Alex just recently came to the USA to become a citizen, and his friend, Ben, explained to him the many freedoms Americans have compared to people in Russia. Alex then asked Ben if he could help him study for the civics test that he would take in a few weeks.
“No problem,” Ben said.
One of the topics on the exam was the American Flag. So Ben explained, “The stripes represent the original 13 Colonies, and the stars represent the 50 states of the Union. The flag’s colors are also symbolic; red symbolizes strength and courage, white symbolizes purity and innocence, and blue represents perseverance and justice. Ben proudly exclaimed, “The red, white, and blue flag represents freedom and the true meaning of being an American.”
Alex said, “If that’s true, what about when you see red, white, and blue flashing lights in your rearview mirror?”
Statement: Freedom. The Passover season is dripping with the expression of this single word. Throughout Pesach, the Hebrew word often used to refer to this freedom is cherut. In our Tefilos and Kiddush, we say, “zman cherutenu - the time of our freedom.” In the Haggada, we say, “hotzianu Hashem mi’avdut lecherut - He (Hashem) took us out from slavery to freedom.”
However, the Hebrew word cherut, as a term for freedom, does not appear, even once, throughout all of TaNaKh. The biblical word for freedom is actually chofesh as it says:
Ki tikneh eved Ivri, sheish shanim ya’avod, u’vashvi’it yetzei la’chofshi chinam - Should you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall work (for) six years, and in the seventh, he shall go out free without charge.
Alternatively, another word that conveys the idea of freedom is dror. This word also means “flowing, liberty,” and can refer to a sparrow or swallow bird.
The Ramban explains that the word dror is an abbreviation for “dor holech v’dor ba - One generation goes, another comes.”
Why Did Our Sages Choose Cherut?
Question: If the biblical words for freedom are chofesh or dror, why did our Sages designate the word cherut for freedom? What is the difference between these words, and what is the significance of cherut as it specifically relates to Pesach?
Answer: Although the word chofesh does mean freedom concerning an individual slave – dror is more inclusive as it refers to freedom for Hebrew slaves during the Jubilee year for either individuals or a select group. Since Pesach commemorates a national experience of freedom, why did our Sages choose the word of cherut instead?
This word cherut has a double meaning. In Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi encourages us to occupy ourselves with learning Torah, as he says:
Vehaluchos ma’aseh Elokim heima, vehamichtav michtav Elokim hu, charut al haluchos - And the Luchos (tablets) were the work of G-d, and the writing was the writing of G-d, engraved upon the Luchos.
Al tikrei charut ela cherut - Don’t read "engraved" (charut), but rather read it as "freedom" (cherut). Ein lecha ben chorin ela mi she’osek b’talmud Torah - For there is no free individual except for one who works toward the study of Torah.
Three Levels of Freedom
In his expansive 3 volume set on the Haggadah, entitled “Pathways to Pesach and the Haggadah,” R. Dovber Pinson explains that “everything within this world consists of three elements: Olam-space, Shanah-time, and Nefesh-soul.” These can be simply explained as the “where, when, and who” of our physical existence. By looking at the roots of dror, chofesh, and cherut, and their associations, Rabbi Pinson links each of these words of freedom to one of these aspects.
- Chofesh is related to the word lachapes - to search. This is connected with the concept of Olam-space, as searching suggests looking at what immediately appears while trying to see beyond it within space.
- Dror, when related to “generations” (see above), is connected with Shanah-time and circular movement.
- Cherut is connected to Nefesh-soul. The concept of charut - engraving describes a deep integration of wisdom within one’s being and soul.
Engraving - A Cut Beneath The Rest
To better appreciate this connection between engraving and freedom, let’s investigate what engraving is. As a former engraver, I can personally attest that the job of an engraver requires much more effort and delicate precision than writing with ink on paper. Engraving usually involves using a very sharp tool or blade held at a precise angle. When applying just the right amount of force, the upper layer of metal is removed and freed from its source. As opposed to ink, when something is engraved, it leaves a permanent change in the object itself and how it looks. Even with raised lettering (done through a process called “chasing,” as often seen on gravestones), this engraving method involves removing a portion of the original material, leaving an empty space where that portion of the object was before. This negative space marking creates the message or image and becomes an inseparable part of the overall object.
So, too, is the task of learning Torah. It requires careful effort and demands that we refine our character by removing those attributes that could impede our ability to understand HaShem’s Torah and our connection to Him. Learning itself also involves the removal of unnecessary or redundant information–allowing for the refinement of our learning and the consolidation of information, making learning more permanent. Using this learning method, we attain a permanent mark that becomes inseparable from us, identifying our dedication to our faith and removing those negative aspects that reveal the message beneath. It is interesting to note that the Gemara states that reading the text of a tombstone causes one to forget his learning. However, Halachic authorities cite the Arizal, who explains that it is only a concern if the words protrude from the stone. If, however, the words are engraved, one may read them. It can be reasoned that when letters protrude, this signifies arrogance, which causes one to forget their Torah learning. Regular engraving creates a dark shadow that allows one to see the writing.
