The holiday of Passover is fast approaching. In a few weeks, Jews will gather around beautifully decorated dinner tables to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt: the freeing of the Hebrews from Pharaoh’s enslavement. The evening will begin by recalling God’s five promises of liberation (Exodus 6:6-8). In five different ways, God pledges His intervention to free the Hebrew slaves.
“But,” the biblical text continues, “when Moses told this to the Israelites, they could not hear him, their spirit crushed by cruel bondage.” (Exodus 6:9)
The idea that the Torah is shining its light on isn’t unique to this biblical story, or to our people. It is talking about all of us, about a universal human trait. What is it about the human condition that pushes us to continue choosing “the evil we know” over embracing the promises of change? Is our predilection for the status quo so dominant that adaptation and coping mechanisms come to prevail over our yearnings for a better tomorrow?
These questions matter greatly when we consider the daunting crossroad at which humanity stands. Will we continue to pursue the maximization of individualistic, materialistic conception of happiness that our civilization has defined as success, or will we open ourselves up to a different way of living, to a new definition of what being a successful human on Earth might be? And, if the latter, will there still be time?
The Chassidic masters of 18th century Eastern Europe taught that the darkest depth of enslavement is when we have grown accustomed to it; we then no longer know we are enslaved. Is it possible that we, too, have succumbed to such obliviousness? Is our spirit so crushed, so dimmed, that God — like in Torah — has had no choice but to send plague after plague to shake us out of our enslaved mentality? And still, we let ourselves be distracted by partisan politics, manufactured divisions and the relentless entertainment industry.
Meanwhile, more and more of us are condemned to sleeping on the streets, our Earth is burning, icecaps are melting, deserts are expanding, war is raging, millions are displaced and humanity is hurtling toward a mass extinction event.
A year ago, during Passover, I asked in this column: “Are we just waiting for the vaccine that we might resume our lives as before, stuck in our habits, content with our worldview, human extinction be damned?”
Have we?
At Passover we sing the Hebrews’ ultimate realization that finally ushers their stepping into freedom: “Avadim Hayinu! We were slaves!” It echoes, for me, Harriet Tubman’s famous quote: “I could have saved thousands more if I could have convinced them they were slaves.”
May her words reach us all in enough time.
Olivier BenHaim is the Rabbi of Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue in Seattle.
Read more of the Mar. 30-Apr. 5, 2022 issue.