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us to use our freedom to learn to<br />
understand who we are and can be<br />
as a people. Now, with the rise of<br />
fundamentalism around the world,<br />
including among Jews, the privilege<br />
of learning becomes an imperative<br />
so that we can embrace our power<br />
to create the future of our people.<br />
At Emanuel Synagogue, and in<br />
pluralist communities around<br />
the world, we use our freedom to<br />
empower and include others in<br />
our unfolding story. We know we<br />
stand authentically in the chain of<br />
tradition, in the transmission of our<br />
deepest held values and practices.<br />
Yes, freedom gives us the ability to<br />
walk away from our heritage, our<br />
culture, our traditions, our values<br />
and our way of life, to leave it all<br />
behind and become like everyone<br />
else. But freedom also gives us the<br />
opportunity to know that as human<br />
beings we have the opportunity to<br />
live a fully conscious life, enhanced<br />
and guided by that very heritage<br />
and its visionary way of life. I look<br />
forward to walking this latter path<br />
with you at Emanuel Synagogue.<br />
{FINDING TRUE FREEDOM}<br />
Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio<br />
Every year as we approach Pesach<br />
we begin to speak about freedom.<br />
Ask any child in the preschool<br />
what Pesach celebrates and<br />
they will answer, “that we were<br />
slaves and then we were free”.<br />
Look at any of the myriad of<br />
haggadot, and they all emphasise<br />
freedom - its importance and its<br />
significance. In fact, the one we<br />
use at my house is called “Feast<br />
of Freedom.” Yet while we speak<br />
about freedom, as I scrub and<br />
clean and think about all the<br />
rules and regulations, I wonder<br />
about the nature of this freedom<br />
we are celebrating. Seneca, the<br />
first century Roman philosopher<br />
wrote: “Show me a person who<br />
is not a slave. One is enslaved to<br />
passions, a second to profit and<br />
a third to status and everyone to<br />
fear.” Seneca, in the first century<br />
wrote something which is still true<br />
today. For all our talk of freedom,<br />
we are possibly still enslaved in the<br />
same way as our ancient brethren.<br />
How many of us are truly free?<br />
How many of us feel trapped<br />
within the bondage of others, the<br />
oppression of our work, driven<br />
TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING<br />
to move ahead, to be<br />
better, to be more, to<br />
have more; we are on<br />
a treadmill - and it is<br />
so hard to get off! Even<br />
though we are not<br />
enslaved as our ancestors<br />
were, thank God, we are all slaves<br />
in one form or another. So, is<br />
Pesach really to celebrate our<br />
liberation from such bondage? Is<br />
Pesach about personal freedom,<br />
releasing ourselves from those ties?<br />
and if so, why so many rules and<br />
regulations? Why celebrate when it<br />
seems we are not really free at all?<br />
I read an incredible lecture presented<br />
by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in which<br />
he offers an insight into how the<br />
Torah and then Jewish tradition<br />
views the notion of freedom. He<br />
begins by looking at the language<br />
we use. When we speak of freedom<br />
in the Haggadah, or even the name<br />
for Pesach, z’man cheruteinu, the<br />
time of our freedom, the word<br />
used is from the root chaf reish taf,<br />
cherut. We talk in the haggadah<br />
of “me-avdut le-cheirut,” “from<br />
slavery to freedom.” But the word<br />
cheirut does not appear in the Torah<br />
at all. When the Torah speaks of<br />
freedom it uses the word chofesh/<br />
chofshi, which is the Modern<br />
Hebrew word for holiday. In the<br />
Torah, it is not referring to a nice<br />
long weekend break, or a two-week<br />
7
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