{"id":50796,"date":"2019-03-05T19:37:16","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T17:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=50796"},"modified":"2022-09-27T16:28:26","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T13:28:26","slug":"to-appreciate-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/to-appreciate-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"To Appreciate Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[413,384,405,438],"acf":{"old_id":"50796","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":47903,"related_cahpter":"169","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"When you\u2019ve been a slave, you know what it is to be a stranger, fatherless, and a widow all at the same time","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deuteronomy 16 contains one of the Torah\u2019s references to the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shalosh Regalim<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the three pilgrimage festivals of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot. In the Pesach section, we are enjoined to eat matzot for seven days and to eschew leavened bread, so that we may \u201cremember the day of [our] departure from the land of Egypt as long as [we] live.\u201d This makes sense. The national memory of running out the door, not having enough time to let our bread rise, having to eat \u2018poor man\u2019s bread,\u2019 will serve us well as a constant, life-long reminder that we are forever indebted to God for having saved us from the hellhole that was Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A reminder found in the Shavuot section is more curious. \u201cBear in mind that you were slaves in Egypt, and take care to obey these laws.\u201d What in the world does Egyptian slavery have to do with <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chag HaAsif<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the festival that celebrates the first big yield in the annual Land of Israel harvest cycle? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has everything to do with it. God and Moses are fearful \u2013 and rightfully so \u2013 that once they\u2019ve entered the Promised Land, the Israelites will become farmers, raise their crops, reap their produce, and begin to believe that their own efforts have allowed for a bountiful harvest. I mean, why not believe that? Farmers work extremely hard every day of their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When God and Moses tell the Israelites to observe Shavuot, offer free-will produce offerings commensurate with how much they\u2019ve been blessed in their fields, and share the joy with everyone in their household, including their servants, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in their midst alongside their own family, they must also remember that they used to be slaves. They used to be slaves in Egypt, where they weren\u2019t free to make choices about their planting. Where they couldn\u2019t own any land. They used to be slaves in Egypt, and God took them out and brought them to their own land, where He is the only Master. They used to be slaves in Egypt, and now they are free men, who owe their lives and their livelihood to God. They must remember, so they can acknowledge God in all that they have. And so they can share the bounty of the land, which is truly God\u2019s and not their own.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you\u2019ve been a slave, you know what it is to be a stranger, fatherless, and a widow all at the same time. When you\u2019ve been a slave, you can never forget the kindness of another. When you\u2019ve been a slave, and can remember being a slave, you can appreciate everything you have and share it with everyone in your midst.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So God and Moses tell the Israelites: You MUST remember. Only then will you be truly free to obey these laws.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":50797,"id":50797,"title":"dt16-remember","filename":"dt16-remember.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/to-appreciate-freedom\/dt16-remember\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt16-remember","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":50796,"date":"2019-03-05 17:37:04","modified":"2022-03-05 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Appreciate Freedom","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"When you\u2019ve been a slave, you know what it is to be a stranger, fatherless, and a widow all at the same time","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":50797,"id":50797,"title":"dt16-remember","filename":"dt16-remember.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-remember.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/to-appreciate-freedom\/dt16-remember\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt16-remember","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":50796,"date":"2019-03-05 17:37:04","modified":"2022-03-05 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