Community Torah Corner - January 31, 2025

In recent Jewish history, we have enjoyed the luxury of viewing the Exodus narrative as a metaphor for personal growth. The haggadah opens with “Now we are slaves,” but living in freedom, we have strained to identify a sense in which we are “enslaved,” and have used the Seder to set new goals for ourselves and others. 

Tragically, during the past two years the captivity of hundreds of Jews in Gaza has made the story literally true. We are experiencing their exodus in real time, celebrating their tearful reunions, but dreading the realization that some will not escape alive.

This week began with the release of three Israeli hostages, Naama Levy, Liri Albag, Daniella Gilboa, and Karina Ariev, on Shabbat. It has concluded with further releases: Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger, Gadi Mozes, as well as five Thai nationals who have been kept hostage: Pongsak Thaenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao and Surasak Lamnao. Three more Israelis are expected to be freed this Shabbat: Ofer Calderon, Keith Siegel and Yarden Bibas. We pray that the releases will continue, and that all of the hostages, even those who are no longer alive, will be released without further delay.

Watching these captives go free reminds us that the drama of liberation is not limited to antiquity, nor even to the more recent horrors of the Shoah, but remains an urgent imperative today. What limits us from understanding this truth has often been our own failure of imagination. 

One of the most famous sayings attributed to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel z”l is, “we don’t need more text books, we need more text-people.” To be clear, Heschel had nothing against books — I have nine that he wrote on my bookshelf! His point seems to have been that the knowledge contained in books has little power unless it is brought to life by people. 

Who, then, is a text-person? Let’s consider an especially important verse in this week’s Torah portion, Bo. Before the Exodus has even commenced, God informs Moses of how this remarkable event is to be remembered. The most important element is personal narrative. “You shall instruct (ve’higgadata) your child on that day, saying, ‘it is because of what God did for me when I left Egypt.’” (Exodus 13:8)

The parent here becomes a master teacher, informing the child that the Exodus is not a story from the distant past, but is a vivid part of our present. The parent identifies with the story, subtly teaching their child to do the same. If we Jews can savor freedom today, then it is because of the Exodus. If we suffer oppression today, then the Exodus inspires our resolve to get moving, to liberate ourselves and others. We may not be literally enslaved, but the story of enslavement lives within us, because the Torah is planted in our soul. As we say in the blessing after an aliyah, “eternal life was planted within us” (חיי עולם נטע בתוכינו)—we contain both the Jewish past and the future in our lives as text-people.

The parent in this verse embodies the ancient story, making it their own, and training their child to locate their own story within the Torah’s grand narrative of liberation. This haggadah, or retelling, is part of becoming a text-person, connecting ancient experiences of enslavement and liberation to the life and death struggles of our day. Becoming a text-person, someone who can say “because of what God did for me when I went out of Egypt,” is the key to both physical and spiritual liberation.