MOSES: LET MY PEOPLE GO!

Edited by Hugh Fogelman

Such a powerful message throughout the generations!

But there was more to the message than what most people think. Many people, both Jewish and Christian, mistakenly believe that Passover is a holiday celebrating freedom and liberation from slavery. That is partly true. It is also about taking orders.

^“And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.” Exodus 5:1 (KJV)

As you see, Moses never just said, “Let my people go” and stopped right there with his thoughts.

What he actually said was God stated, “Let my people go so that they may worship Me in the desert.” God did not free the Jews from being servants; he just freed them from being servants to Egypt. Henceforth they were to be servants to Him (Nothing but a switch of bosses.) As slaves or servants, orders must be obeyed, or else.

All through life we are so intent on nurturing independence and self-esteem that we forget to pass on the one quality that employers like to see in young people they hire. Most employers want to see a “will do” spirit in new employees. Most bosses detest “attitude.” This is why holding down a job, any job, will serve a resume far better than a semester of midnight basketball. Showing a future employer that you have already learned how to take and carry out orders will lead to good things happening.

Like most employers, God also prefers people who are not too arrogant to take orders; particularly orders such as the Ten Commandments. His problem was how to prepare and train these people to accept Divine authority. God’s solution was simple: Place them all in a kind of involuntary entry-level job; well, slavery actually. A few hundred years of Egyptian bondage would work wonders. Pretty soon God’s rules would appear mild and benevolent by comparison. And it worked.

Imagine the rebellious response He would have got from the Israelites had He given the children of Israel the Torah and its many restrictions without previously “softening” them up in Egypt. As it was, they were delighted to receive the Torah and pledge obedience.

This is worth noting, that Passover celebrates accepting God’s authority rather than rejecting it. Should the Egypt experience be eliminated from Jewish history? Absolutely not―it served a vital function. It taught the sprouting Jewish people that their God, the God of Israel is stronger than any pagan (Egyptian) gods.

For this reason Passover focuses as much on the slavery in Egypt as it does upon the redemption. The slavery had a purpose, namely to teach us that all people are enslaved. One’s only choice is whether to be enslaved to God’s rules or to a variety of grotesque human ideologies.

Paradoxically, true independence comes not through the abolition of all rules but through the acceptance of Divine rules. Moses urged Pharaoh to let the people go. Not to free them from all authority, but to allow them to serve the One Authentic Authority.

And throughout the Passover Seder, the name of Moses is not mentioned, because the Passover and the Exodus was not due because of Moses, but instead, because of God.

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