Onkelos - How to Trick an Emperor
The idea of refining ourselves to deepen our connection to Torah is demonstrated through the inspiring story of Onkelos the Convert (also known as Aquila). He was the nephew of the Roman emperor Hadrian and desired to convert to Judaism but feared his uncle’s wrath. So he cleverly told his uncle: “I want to engage in business and trade.”
“Why do you need to do so?” his uncle Hadrian asked, “I can provide all the silver or gold as much as you need.”
Aquila responded: “I want to go into business in other lands to become acquainted with other people and need only your advice on how to do so.”
Hadrian responded: “The way to trade successfully is to find something valuable that the world neglects because of the current trends of the day. That is what you should buy. You will surely get it cheaply. Then be patient because the price is sure to rise.”
Aquila replied, “You advise me well. No wonder that all men praise your wisdom.”
He then studied at Yavneh, the Torah center in Israel. Later, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua met him and noticed his face changed. They said to each other: “Aquila must be studying the Torah.” When he drew near them, he asked numerous questions, which they answered. Finally, he converted to Judaism and became circumcised. He studied day and night and translated the Torah from Hebrew into Greek and later into Aramaic. This translation became the famous and invaluable Targum Onkelos, printed in almost every Chumash.
Later, he returned to his uncle Hadrian, who had now become emperor of Rome, to pay his respects to him. All of Aquila’s intensive hard work in learning Torah had taken away some of his youthful appearance.
Hadrian exclaimed, “You are not looking well, Aquila! What have you been doing to yourself?! Your business must be going badly.”
“On the contrary, uncle, my business is doing very well,” Aquila responded.
“What have you bought?”
“The most valuable goods in the world.
“What did you pay for them?”
“Only a piece of foreskin.”
“You speak in riddles.”
“I have become a Jew; I have circumcised myself.”
“How dare you, without consulting me!”
“I did ask you, uncle, and you told me I should do it.”
“Impossible! I have an excellent memory, and I can’t recall saying anything like that.”
“You told me to find something valuable that is neglected by the world because of the trends of the day but whose price is sure to rise. Look, uncle, I tried all the religions of all the peoples, and I found no people so lowly and despised by the world as Israel. Yet Israel’s value will rise, as the Prophet Yishayahu promised in the name of the A-lmighty G-d.”
“Could you not have studied the Torah while uncircumcised?” Hadrian inquired.
Aquila answered: “A man can never fully understand the Torah if he remains uncircumcised, as it is said: Magid devarav l’Yaakov, chukav u’mishpatav l’Yisrael - He tells His words to Jacob, His statutes, and His judgments to Israel. That is, HaShem gives his words of Torah to one who is like Yaakov (the Jews) and is circumcised, but not to people who are uncircumcised.”
From this clever exchange, we can begin to understand that there is an intrinsic connection between the concept of removing something of the original matter, like engraving, and refining oneself in order to understand the Torah better and become part of the Jewish people. Yet this story isn’t merely a fable but has proven itself throughout the generations. Such is the case recently in Ukraine.
A Bris in Moldova
On Tuesday, March 8th, 2022, a news report told of an inspiring story that shines a ray of hope and light amid the harsh stories of darkness and destruction in the ongoing war in Ukraine. This story symbolizes the continuity of Jewish life amid the displaced Jews of Ukraine. A Jewish mother, who was not part of the Jewish community in her town of Kharkiv when her child was born, did not see a reason to circumcise him.
However, after fleeing her home and arriving in Chișinău (Kishinev) in Moldova, she saw the amazing reception of the local Jewish community for every Jew arriving. She then decided that her son should become a “kosher Jew.”
The woman asked Rabbi Mendy Axelrod, a Chabad emissary who serves as the rabbi of a shul in Kishinev, to help organize her son’s bris as soon as possible. Rabbi Axelrod found another refugee in the town, Rabbi Yaakov Gaisonowitz, who is considered one of the most expert mohels in the FSU (Former Soviet Union) and performs more than 500 circumcisions a year in Ukraine and Russia. Rabbi Gaisonowitz had fled from Dniepro with his family and is in Kishinev, from where he intends to continue to Israel or another community of refugees in Europe.
Rav Mendy Axelrod (R.) and the Mohel
Since the local shul is full of refugees, the mohel decided to find a sterile place to perform the bris, which took place in a “Mother & Baby Center” where a member of the local Jewish community is employed. The child, who is two and a half years old, was named Chaim Shalom Yoel. But the question remains. What is the relationship between the concepts of charut - engraving and cherut - freedom?
