Devotion 28 — Sh’ma and Freedom
Why We Were Set Free
Scripture
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”
— Deuteronomy 6:4
“Let my people go, so that they may worship/serve Me.”
— Exodus 8:1
The Exodus story asks an important question:
Why were the Israelites set free?
Most people naturally answer:
- to escape slavery
- to leave suffering behind
- to gain freedom
All of this is true.
But the Torah points toward something deeper.
When Moses stands before Pharaoh, his demand is repeated again and again:
“Let my people go, so that they may worship/serve Me.”
The Hebrew word used here is avodah (עֲבוֹדָה).
This word carries a profound double meaning. It can mean:
- worship or service to God
- labor or service under slavery
The Exodus is therefore a transformation of service.
The people move:
- from serving Pharaoh → to serving God
- from forced labor → to covenantal purpose
- from oppression → to responsibility
Freedom in the biblical tradition is never merely the absence of restraint.
It is the possibility of becoming the kind of people we were created to be.
This is one reason the Israelites do not move directly from Egypt into comfort or stability. They move first into the wilderness.
The wilderness becomes a place of formation.
There, a people shaped by slavery must learn:
- trust
- responsibility
- covenant
- communal life
- dependence on God rather than empire
Liberation changes location quickly.
Transformation takes longer.
The same pattern appears throughout human life.
People often imagine freedom as the ability to do whatever they want without limitation. But complete self-centered freedom eventually collapses into isolation, confusion, or domination by new forms of power.
Human beings always serve something.
Some serve status.
Some serve wealth.
Some serve fear.
Some serve ideology.
Some serve public approval.
A person may leave one form of bondage only to fall into another—work without rest, endless striving for approval, addiction to success, fear of failure, or constant anxiety about status. Freedom alone does not guarantee wholeness.
The question is never whether we will serve.
The question is what will shape our lives.
The Sh’ma answers that question by calling Israel to hear, remember, and orient life toward God.
“Hear, O Israel.”
The command invites the people to center themselves around covenant rather than around power, fear, or self-interest.
Freedom therefore carries responsibility.
This is why memory matters so deeply in Jewish life.
The Seder does more than celebrate liberation from the past. It asks each generation to remember that freedom can be lost when people forget what freedom is for.
A society that remembers slavery should resist cruelty.
A people who know oppression should value dignity.
Communities shaped by covenant should protect the vulnerable rather than imitate Pharaoh’s patterns of domination.
The Exodus transforms ethics because memory transforms identity.
This is why the Torah repeatedly connects freedom with responsibility toward others:
“You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
The memory of bondage is meant to produce compassion.
The prophets later warn Israel that liberation alone is not enough. A people can leave Egypt physically while carrying Egypt’s values within them. Injustice, exploitation, idolatry, and indifference can reappear even among those who once cried out for freedom themselves.
The challenge is not only escaping oppression.
The challenge is refusing to become shaped by it.
This remains true today.
Modern culture often defines freedom as the absence of limits or obligations. Yet many people who possess enormous personal freedom still feel spiritually exhausted, emotionally fragmented, and uncertain about purpose.
Freedom without purpose eventually becomes another form of bondage.
The Exodus offers another vision.
Freedom becomes meaningful when it is connected to covenant, responsibility, justice, and shared life. The goal is not simply self-expression. It is becoming a people capable of reflecting God’s character in the world.
This is why Halakha—the Jewish “way” or path—matters. Freedom is not the abandonment of structure. It is the opportunity to walk a path shaped by wisdom, holiness, and communal responsibility.
The same dynamic appears in the Seder itself.
The ritual follows an ordered structure:
- blessings
- questions
- symbols
- memory
- storytelling
- shared participation
The order is not meant to restrict freedom.
The order of the Seder teaches that freedom requires memory, structure, and responsibility in order to endure across generations.
This is also why the Exodus remains unfinished.
The story continues whenever people move:
- from indifference → to compassion
- from domination → to justice
- from isolation → to covenant
- from fear → to faithful responsibility
Freedom is not simply what we leave behind.
It is what we are called toward.
The Sh’ma reminds us that liberation begins with listening:
- listening to God
- listening to memory
- listening to suffering
- listening to the responsibilities that freedom creates
The command to hear therefore becomes a call to live differently.
The Exodus asks more than whether we escaped Egypt.
It asks what kind of people freedom is forming us to become.
Reflection Questions
What does freedom mean in the biblical story of the Exodus?
How does the idea of avodah change the way we think about liberation?
What forms of “freedom” in modern life can quietly become new forms of bondage?
What responsibilities emerge from remembering slavery and oppression?
How can freedom be used wisely rather than selfishly?
Prayer
God of liberation and covenant,
help us remember why freedom was given.
Teach us to use our freedom with wisdom, compassion, and responsibility.
Protect us from returning to patterns of domination, fear, or indifference.
Shape us into a people who reflect justice, mercy, and holiness in the world.
May our freedom draw us closer to You
and deeper into responsibility for one another.
Amen