What Kind of Freedom Shall We Yearn For?

The great Jewish holiday of liberation is upon us. Throughout the world, millions of Jews will sit at their Passover Seder tables on Saturday night and recall the story of their ancestors. It is arguably the simplest and most powerful human story imaginable: You are enslaved, and then you are free. How can anything be simpler and more powerful than that?

Freedom is most appreciated when it is taken away from us. The dread of being imprisoned or kidnapped are two obvious examples. During the pandemic year, all kinds of freedoms were taken away from us. At one extreme were those who lost their lives or were physically weakened by the virus. At the other extreme were healthy survivors who were stuck in prolonged quarantines, unable to lead their usual lives.

The slavery of our ancestors was, above all, a physical thing. Similarly, the limits imposed on us by the pandemic were physical — being stuck at home, seeing our favorite places shut down, not being able to travel, having to physically distance from one another, and so on. Perhaps unlike any other time of our lives, we lived a year of consistent limitations.

By some remarkable (or mystical?) coincidence, our physical chains are now breaking just as we prepare to celebrate the Jewish holiday of liberation. With more and more people being vaccinated, we are beginning to taste the physical freedoms that were wrenched from us by a devastating pandemic. Restaurants, theaters and retail stores are reopening, street traffic is back, and we’re even starting to hug again!

The temptation will be great to reclaim our physical freedoms with a vengeance, as one might overeat after an extended fast. I’m experiencing it myself: I’ve missed movie theaters so much over the past year I find myself wanting to go pretty much every night.

But as we reclaim our cherished freedoms, it would be wise to remember the inherent value of limitations. The Jewish tradition was never about celebrating freedom as an absolute. If anything, the boundaries of freedom are even more essential.

As we reclaim our cherished freedoms, it would be wise to remember the inherent value of limitations.

I may be free to abuse my body by eating junk — but should I use that freedom?

I may be free to express hurtful anger — but should I use that freedom?

I may be free to gossip about others — but should I use that freedom?

I may be free to live a self-centered life and worry only about myself — but should I use that freedom?

The long and interminable pandemic year has forced on us limitations we never asked for, but it did give us plenty of practice in the art of restraint.

As we commemorate on Saturday night the unbridled freedom that greeted our ancestors after their release from bondage, let us also reflect on the power of restraining ourselves, the power of managing our freedoms in a way that brings out our decency.

When it makes us better humans, let us remember our freedom to hold back.

Shabbat Shalom and happy Passover.