Engraved with Freedom
Together with the freedom that we collectively experienced as a nation, we were brought to Har Sinai to receive His Torah, which transformed us into a people forever. We are no longer just individual slaves longing for our own separate, independent freedom. Merely leaving the limitations of exile does not make one free. As the saying goes, you can take a Jew out of Egypt, but to take the “Egypt” out of a Jew–requires the unifying power of Torah. It gives purpose and direction to the freedom we now have.
When viewing our freedom through the lens of Torah, we can see how it becomes engraved into us and part of our DNA–part of our national psyche. On one level, when we see someone who is not free, as Jews, one of the three signs of our spiritual DNA is that we have Rachmanim–mercy. So it bothers us when we see others who are not free. Free from harm, free from oppression, free from anguish–and we can’t rest. In the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “Why did HaShem allow the Jewish people to become slaves? G-d wanted that at the beginning of our history to lose our freedom so that we would never let it be lost again. He wanted us to know what it feels like to be a slave so that we would become the world’s most consistent fighters for freedom.”
Chofesh versus Cherut - What is True Freedom
On a deeper level, just to be merely free and do as we please can be understood as chofesh, but it does not provide us with true freedom. Let’s look at the sequence of requests that Moshe Rabbeinu was to express to Pharoah.
When HaShem asked Moshe to tell Pharaoh to “Let my people go,” that well-known statement was incomplete. The first time that this idea is mentioned, the full text says, “Shalach et b’ni v’ya’avdeini - Send out my son so that he can serve Me.” Not just “go” but “serve” HaShem.
Strangely though, when Moshe actually met Pharaoh, he didn’t say that. He changed HaShem’s words and said, Shalach et ami v’yachogu li - Send out my people so that they may celebrate for me.” Celebrate? Have a party? Spring break? Is that freedom? No, that is chofesh. That is a holiday vacation! Perhaps Pharaoh intuitively knew that something was wrong with this request, thereby making more work for the Jewish people.
Later, at the plague of locusts, Moshe finally delivers the message as HaShem intended and said, “Shalach et ami v’ya’avduni - Let My people go so that they will serve Me.” This is the true goal of freedom!
So what is the difference between chofesh and cherut? The word chofesh has the meaning of being free to do as we please or even worse. Even freedom, when expressed as dror, can mean flowing and flying free as a bird. Yet the word, cherut, is to experience freedom through serving a higher goal that refines and defines us as a people. Just as Pesach is incomplete with Shavuos, freedom is incomplete without Torah.
Engraving and Removal of Chametz
Now we can begin to understand better the connection between the idea of charut - “engraved” and the word cherut - “freedom.” As engraving involves the removal of stone or metal that reveals its message, we also remove all traces of Chametz (leaven products) as it symbolizes one’s ego. Ego is incompatible and conflicts with avodah - serving HaShem. When the Bnei Yisrael left the servitude of Egypt, they were able to transfer that same energy toward serving HaShem. This act of service and surrender to HaKadosh Baruch Hu requires the removal of any trace of the self–the engraving of the soul. Once those parts of the self are removed, it reveals the essence and identity of the Jew.
Although Pesach's task is to remove one’s ego, when compared with Shavuos, this changes. In the times of the Holy Temple, a special sacrifice for Shavuos: the shtei halechem (two loaves of bread), which (atypically for sacrifices) must be Chametz. Another offering is called a Korban Todah–a Thanksgiving Offering that is also comprised of Chametz, being accompanied by forty loaves of bread. Specifically, thirty of those loaves are matzah, while ten of them are chametz. In both of these cases, we don’t negate the ego but utilize it within our learning (Shavuos) and giving thanks.
Lesson: True Freedom
True freedom can’t exist in a vacuum. Freedom has to be grounded and connected to something greater than you. Grounded, but something that can lift us higher as individuals and bring us together as a community. A type of freedom that can guide and change. When does freedom become meaningful? When its instruction leaves an enduring mark, uniting us as a nation and as individuals towards a loftier goal. Being simply free without connection is like a balloon aimlessly floating through the air. A “chofesh-holiday vacation” is fine as a temporary respite from work so that we can “recharge our batteries” but not as a goal unto itself.
This is the meaning of what Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said when he encouraged us to dedicate ourselves to learning Torah. To reach the goal of acquiring Torah, one must remove any impediments and then, with care, provide a way to bind ourselves to HaShem that can connect us throughout the generations. We can then see the fulfillment of “Shalach et ami v’ya’avduni - Let My people go so that they will serve Me.” This is the essential significance of freedom on Pesach, namely our connection in our service to HaShem through avodah b’Torah - service in Torah. Through this, not only does the message of freedom become engraved onto us, but it becomes us.
As we struggle to free ourselves from those elements that limit us, a lesson can be learned from the act of engraving itself. Just like engraving, the act of refining ourselves requires us to remove those elements of ourselves that can be an obstacle to our connection with HaShem and His Torah. This act of refinement and removal thereby creates our identity as a nation that is not just free but a nation whose message is that of Divine connection. This is how we engrave freedom.
