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BEGIN WITH A GRIN 

First, a story which is a sad joke…

A father and son were traveling with a small donkey. They encountered a group of people who began to murmur, “What odd people they are. They have a donkey and neither one of them is riding on it.”

Father and son looked at one another and decided the son would ride the donkey. They continued on their way and eventually encountered a group of beggars. The beggars began murmuring about the lazy son who rode on the donkey while his father walked under the burning sun.

Father and son looked at one another and said, “They’re right. Let’s switch. The father rode the donkey and the son walked. Again, they encountered a group of people who murmured about the cruelty of the father who sat comfortably on the donkey as his son trudged along.

“They’re also right,” said the father to his son. “Come on the donkey with me.” They met another group of people who said, “Poor donkey. Two men on a little donkey? That’s not right!”

So if you see two fools carrying a donkey on their shoulders, you’ll know the rest of the story…

MODERN DAY SLAVERY

This week’s parsha, Mishpatim, begins with the laws of the eved ivri (Jewish slave). The topic of slavery seems disconnected from our reality. The word “avdus” (slavery), in the modern world in which we live, is looked down upon as a relic of the olden days, There is hardly a place today in the world where slavery is still permitted and the very thought about the possibility of human beings like us serving us like robots can make us shudder.

[Interestingly, it is these mitzvos having to do with the laws of slavery like buying an eved ivri or redeeming and marrying an amah ivriya (Jewish maidservant), that are spoken about at length in Chassidus. Entire, lengthy maamarim from all seven generations of Chabad Rebbeim deal with the subject of Jewish slavery and its connection with the true and complete Geula.]

So, what is the deeper meaning of the laws of slavery for today? And how does it connect us with the coming of Moshiach?

First of all, one can see enslavement as a symbol for exile, and the release of the slave as symbolic of Geula. The eved ivri in our parsha represents Jewish souls; actually, every one of us is a slave, in some way or another, to the dictates of exile. We are enslaved in our mindset, to the world around us. We are influenced, most often, in a negative way (by the nations of the world and from the basic assumptions that are foreign to everything dear to us).

In fact, the more free we feel, the more open, the more independent, the more we discover how the truth is the absolute opposite. If we make a spiritual accounting, we will find the depth and extremity of our inner servitude. We are influence by our surroundings, by the media, by peers. By whatsapp messages and social media. By politicians in Washington and by the “stars” (of the night)… in Hollywood, and by what not? We don’t think independently, don’t speak from the heart, and don’t do anything freely, because with every single thing we seek social acceptance. We hope, with all our heart, for social acceptance in the eyes of those around us, near and far. This painful realization leads us to a very problematic conclusion, that here and now, in the 21^st century, when everything is allowed, there are many slaves, and they are, more or less, us!

Some will say this isn’t a new problem; it has always existed. Man has always been influenced by his environment, and society has always imposed its will upon the individual. The Jewish people have been influenced by the nations starting from when they were in Egypt, and nothing has changed till today.

In any case, the real question is, how do we get out of this? How do we free ourselves from the chains of exile and the spiritual servitude? How can we redeem the “slave within us” and gain true freedom?

FREE THE SLAVES

The answer is in our parsha. The section on the eved ivri begins with the words, “When you acquire an eved ivri,” in the singular, when “you,” an individual, acquires. This arouses the attention of the commentators in light of the fact that the previous verse, the first in parshas Mishpatim, is written in the plural, (“And these are laws which you should place before them.”) Why is that? And who exactly is the Torah addressing when it says, “When you acquire?” Who is meant to acquire an eved ivri? In Chassidus, there is a surprising answer, an answer which can make you fall off your chair, “It’s referring to Moshe Rabeinu, that he is commanded to acquire an eved ivri.” So who is the Torah commanding to go around buying slaves? Moshe Rabeinu! (Why? Why Moshe Rabeinu? What is he supposed to do with all these slaves, i.e. us?)

