The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion

VIII. God as the Power that Makes for Freedom

VIII GOD฀ AS฀ THE฀ POWER฀ THAT฀ MAKES฀ FOR FREEDOM IT฀ is฀ fairly฀ well฀ established฀ that฀ Passover฀ was฀ originally a฀nature฀ festival.฀ Though฀it฀became฀an฀occasion฀ for฀ making pilgrimage฀ to฀ some฀ central฀ sanctuary฀ much฀ later฀ than฀ did Sukkot,฀ it฀ antedates฀ the฀ latter฀ as฀ an฀ Israelitish฀ festival.฀ It was฀ observed฀ by฀ the฀ Israelite฀ tribes฀ when฀ they฀ were฀ still nomads,฀when฀ sheep฀ and฀ goats฀ constituted฀ the฀ main฀ source of฀ their฀ food฀ supply,฀ and฀ when,฀ accordingly,฀ they฀ looked฀ to the฀yeaning฀ season฀ in฀the฀spring฀with฀ great฀ concern.฀ When they฀ entered฀ Canaan,฀ they฀ found฀ the฀ natives฀ celebrating฀ in the฀ spring฀ an฀ agricultural฀ festival฀ known฀ as฀ the฀ Feast฀ of Unleavened฀ Bread (Hag ha-Mazot).฀ Before฀ long฀these฀two feasts,฀the฀nomadic฀and฀the฀agricultural,฀were฀merged.฀ Subsequently ,฀ with฀ the฀ rise฀ of฀ the฀ national฀ consciousness,฀ the two฀ main฀ rites฀ of฀ the฀ combined฀ feast,฀ the฀ paschal฀ offering and฀ the฀ unleavened฀ bread,฀ were฀ reinterpreted฀ to฀ fit฀ into฀ the pattern฀ of฀ the฀story฀of฀ Israel's฀exodus฀ from฀ Egypt. If฀ the฀foregoing฀ account฀of฀ the฀evolution฀ of฀ Pesah฀ is฀correct ,฀the฀spirit฀of฀ Israel฀has฀shown฀almost฀unparalleled฀ creative ฀ power.฀ Not฀ only฀ has฀ it฀ transformed฀ the฀ Pesah฀ from฀ a nature฀ festival฀ into฀ a฀ historic฀ one,฀but฀ it฀ has฀ so฀ interpreted the฀event฀of฀ the฀Exodus,฀upon฀which฀it฀bases฀the฀ festival,฀ as to฀ give฀ that฀ event฀ not฀ merely฀ a฀ national฀ but฀ a฀ universal significance.฀ It฀ is฀ not฀ often฀ that฀ an฀ individual฀ wants฀ to฀ be reminded฀ of฀ his฀ humble฀ beginnings;฀ but฀ that฀ a฀ nation฀ in ancient฀ times฀ should฀ glory฀ in฀ having฀ been฀ held฀ in฀ bondage by฀ another฀ nation฀ is฀ certainly฀ an฀ unrepeated฀ phenomenon. 265 266฀ THE฀ MEANING฀ OF฀ GOD Yet฀ in฀ the฀ consciousness฀ of฀ the฀ Jewish฀ people฀ the฀ bondage in฀ which฀ their฀ ancestors฀ were฀ held฀ in฀ Egypt฀ has฀ been฀ an ever-present฀ memory,฀ held฀ vividly฀ and฀ related฀ vitally฀ to฀ the entire฀ context฀ of฀ their฀ life.฀ There฀ is฀ only฀ one฀ explanation for฀ this฀ strange฀ phenomenon.฀ The฀ remembrance฀ of฀ the bondage฀of฀ Egypt฀and฀of฀ the฀redemption฀ from฀ it฀has฀served as฀ a฀ means฀ of฀ signalizing฀ the฀ unique฀ character฀ of฀ the฀ God whom฀ Israel฀worshiped.