Chapter 3: Two Types of Freedom

Summary: The Seder teaches that authentic freedom is a fusion of physical and spiritual liberation

“I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free.” --- Rosa Parks

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” --- Albert Camus

“No man is good enough to be another's master.” --- William Morris

Child’s Play?

Perhaps more than any other Jewish holiday, Passover is celebrated with children in mind. The commandment on seder night is to tell the story to your children,¹ and part of the Mitzvah is to promote their enthusiastic participation in the seder; that’s why our tradition includes surprising and whimsical features in the Seder, to intrigue and delight our children.²   This emphasis on children is also evident from the Haggadah in the custom for a child to recite the Ma Nishtana,³ in the Haggadah segment about the 4 sons/children, and by provoking their questions by moving the seder plate on and off the table at various times during the night. The Torah clearly looks at the seder as a way of passing the torch to the next generation.⁴

But as with much of Judaism, including stories in the Torah, it would be a mistake for us to accept a child’s simplistic version of the Exodus story:  We were slaves, and then God freed us (now, let’s eat!)  If the message were that basic, there would be no need for such a detailed narrative.  In truth, the Exodus story teaches a highly sophisticated, nuanced lesson about the nature of freedom. For most of us living in America in this day and age, the complexity of freedom is very close to home, because of all the issues that confront our society with regard to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and other types of freedom often taken for granted. And because of the freedoms we enjoy in modern times, we have a unique perspective that enables us to comprehend the lessons of the Exodus in ways that our ancestors could not fathom. 

Duality of Freedom

As discussed in the previous chapter, the Torah’s sophisticated and complex lessons about freedom can be discerned by breaking down the Exodus into its components, which allows us to analyze distinctions.  Most fundamentally, the Haggadah contrasts two forms of “degradation” and their corresponding forms of “praiseworthiness.”⁵ Put another way, on Pesach we are presented with two completely different approaches to slavery and freedom.⁶

The most straightforward characterization of slavery and freedom is offered by the Talmudic sage Shmuel, who tells us that our obligation is to recall that we were once slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and God took us out of there.⁷  In other words, his framework for the Exodus is physical slavery, which ended through physical liberation.

However, there is a second concept of slavery and freedom, brought by the sage Rav, who explains that we "began as idol worshipers, but God brought us close to him through His service,”⁸ (presumably by giving us the Torah).⁹  In other words, we were spiritually enslaved and then granted spiritual salvation.

According to Rambam,¹⁰ we speak about both concepts of slavery and freedom¹¹ at the seder in our recitation of the paragraph of arami oved avi,  which is an obscure section in Deuteronomy¹² about the “first fruits” ritual (Bikkurim) performed at the Temple in Jerusalem each year, usually during the holiday of Shavuot.¹³ This portion goes on to say that the person performing the “first fruits” ritual should recite a general overview of this chapter of Jewish history, proclaiming that the Jews descended to Egypt and became enslaved by the Egyptians, and that God redeemed us and brought us to the land of Israel. This seems to be a relevant (albeit odd¹⁴) section to read and expound upon at the seder. 

On the face of it, this prayer refers only to freedom from physical slavery and makes no mention of idol worship. So why would Rambam assert that it illuminates both types of freedom – freedom from slavery and salvation from idol worship?   His interpretation does makes sense, however, if we consider the literal interpretation of the very words, arami oved avi.¹⁵  Rambam¹⁶ seems to find this reference in the more accurate meaning of the introductory words:  My (fore)father was a lost Aramean, which could be reference to Abraham's father Terach, who was swept up in the practices and culture of his era and dedicated himself to a life lost to idol worship.¹⁷

The arami oved avi section is the apex of the seder, and Rambam brilliantly understands that it captures the major theme of the Haggadah, which is the duality of freedom -- freedom from both physical and spiritual slavery. This theme underlies the entire structure of the ritual and, as our title says, brings “order to the seder.” It is the only passage that celebrates the two facets of our liberation during the Exodus, and since both visions of freedom are inextricably entwined, they must be recited as one.  

This structure based on the duality of freedom runs through the entire seder in the Haggadah sections surrounding the recitation of “Maggid” (the main “Story of the Exodus” portion). Those sections remarkably require that we perform each ritual twice, all before the meal (Shulchan Orech), corresponding to these two versions of slavery and freedom.¹⁸ We drink two cups of wine,¹⁹ wash our hands twice,²⁰ eat and dip maror twice,²¹ engage in two matzoh rituals -- breaking²² and eating,²³ and ask 2 sets of questions.²⁴ And the Maggid/story itself is focused on the duality of freedom, most prominently in Avadim Hayinu…Vayotzienu…, (We were once slaves…and God took us out…), and Mitechila ovdei avoda zara hayu avoteinu…v’karveinu Hamakom…, (At the beginning our forefathers were idol worshippers…and God bought us close…) and culminating with arami oved avi, which as we now realize, refers to both of these ideas together.

In our next two chapters, we will delve deeper into the profound lessons we learn from these two fundamental pillars of freedom.