Va’era Exodus
6:2 - 9:35
In this week’s Torah portion, Va-era, God continues with the promise of deliverance for the Children of Israel. God hears their moaning, brings Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and the first seven of the plagues take place… You know the story. Near the beginning of the portion in very close proximity to each other, God’s promise contains these expressions: “I will free you.... and deliver you… I will redeem you… I will take you… I will bring you into the land.” The first four serve as one of the sources for drinking four cups of wine during the Passover Seder, the fifth expression is represented by the Elijah cup at the table. It is interesting to note that from one biblical expression a tradition develops in rabbinic time that still finds a place in Jewish homes where traditions are observed.
We are allowed to think very creatively about how we do our Seder, but few of us would consider that we have fulfilled our obligation if we did not recite Kidush four times. Why do we do this? Oftentimes we don’t really know the reason behind it. After all, the supportive text says nothing about wine or Kidush. But knowing the reason enriches the tradition. We are always working on our freedoms; we are always at the edge of being enslaved to something or someone. One of the interpreters teaches that the first expression, “I will free you” refers to freedom from physical bondage; “deliver you” has to do with the mind set of the slave (after all you can be physically free and still feel enslaved!); “I will redeem you” so that you will value yourself as a free person; and “I will take you” speaks of the relationship between human and divine, which is the ultimate purpose of liberation.
God seems to be saying, according to this interpretation, that spiritual devotion needs to be free willed. There can be no coercion involved and there should be no dependency. Humans, freed from physical slavery, their minds creatively opened, liberated in every sense imaginable now willingly commit to serve a higher purpose, to seek through a life of mitzvoth, to understand God’s path.
Every year, at the time of the Passover Seder, we would do well to stop at each of these places when we raise our cup, and before drinking from it pause and ponder: How free are we? What’s holding us back? How’s our self esteem? And, what do I have to clear up in my being in order to become more connected to our divine source?
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Roberto D. Graetz
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