Freedom in Three

The Torah teaches us that when letting a Jewish servant go after their years of service we are obligated to give them a gift.  The Torah specifies “from your sheep, your grain harvest and grape harvest”.  

Surely, there were other animals and food items on the fields and farms of Israel that could have been referenced.  (Particularly some of the special items that Israel is praised for; olives, pomegranates, dates, figs.  (Wheat and grapes are among the seven special kinds of Israel.))

Another question; why do we need to gift someone who’s service we paid for?  We paid for their years of service, they did their work, we got our money’s worth, end of story! Why does the Torah require us to give a gift on top of that?!

The Torah itself gives us the reason in the next verse but it becomes absolutely delicious with the teaching of Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Schneerson, father of the Rebbe, whos resting place in Kazakhstan I visited last week.

The Torah tells us in the following verse; “And you should remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and Hashem your G-d redeemed you. 

Therefore I have commanded you of this matter on this day.”

When we ponder Hashem’s kindness and the redemption from Egypt, we begin to realize that kindnesses like gifting our servants is part of our gratitude to Hashem for going above and beyond.

Now let’s look a little deeper.  How do we commemorate the Seder?  Three things; Passover Sacrifice, Matzah and 4 cups of wine.  You got it! Sheep, Grain Harvest and Grape Harvest! Absolutely delicious!

What about the Marror? Rabbi Levi Yitzchok says that the Marror commemorates the slavery not the redemption.  Whereas the other three commemorate the liberation;
Sheep – Passover – Pesach – On account of G-d jumping (Pusach) over the doorposts of the Jews.
Matzah – For the dough didn’t have time to rise before G-d took us out.
4 cups of wine – corresponding to the four verses of redemption.

One more point, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok says that for a Jewish servant their servitude is not bitter since the Torah instructs us to treat our servants with the greatest kindness and dignity.

Dear friends, Torah is so sweet. Come learn more of it with me at the National Jewish Retreat next week right here in Stone Mountain!

Good Shabbos!

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