Moshe Rabeinu, spiritually speaking, represents the aspect of daas (divine consciousness). Moshe is one of the seven shepherds of the Jewish people whose job it is draw down vitality and G-dliness to Jewish souls (Tanya, the beginning of chapter 42). Each of these shepherds infuses Jewish souls with a different spiritual quality, while Moshe is the one who gives daas. Daas, in Chassidus, represents the ability to connect, the ability to recognize, and the ability to feel (a palpable sense in the mind). These three abilities are rungs of a spiritual ladder which lead to spiritual freedom. When a person is able to connect with something through the power of intellect, when he gains full recognition of all details of a topic so that he feels it deep within himself, then the person becomes truly free.

Actually, true freedom is freedom to know. Being free means the ability to think independently and to arrive at deep conclusions which the person feels deep within his soul. We get this ability from Moshe, from the only person in history who had (and has…) full awareness of the existence of the Creator and the truth of Torah.

In other words, when a person attains recognition of the Creator through the power of daas, the existence of the world loses its significance. The world, with its myriad details, shrinks in the face of the absolute G-dly truth. When a Jew feels close to G-d, he doesn’t care what the government in Washington has to say, and it makes no difference to him who is the biggest star in Hollywood… He is not influenced by whatsapp messages or Facebook posts. Societal influences from his environment, near and far, do not dictate his life, do not change his values, and cannot negatively impact his behaviors.

We get this freedom from Moshe, and from the extension of Moshe in every generation, from the leaders of Yisrael who are those who infuse us with the light, the vitality and the power to free ourselves from the constraints of the world. By connecting to the Moshe of the generation, the Rebbe MH”M, by learning his teachings and following his instructions, we gain the power of daas, the ability to truly know G-d, and thus free ourselves from the existing reality.

But this is still not all. The verse continues, “For six years he shall serve and in the seventh he goes free.” The six years of servitude represent the service of the Jewish people through six thousand years of the existence of the world, and the going free in the seventh year represents receiving the reward for this service in the seventh millennium, that long awaited day about which it says, “A day that is entirely Shabbos and rest forevermore.”

This verse teaches us that the service needs to be connected with reward; the six thousand years need to be united with the  seventh millennium. This means that now already, while the work is being done, during the enslavement, we need to (at least) “taste” the Geula. We need to feel that there is a purpose, a goal, that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and this is the light of the true and complete Geula. In this way, the work gets done with greater ease, with more enthusiasm and out of enjoyment. Even if we feel lost and enslaved, lacking daas and helpless, there is a way to become free, because every Jew is given the ability to step into the light when he decides with absolute firmness that exile and enslavement have no power over him because “a Jew is the owner of the world!”

TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY

We will end with a sad story, part of which the Rebbe told at the farbrengen of 11 Nissan 5736.

Howard Hughes was one of the richest men in the world. He was a movie producer, a real estate mogul, a titan of industry, a pilot and aeronautical engineer who became a paranoid recluse. He conducted business meetings only in secret locations and built a security system to protect his possessions that according to his biography was more extensive than that of the Secret Service of the United States.

Losing a large contract with the US government in 1947 increased his paranoia, although it didn’t significantly impact his wealth. He had no friends, only aides. His wife had to make an appointment to see him. He had no children. In short, he had no life.

His condition slowly deteriorated and he ordered those around him not to breathe on him. He was deathly afraid that someone would mistakenly touch him, to the point that he wore protective gear to protect himself from germs. He cut his nails only once a year and never took a haircut. His teeth began to rot.

He fell unconscious from dehydration on April 5, 1976 in a hotel in Mexico. He was flown by private plane to Houston and died on the way.

Less than a week later, on 11 Nissan, the Rebbe explained the true meaning of freedom and what enslavement is.

“There was a man who had two billion dollars,” said the Rebbe. “He could have gone anywhere… but his life was ruled by fear of the unknown and the only thing that concerned him was who was looking at him and wanted his money and secrets.”

Money did not give him freedom because freedom comes from within. By connecting to the Rebbe we can be truly free.

Good Shabbos!

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