Thought for Shabbat

 

This week we celebrate the holiday of Passover. It is the most celebrated of Jewish holidays. I believe this is so because the spark of freedom is core to our very essence. There are so many kinds of freedom though – freedom of thought and expression, freedom from economic worries, freedom of liberty – to live as one so chooses…I could go on and on. What is important for us to consider is that with freedom, no matter what kind of freedom, comes responsibility. Freedom unchecked by responsibility can lead to chaos and pandemonium. But freedom handled with care and thoughtfulness can change the world for the better.

 

Passover reminds us to celebrate our freedom and to use its blessings responsibly. As the former President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Rabbi David Teutsch once wrote, “Pesach is not only about ‘freedom from.’ It is about our having the freedom to make the world a more sacred place by expanding God’s presence in it.” Let’s do just that this Passover season.