says “שאין לך בן חורין אלא מי שעוסק בתלמוד תורה.” Only one who delves into Torah study is truly free. In Meseches Kala Rabasi (5:3) the question is asked how can this be so? After all, one who studies Torah is rewarded! If one is paid for what one is doing, one is not free - one is beholden to the customer, to the consumer, or to the boss who dictates whatever is the job at hand. Even the person who works alone and makes one's own hours still needs to satisfy those who are being serviced and who provide the income the person needs.

Perhaps an answer, also from Avos, is the teaching of Antigonos of Socho (1:3), when it comes to Torah study and mitzvos fulfillment: “Do not be like a person who works in order to receive a reward from the Master. Rather be as one who works for no reward, and simply Fear Heaven.” If we’re not getting paid, we are not hired or owned by anyone, we are truly free. A volunteer may walk away at any time, though those who voluntarily choose God are free in their decision making. 

A related teaching of liberty comes in the context of understanding the song of Parshat Chukas - ממתנה נחליאל ומנחליאל במות – as recording in Tanna D’bei Eliyahu Zuta. There it says that the only person who is free is the one over whom the angel of death has no dominion. While this might be true in the realm of thought, in the realm of reality, find a person who will not die one day! 

So we turn to Rabbi Moshe Alshikh on Koheles (10:16) who writes the following: 

“It is known that when one is beholden to his evil inclination, he is like a slave who serves. But when one is beholden to his good inclination and does his will, he is actually called a בן חורין and not one who is enslaved. There is none as free as the person who involves himself with Torah and Mitzvos, because the one who follows his good inclination is in fact doing the will of his Creator. A human is a tiny portion of God – which makes him his own servant (he works for himself) which is the ultimate definition of freedom.” 

In essence, freedom is defined by Alshikh as being free of the shackles of the Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination) (opening comment on Kohelet 10:17). 

Kli Yakar on Mishpatim 21:7 hones in on this concept through his analysis of the Eved Ivri (the Hebrew slave/indentured servant), noting that freedom for people in the nations of the world comes when they can finally do what they want. A slave goes “free” if he is injured by his master. Or, perhaps we can make that argument more contemporary, that a worker is “free” when he retires and no longer needs his boss to pay him (and when his boss can no longer make demands). But the Jew who is involved in Torah says “I choose my master.” The Jew who is involved in Torah says “I work until I have what I need, and then I choose to involve myself with Torah.” The choice to do this, to feed the cravings of the soul – to engage in Torah study and involve oneself in the performance of mitzvos – is the ultimate form of freedom. The only thing dictating what I do are the leanings of my own soul, which allows me to do what I want to do within a system of my choosing. 

To summarize, we have three ideas of freedom 
1. One who involves oneself in Torah 
2. One who is free from the dominion of the angel of death 
3. One who is free from the ruling power of the evil inclination 

The Kli Yakar’s teaching helps us understand that all of this really means that freedom is the right to choose. Understanding that that phrase has been co-opted (in some ways) for political means, the idea of choosing doesn’t mean anarchy. Even the founders of this nation noted “That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed…” 

There need to be rules. And the rules will often allow much freedom until the point of harming someone else and impinging on someone else’s right to life, liberty, and pursuing happiness. The rules which overstep what should be their own limitations are rules which should never be made in the first place. 

One of my drama teachers taught us his understanding of what freedom of expression looks like on stage, in a method he channeled from a certain outlook on what halakha is supposed to mean. “If you want to give a cow freedom, put a fence around the meadow.” What is being articulated is that there needs to be a framework in which one lives out one’s freedom, but within that framework, there is much freedom as to how one goes about one’s existence. [A character in a theatrical production is given lines, blocking (movement), and the size and limitations of the stage. How the lines are read and delivered, how the body moves, the cadence of the story telling – all of that changes per each person’s interpretations – giving each performer much freedom, while still working with other people.] 

What about being free from the dominion of the angel of death? One could argue that we aren’t truly free in that sense since we know he is always lurking. But how much do we let that fear run and control our lives? There’s a reason why those who are called “free spirits” are referred to in that way – they don’t let the angel of death define for them what risks are not worth taking and how they will choose to LIVE the most IMPASSIONED life. Indeed if we live with the philosophy that we need to look over our shoulder because the angel of death is waiting to pounce, we aren’t truly living. 

What about people who do not have the Torah? Aren’t they even more free? Can’t they eat in any restaurant? Go to any venue of entertainment? Gamble and drink freely? Waste as much time as possible and not view it as a waste of time? 

Rabbi Zev Leff explained – similar to the Alshikh’s teaching above – that anyone who has a habit or vice which is not good for them is actually enslaved to the Yetzer Hara. To use Rabbi Leff’s example, the smoker is enslaved to the cigarette. The drinker is enslaved by the alcohol. The gambler is enslaved by the thrill of the gamble. The sports fan is enslaved by a game being played by other people. The consumer is enslaved by marketing. Even the restaurant aficionado, even if making good eating choices, is perhaps enslaved by the idea of eating new kinds of food very often. The person who works and works and works without making time for Torah is enslaved by work and money. 

In a way many or most of us are enslaved by smartphones, televisions, or computers (depending on how we use them), as they help us waste a tremendous amount of time, and for what end? 

How is Torah and Mitzvos a defining place for liberty? Quoting Berachos 17a, Rabbi Leff suggested: גלוי וידוע לפניך שרצוננו לעשות רצונך – “It is known before You, that our desire is to fulfill Your will.” The Jew’s free will and natural impulse is to fulfill God’s will. But as the Gemara says, what gets in the way is the שאר שבעיסה, which literally means the rising agent in the dough, but figuratively refers to the Yetzer Hara, the inclination that distracts us from our fundamental desire – to fulfill God’s will. 

We appreciate the freedoms we have to make our own choices. We choose to serve God and to be good and honest citizens of this great country. May we continue to be blessed to practice our faith in peace and to be able to thrive on this most welcoming nation that gave the Jewish people a safe haven from those who challenged our desire to be free under the service of God throughout our history.

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