฀ With฀ Israel's฀ serfdom฀ in฀ Egypt฀ as background,฀ Israel's฀ God฀ stands฀ forth฀ more฀ sharply฀ and luminously฀ as฀the฀ Redeemer฀ of฀ the฀ oppressed,฀ as฀ the฀ Liberator ฀ of฀ the฀ enslaved,฀ as฀ the฀ Defender฀ of฀ the฀ weak฀ against the฀ strong. During฀ the฀ last฀ two฀ thousand฀ years฀ Jews฀ have฀ never wearied฀ of฀ referring฀ to฀ the฀ Exodus.฀ In฀ the฀ morning฀ and evening฀ prayers,฀ in฀ the฀ thanksgiving฀ benediction฀ after฀ each meal,฀ and฀ in฀ the Kiddush฀ inaugurating฀ Sabbath฀ and฀ Festivals ,฀ Jews฀ have฀ thanked฀ God฀ for฀ having฀ delivered฀ their ancestors฀ from฀ Egypt.฀ And฀ every฀ year฀ with฀ the฀ return฀ of the฀ Festival฀ they฀ have฀ recounted฀ to฀ their฀ children฀ the฀ story of฀ that฀ redemption.฀ The฀ main฀ motive฀ which฀ has฀ kept฀ alive the฀ memory฀ of฀ the฀ Exodus฀ during฀ the฀ last฀ two฀ thousand years฀ has฀ undoubtedly฀ been฀ the฀ hope฀ that,฀ as฀ God฀ had wrought฀miracles฀for฀ Israel฀in฀the฀past,฀had฀been฀gracious฀to them฀ and฀ had฀ delivered฀ them฀ from฀ bondage,฀ so฀ will฀ He, when฀ the฀ time฀ comes,฀ once฀ again฀ manifest฀ His฀ power฀ on behalf฀ of฀ His฀people,฀free฀ them฀ from฀ oppression฀and฀ restore them฀to฀their฀ land. Changes,฀ however,฀ have฀ taken฀ place฀ in฀ human฀ life฀ which render฀that฀simple฀version฀of฀ the฀Exodus฀and฀its฀meaning฀no longer฀ adequate.฀ Jews฀ are฀ still฀ the฀ victims฀ of฀ oppression. But฀ they฀ have฀ entered฀ into฀ such฀ intimate฀ relationship฀ with the฀ life฀ of฀ the฀ world฀ about฀ them฀ that฀ they฀ can฀ no฀ longer envisage฀ their฀ own฀ deliverance฀ except฀ as฀ a฀ phase฀ of฀ general human฀ deliverance.฀ If฀ miracles฀ are฀ to฀ be฀ enacted฀ as฀ part of฀the฀future฀ redemption,฀they฀cannot฀be฀conceived฀as฀similar THE฀ POWER฀ THAT฀ MAKES฀ FOR฀ FREEDOM฀ 267 to฀ those฀ which฀ tradition฀ associates฀ with฀ the฀ Exodus. The new redemption to which Jews look forward involves the redemption of society in general from present ills. It implies the transformation of human nature and social institutions through the divine power of intelligence and good-will. In฀order฀that฀the฀memory฀of฀ the฀Exodus฀shall฀enable฀us฀to look฀forward฀to฀such฀a฀future฀ for฀ Israel฀and฀the฀rest฀of฀ mankind ,฀ it฀ is฀necessary฀ to฀ delve฀ more฀ deeply฀ into฀ the฀ meaning which฀the฀story฀of฀the฀Exodus฀originally฀had฀for฀ Israel.฀ The redemption฀ from฀ Egypt,฀ whenever฀ referred฀ to฀ in฀ the฀ Bible, carried฀ with฀ it฀ implications฀ which฀ caused฀ the฀ character฀ of the฀ God฀ of฀ Israel฀ to฀ stand฀ out฀ in฀ sharp฀ contrast฀ to฀ that฀ of the฀ deities฀ of฀ other฀ nations.฀ The฀ opening฀ sentence...