Freedom

Shortly after the Exodus narrative of the liberation from slavery, mysteriously, the Torah describes the ritual procedure for a Hebrew indentured servant who chooses at the moment of his promised release not to go free.  They take him to the doorpost of the courthouse and pierce his ear upon it with an awl. 

A Jewish sage of the Renaissance explained that the ear-piercing ritual enacts, symbolically, the drama of his decision: this servant in the moment of decision is like a prisoner in a cell whose guards have thrown open the cell door and told him, "Go free!"  But he, preferring the familiar security of his cell, refuses to go through the door.  This is why the Torah's ritual has him pierced at the doorpost.

            The important choices of our life are often between security and freedom: dare I speak a word of truth?  Should I take the first hesitant steps upon a new path?  Can I stop my working, and enter the doorway to the Sabbath?  Should I give of my own substance to my neighbor?  Might I extend an apology, or forgiveness, to my partner in exile? 

            In ancient Israel, a ram's horn sounded on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee year, which set everyone free, even those who had once chosen the security of slavery.  There the Torah insists: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all its inhabitants." 

            Day after day, the Jewish religion opens a door for us, offering us life and freedom. Across the centuries, the voice of the ram's horn cries out to us, urging and encouraging us to rise up and step through.