IT IS NOT WHO YOU ARE, BUT WHOSE YOU ARE
How fortunate we are that when we were enslaved in Egypt HaShem redeemed us!
This is the theme of our annual Pesach Seder. Ought we not ask ourselves why do we owe such gratitude to HaShem for redeeming us from Egypt, was it not HaShem who put us into Egyptian slavery? Perhaps we would be more grateful if He had left us alone.
Among the qualities the we as Jews can be proud of is that we are owned by HaShem in a similar manner that a slave is owned by his master. On surface the concept of being chattel of someone else is not anything to be proud of. However, upon closer consideration we can appreciate the difference be-tween being chattel of another human being and being chattel of the Creator of the universe, Director of history and Father of mother nature. Chattel of an-other human by definition implies that we are subhuman. Only something less than human can belong to another human. Chattel of the Creator, however, implies that we are sub-Creator. A human being which is but a creation of the Creator is much less significant that the sub-Creator.
The benefits of being HaShem’s chattel is that we are eternal and indestructible. Nothing that is associated with HaShem is finite or destructible. The cost of being HaShem’s chattel is that we are held responsible for our smallest in-fractions. Although we are human and as such HaShem does not expect that every Jew be perfect, nevertheless, we are responsible to strive for perfection. We are therefore liable to be constantly working on perfecting ourselves.
The greatest benefit of being His chattel is that we live a most meaningful life. In our role of His chattel, HaShem counts on us to bring the world to its destiny. The destiny of creating a ‘domicile’ for HaShem in this material world is directly dependent upon HaShem’s people.
How does a nation of mortal beings morph from a nation of mortals to a nation of sub-Creators?
That metamorphosis occurred only through the process of our slavery in Egypt and it subsequent redemption. The very process of becoming a nation happened in a state of slavery. We are not a nation that was captured. W e were a family that was enslaved and in that state of slavery we morphed into a nation. We were born in slavery. There was never a moment when we were autonomous. With HaShem’s redemption from Egypt, we kept our state of slavery. Instead of being slaves to Pharaoh we became slaves to HaShem.
Behold! The very slavery of our people is what facilitated our becoming the chattel of HaShem.
When we celebrate our redemption on the night of the Seder. We are not merely celebrating our redemption. We are celebrating our going into slavery as well.
Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind