FOUR STEPS TO FREEDOM

There is a well known myth that Eskimos (or as they should be properly called by their respectable name, Inuit) have one hundred names for the word snow (in fact they have as many names for snow as we do in English). This urban legend is based on the belief that the language of different peoples reflects their unique experiences and cultures. Since Eskimos live in a predominantly snowy climate they developed many different words that express different aspects and variations of snow.

What is not a myth however is that the Torah has many names for G-d – seven, ten, even seventy. When we don’t have much interaction with a particular experience, we will not be sensitive or even care about its nuances. Thus, a casual or superficial take on G-d will not yield many names. But people we love and care for will elicit in us many names (and nicknames) as we relate to them ones in different modes and situations. An intimate relationship with G-d dictates many dimensions of the experience, hence the many names the Torah employs in describing the different manifestations of the Divine experience.

[Indeed, the Zohar explains that the Divine Essence has no name, and cannot be alluded to in any which way. But Divine revelation manifests in multitude of forms.]

The same is true with the word freedom. Cursorily, without giving it much thought, freedom means to be free. But if we want to experience freedom in its true form, if we want to be free in the fullest sense of the word, we will realize that freedom has different names, expressing different manifestations of the experience.

Freedom. The word captures the essential progress of the modern Western world – the free world. But what does freedom actually mean? And are we actually free? Even when we have no enemies without, aren’t we enslaved to our needs and desires, our own fears and inhibitions – our internal, psychological enemies? And what about all the forces and demands imposed upon us by work, material responsibilities, obnoxious bosses and all those that we are dependent upon, the constant inundation of marketers intruding into out psyches – forces of oppression that can debilitate us no less than a opponent wielding a weapon?

Is it possible to achieve true freedom?

To truly experience freedom we must associate with it not in superficial terms. When we move closer to internalize and experience freedom in an intimate way, we come to recognize that freedom actually has more than one name, more than one manifestation.

This week’s Torah portion – the Torah makes the Divine intimate – tells us that there are actually four different expressions for the word freedom.

When G-d tells Moses that He will redeem the Jewish people from their Egyptian bondage, G-d uses four different terms for the word redemption (which correspond to the four cups of wine we drink at the Passover Seder): “I will take you out from the suffering of Egypt; I will deliver you from their bondage; I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you to Myself as a nation, and I will be to you a G-d..." (Exodus 6:6-7).

Practically speaking, these four expressions of freedom reflect four stages of Exodus:
1. First, the end of the long 210 year oppressive bondage - “I will take you out from the suffering of Egypt.”
2. The end of all hard labor, which stopped six months before the Jews actually left Egypt – “I will deliver you from their bondage.”
3. The actual exodus, physically leaving Egypt and the elimination of the Egyptian enemy – “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.”
4. The Jewish people become a free nation, driven by a higher mission, servant only to G-d – “I will take you to Myself as a nation, and I will be to you a G-d.”

All events in the Torah, especially the central one of the Egyptian exodus, offer us a psycho-spiritual blueprint to guide us in the challenges of our own lives.

The redemption from Egypt represents transcendence. Mitzrayim (the Hebrew word for Egypt) means boundaries and constraints, referring to every limitation and inhibition that confines us – physical, emotional or spiritual. The redemption from Mitzrayim gives us each the power to achieve personal and collective freedom from all our constraints, whether it is an unhealthy relationship, a state of emotional despair, or anything that is blocking us from achieving our goals.

But to do so requires a close-up look at the different phases of redemption, so that we can acclimate ourselves to the process and align our efforts accordingly.

Four steps are necessary to be free from any given “trap” in our lives, all with the help from above:

1. “I will take you out from the suffering of Egypt.” First you must get out of the immediate line of fire. As long as you remain in an abusive situation, in range of a force that is hurting you, you cannot begin the journey toward freedom.
This first step away from the immediate cause of your suffering is only a first step, but it is critical: If you don’t “stop the bleeding,” healing cannot begin.
This step is often the hardest of them all, because after protracted years of pain you can become resigned and even accustomed to the oppression, to the point that it becomes so much part of your life and your being that it is hard to recognize the “enemy,” or even acknowledge that there is an “enemy” (what we call today: denial, but what was called back then: de (River) Nile), and distinguish friend from foe.

2. “I will deliver you from their bondage.” After you are taken out of the actual destructive situation, you must be delivered from the hold of the oppressive force. Even after their hard labor ended the Jewish people still remained in Egypt, under the effect of extensive exposure to their depraved culture and centuries of genocide. Thus the need to be delivered and break free from the psychological hold of being a “slave” for so long.

3. “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” Finally you get out of “prison,” but the enemy (or a similar one) is still lurking. At this stage you need an “outstretched arm” to embrace you and hold you tight and secure, reassuring you that you will be safe. And “great judgments” that eliminate the enemy, and ensure it does not return. Even after the Exodus, Egypt remained a superpower and indeed, they pursued the Jews. Until they were utterly defeated at the Red Sea.

4. “I will take you to Myself as a nation, and I will be to you a G-d.” The first three phases were all about freeing yourself from the enemy. But you still are not free until you discover who you are. Freedom is not merely the absence of slavery – getting away from the past and escaping the negative. True freedom is a state of being on its own – the ability to be true to yourself, your true self, and live up to your inner calling and spiritual destiny.

Even after the enemy is vanquished you want a life that is not defined by the negative, even by being opposed to the enemy (like anti-anti-Semitism). You want to build your life in a way that stands for something great (not against something), and a life that will never again allow you to be enslaved, exploited or constricted in the first place.

All life’s problems begin by allowing ourselves to be subjected and enslaved to man-made conventions. When you worship money, power, connections and social status – you have brought upon yourself an imposing “master” that will subjugate your freedom and ultimately annihilate your inner dignity.

Ultimate freedom is to not be bound to human devices; to discover your Divine calling and serve it with all you faculties and resources.

Only then can you call yourself a free man or woman.

* * *

As usual in Torah thought, after hearing about four stages, there is always a footnote to add:

Some commentators explain that at the Seder Table we pour a fifth cup for Elijah the Prophet, corresponding to the fifth expression in this week’s Portion: “I shall bring you to the land.”

After we finish our hard work in allowing ourselves to be freed from our own personal “mitzrayim”-constraints, corresponding to the four levels of the soul (biological nefesh, emotional ruach, cerebral neshomo and transcendental chaya), the fifth dimension (unified yechida) emerges – the Essential level of the Divine ”brings you to the land,” with the coming of the Messiah in the final redemption, announced by Elijah the Prophet.

This fifth level is not accessible directly through our efforts. It only surfaces after we travel through the first four phases.


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The way of peace

“As soon as I have gone out of the city I will stretch out my hands to Hashem, the thunder will cease and there will be no more hail” (Ex.9.29)





This text alludes to and lends support to the custom of Tefillat HaDerech, the prayer recited before setting out on a journey. (Or Hahamah)



Moshe spreads out his hands to Hashem for peace after the thunder and lightning and hail.

The Kohanim spread out their hands to Hashem when reciting the Priestly Blessing, a blessing for peace.

The Tefillat HaDerech recited before going on one’s way is a prayer for peace.



The way for peace is the way of spiritual upliftment, the way of rising El Al to spiritual heights. A journey is accomplished in peace and speedily with the leap of faith to overcome all obstacles, to override all barriers, to pass over with deliverance Mikaf Kol Oyev VeOyev – from each and every enemy who stands in our way.

The Mysterious Man

Who is the individual identified by the following clues?

A man known by a name not given to him by his parents.

Indeed, till this very day this man’s birth name remains unclear.

Though he led a great nation, his people saw him as a stranger.

A man of no words, yet his words become immortalized and are remembered forever like no other mans’ words.

He spent his most formative years away from home – on the water, in a foreign palace and then in a distant land. But he came to build the most powerful home in existence.

History’s greatest leader and humblest man.

He is the most famous man in history, yet no one knows where he is buried till this very day.

Who is this mysterious man, riddled with contradictions?

None other than Moses.

The mystery of Moses lies in his name: Though he was named by his parents (1), he is known by his name Moses – Moshe – given to him by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses’ mother, to save him from Pharaoh’s decree that all newborn Jewish males be drowned in the Nile, placed her three-month-old infant in a basket and concealed it in the rushes that grew along the Nile riverbank. Pharaoh’s daughter discovered the weeping child when she went to bathe in the river. She therefore named the child Moshe (“the drawn one”), “because I have drawn him from the water” (Exodus 2:10).

Why would the great Moses be known by this strange name based on this seemingly incidental episode? The name Moses actually captures the essence of his personality: A man drawn from water.

Water is a mysterious world. Unlike land where the terrain and the creatures are visible, the contours of the sea and all its inhabitants remain submerged and concealed in an unknown universe. This distinction is not merely quantitative. The fish in the sea are dependent and connected to their very source of sustenance, while land mammals remain separate from their source; their psyches are disconnected from their life source.

The mystics explain that Moses was a “man of no words” because his soul originated from the “hidden worlds” of water, the intimate world of the unconscious, which is more profound and intense than any words of land can express. But for this exact reason Moses introduced unprecedented revelation to Earth. Precisely because Moses is a “water man” living on Earth, he is able to draw from the inner worlds and bridge and express the language of the Divine and communicate it to the land people.

The Zohar teaches that there are tzaddikim (righteous individuals) who live their entire lives as “fishes of the sea,” wholly submerged within a perpetual awareness of and subjugation to the divine reality. Moses was the epitome of these “aquatic souls.” “Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth.” He was certainly aware of his own greatness; certainly he knew that he was the single human being chosen by G-d to serve as the conveyor of the Divine wisdom and will to the human race. Yet Moses did not view his qualities as his “own” attainments, for he had utterly nullified and submerged his self within the sea of the divine reality. His own life was merely the divine plan being realized through a transparent channel; his teachings – the “Divine presence speaking from his throat.”

And that is why Moses was actually hidden in the water, and is consistently identified with water (see Water, Egypt and September 11).

Thus Moses was an embodiment of paradox and contradictions. Drawn from water, Moses bridged two opposite worlds – the unconscious and the conscious, the world of spirit and the world of matter, the Divine and the human.

Outside of this world, Moses was able to transform this world and build the Holy Temple, a material home for the Divine, where “I will rest amongst you.”

Though Moses is the most famous person in history, he always remains a mystery – seemingly more at home in his 40 days in the clouds of Sinai than in his days on Earth. Even after death – by the kiss of G-d – Moses’ burial place remains unknown: “Below it appeared as though he was above and above it appeared as though he was below.”

Therein lays the secret of the enigmatic Moses: Moses was a “man of G-d.” To be a man and to be Divine is the ultimate paradox.

So, the next time you encounter a paradox in your own life or in the world around you – remember that paradox maybe the most natural state of a universe not fully in touch with its own essence.

* * *

One of the most moving verses describing Moses’ early days is often overlooked.

Moses’ life begins with a very gentle moment: a little sister watching over her baby brother. As the three-month old Moses lay floating in a basket on the riverbank, his seven-year-old sister, Miriam “stood at a distance to see what would happen to him” (2:4).

We may never know the full impact that Miriam’s gentle watch had on Moses’ great life. We do know that because Miriam patiently waited and watched over Moses, she later merits that the entire nation “did not move” and waits for her to heal and return home before they travel on (Numbers 12:15. Mishne Soteh 9b).

Oh, how we are in need of such sisters today?

Every one of us, at one time or another, will be floating on a “river,” feeling abandoned and left alone in foreign waters.

Which child is not in need of someone watching and protecting the child? And even as adults – our “inner child” and even our “outer adult” – needs to know that we are being watched over and protected.

A little girl just about 3400 years ago teaches us about our responsibility to protect the children around us.

Rise women, sisters and daughters. Protect your children. Watch over your men.

A little care today, even for a mere hour, results in a lifetime of reward.

All great events are borne out of small, unnoticed acts. All great people rise out of humble, quiet moments.

Every great person has a “sister” who watched over him.

Who will you watch over?

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(1) There are several opinions in the Talmud and Midrash regarding Moses’ name: Tov or Tuviah (Soteh 12a). Moses’ had ten names: Yorad, Chaver, Yekusiel (see Pirkei d'Reb Eliezer ch. 48), Avigdor, Avi Suko, Avi Zonuach, Tuvia, Shemayah, Levi, Moshe (Vayikra Rabba 1:3. See Megilah 13a). The Seder Hadorot (entry on Moshe) cites that Moses’ father, Amrom called his son Chaver. His grandfather, Kehot, called him Avigdor.

LAMED – TEACHING THE PERFECT MEASURE

“Lo the Sneh bush was burning with fire and the Sneh was not Ukal consumed” (Ex.3.2)



The Torah commencing with Bet is completed in its perfection with the letter Lamed. The symbol for Lamed is Libra, the Scale – the perfect instrument for measure. Lamed is 12th in order in the Alef Bet, so the number twelve stands for perfect completeness. This is reflected in the number twelve for the number of months completing the annual cycle and the twelve tribes of Israel.



The Gematria for HaSneh – the bush, is 120 = 12. The bush is at Sinai (Gematria 120 = 12) and is a symbol of Sinai. Sinai as revealed Torah gives the complete and perfect measure as standards for life. The Torah incorporates Kol – everything, yet nothing is Ukal; the standards are eternal.



The Gematria for Moshe is 345 = 12. The 3-4-5 triangle is the geometric means of setting out perfect measure, for it is right-angled and stands upright on its base of three units. In ancient times, surveyors used a cord 12 units long for triangulation.

Moshe Rabbeinu is the geometer par excellence for setting out the perfect measures of Torah based on principles of 3, 4 and 5 where

3 is equity;
4 as the square is justice and righteousness;
5 as the full hand is the facility to grasp, take hold of and retain the teachings of the Five Books of Torah.


3+4=7 for holiness;
3+5=8 for spirituality;
4+5=9 = the Gematria for Emet (441) for truth.


Because of the above qualities, Moshe is the one and only Rabbeinu – our teacher. The Gematria for Rabbeinu is 613 – the number of Mitzvoth in the Torah.



The complete measure of the life of Moshe is 120 years, equals 12, with clarity of mind and full of the spirit of divine wisdom as reflected in his teaching.