But the greatest desire of all Is to be in the dream of another
To feel a light pull, like reins, To feel a heavy pull, like chains.
Yehuda Amichai
It is critical to emphasize that the journey the Israelites take — from one building project to another — transforms them from slaves of an earthly ruler to servants of a Heavenly One. Freedom, as imagined by the book of Exodus, is decidedly not about casting off the burdens of service altogether. In fact, it says a great deal about our secularized society and its often impoverished conceptions of freedom, that while we often cite the demand that Pharaoh “let my people go!” we omit the telos of that call, “that they may serve Me.” Perhaps we should make the point differently: The Torah is passionately concerned with a journey from slavery to freedom, but it imagines freedom in ways that are different from (one is tempted to say antithetical to) the ways freedom is commonly spoken of in contemporary terms, in capitalist, consumerist America. Doing whatever I want whenever I want, is arguably not freedom at all, but enslavement to impulse. The depths of freedom are discovered not in self-assertion but in rare moments of authentic self-transcendence. Authentic freedom, Jewish theology insists, is found in service to something (and Someone) greater than oneself.
Rabbi Dr. Shai Held, Sh'ma, A Journal of Jewish Ideas, September 2013,From ‘Avdut’ to ‘Avodah’:Between Slavery and Service
https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/sept/SEPT13_shma_r1_lr.pdf
Emmanuel Levinas, "Transcendence and Height," Basic Philosophical Writings (Bloomington: Indiana University Press), p. 17.
The epiphany of the Absolutely Other is a face by which the Other Challenges and commands me through his nakedness, through his destitution. He challenges me from his humility and from his height…
You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side
You may be workin' in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair
You may be somebody's mistress, may be somebody's heir
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Yes, you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)
Bob Dylan
אמרו רז״ל שכר מצוה מצוה, רצה לומר שהשם יתברך נתן לנו המצות כדי להדבק על ידיהם בהשם יתברך, וזהו שכר מצוה הוא מצוה, לשון צוותא, דהיינו שנדבק על ידי בהשם יתברך ואין לך שכר גדול מזה.
The rabbis of the Talmud said "the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah," that is to say, that God gave us commandments so that we might thereby cleave to God. Thus, the reward for a mitzvah is mitzvah, that is, tzavta (joining together), for, by means [of performing a mitzvah] one cleaves with God, and there is no greater reward than that...
Chernobyl Rabbi
(א) וְזֶה לְשׁוֹן מִצְוָה שֶׁהוּא לְשׁוֹן הִתְחַבְּרוּת, מִלְּשׁוֹן צַוְתָא וְחִבּוּר, (יט) כִּי עַל-יְדֵי כָּל מִצְוָה וּמִצְוָה מִמִּצְוֹת הַתּוֹרָה מְצַוְּתִין וּמְקַשְּׁרִין וּמְחַבְּרִין אוֹר הַזְּרִיחָה שֶׁל הרשימו אֶל כְּלֵי הַמֹּחִין, שֶׁעַל-יְדֵי זֶה מְקֻשָּׁרִין בּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ...
The term “Mitzvah” can connote “relationship” as in - “Tzavta” and connection. Because through each Mitzvah of the Torah, one connects, ties and forms bonds between the “light of the divine glow” to the “consciousness”, in this way one becomes tied to G-d...
לְמַעַן תִּזְכְּרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֶת כָּל מִצְוֹתָי, מָשָׁל לְאֶחָד מֻשְׁלָךְ לְתוֹךְ הַמַּיִם, הוֹשִׁיט הַקַּבַּרְנִיט אֶת הַחֶבֶל וְאָמַר לוֹ תְּפֹס חֶבֶל זֶה בְּיָדְךָ וְאַל תַּנִּיחֵהוּ, שֶׁאִם תַּנִּיחֵהוּ אֵין לְךָ חַיִּים. אַף כָּךְ אָמַר לָהֶם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, כָּל זְמַן שֶׁאַתֶּם מְדֻבָּקִין בַּמִּצְוֹת (דברים ד, ד): וְאַתֶּם הַדְּבֵקִים בַּיקוק אֱלֹקֵיכֶם חַיִּים כֻּלְכֶם הַיּוֹם.
And what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do justice
And to love goodness,
And to walk modestly with your God;-c
הִגִיד לְךָ אָדָם מַה טוֹב
וּמָה אֱלקִים מְבַקֵֹש מִמְךָ.
נַנִיחַ לַמֻפְלָא בּהֵיכלוֹ.
דַי לוֹמַר
הִגִיד לְךָ אָדָם מַה טוֹב.
אַתָּה חַיָב להִתְפּנּוֹת
וּמַה פֵּרוּש חַיָב?
חַיָב.
הִנֵּה פֹּה לִימִינְךָ אָדָם
עוֹדֶנּוּ נַעַר.
יֵֹש לוֹ גַם קְֹשָיִים ֹשֶל פַּרְנָסָה,
גַּם ֹשֶל זֶהוּת.
בַּלַיְלָה הוּא נֶחְנָק
מֵחֲרָדָה, לֹא מִתְעוּקָה נְֹשִימָתִית.
כַּמָּה הֵם מִתְעַנִים בַּצֹּרֶךְ לִידִידוּת
קְצָת מְחֻיֶבֶת,
הַנְּעָרִים הָאֵלֶּה בַּפָּנִים הַחֲמוּרוֹת.
וְגַם רָזִים כָּל כּךְ,
אִלוּ אֲנִי אִמָּם
הִייתִי בְּלִי סָפֵק אִֹשָּה קוֹדֶרֶת.
מַה יֶש לוֹמַר
הַכֹּל צְמֵאִים לְאַהֲבָה
וְזֶה עִנְיָן מַֹשְפִּיל
וְזֶה גַם רֶגַע ֹשֶל חֻלְֹשָה.
אַךְ יֵֹש לִי הֶעָזָה לוֹמַר
כֻּלָּם צְמֵאִים לְאַהֲבָה,
וּמִי ֹשֶלֹא יִמְזֹג כּוֹס מַיִם לַצָּמֵא
סופו ֹשֶיְּעַלַע רַק את הָרֹק אֲֹשֶר בְּפִיו
עַד סוֹף יָמָיו.
And Sympathy is All We Need, My Friend
He has told you, O man, what is good
And what God asks of you.
Let us leave the Wondrous One in His Palace.
It is enough to say
He has told you, O man, what is good.
You must make room.
And what is the meaning of must?
Must.
See here, to your right, is a man
Still a boy.
He has difficulties with making a livelihood
And also with his identity.
At night, he chokes – from fear, not from respiratory constriction.
How they suffer, these young men with their pale faces,
From the need for friendship that is just a little committed.
And they’re so thin too.
If I were their mother I would undoubtedly be a gloomy woman.
What is there to say?
Everything is thirsty for love.
It is a humbling matter
And also a moment of weakness.
Everyone is thirsty for love.
And I have the audacity to say
Whoever will not pour a cup of water for the thirsty
Will end up swallowing only the saliva
In his own mouth
Until the end of his days.
Dahlia Ravikovitch