PASSOVER:

Overcoming Real Slavery

by Rabbi Lawrence Troster
Rabbinic Fellow, COEJL

In reading the story of the Exodus, I am struck time and time again at what idiots our ancestors were. Immediately after the splitting of the Red Sea, they attack Moses when they need fresh water. This is only the beginning of a series of rebellions against Moses and Aaron’s leadership and against God, which culminates in the disaster of the ten spies whose report causes the whole nation to remain in the desert for 40 years. I always thought that if I had witnessed the plagues, the splitting of the sea and the revelation on Mount Sinai (aside from the “minor miracles” of the manna and various productions of water), I would never have any doubts about the power of God to save me and take care of me in the desert.

But then again, I have never been a slave. The usual explanation for our ancestors’ behavior is that having been brought up as slaves they could not handle freedom and that was why it was necessary to have a whole new generation, born in freedom, to be the ones to enter the Promised Land.

While this explanation is not really mentioned in the Torah itself, it does have a certain truth to it. People are always looking for security and sometimes are even willing to give up many of their rights or ignore the reality that is right in front of them in order to achieve it. When people are afraid or when they do not know where their next meal is coming from, they may run far enough from reality to eventually accept servitude or other limitations on their rights.

I see a similar process at work in many people’s response to global climate change. They hear the numerous scientific reports, they know that climate change is beginning to affect us right now, but they cannot make the changes necessary to stop it. They only know the life they lead and somehow believe that everything can continue in the same way. Confronting climate change is too frightening and so they remain slaves to carbon-based energy. Maybe they think that it will only affect someone else but in the end we will all lose. No one willingly chooses to be a slave but there are many ways that freedom can be lost. The longer we wait to deal with climate change the more we become enslaved to the oil and coal companies.

Passover is not only about political or religious freedom; it is also about freeing oneself from the things that spiritually and morally enslave us. So when we sit at our seders this year, let us think about freeing ourselves from the illusions that prevent us from acting on climate change. The time is short and the work is great but may the Feast of Freedom inspire us all.