by Eduardo Stein Maroniene  
Beit Tefilat Yeshua, Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL

Parashat Behar (Leviticus 25:1-26:2) begins with the laws of Shemitah, the sabbatical year that occurred every seventh year. During this year we are ordered to stop all agricultural activities. For that whole year there was no cultivation; people and fields rested and were rejuvenated.

What kind of freedom is that? Is that freedom?

In the USA, the Statue of Liberty has become an icon of freedom. The word "Liberty" is derived from "Libertas," the goddess of freedom widely worshipped in Rome.

Freedom is a very complex concept. Its definition is not always obvious.

• Freedom for those who left Egypt means planting and harvesting.
• Freedom for a prisoner means getting out of jail.
• Freedom for a paraplegic person means being able to walk again.
• Freedom for a teenager is getting his driver's license and finally driving on his own.
• Freedom for one person is taking drugs and disconnecting from reality.
• Freedom for another is getting off drugs and going back to reality.

The Shemitah requires a huge paradigm shift. We have to change from fear to freedom. These fears take many forms: fears about not having stability and security, not having enough money, fears over loss of social status, over finally declaring our full dependence upon God.

Freedom has many levels. It doesn't exist only as an exterior phenomenon to me; it exists fully when I discover it in my inner self.

Note that during the Passover Seder we drink four cups of wine that recall four promises of God that are different levels of freedom.

• I will bring you out - Cup of Sanctification
• I will deliver you - Cup of Deliverance
• I will redeem you - Cup of Redemption
• I will take you - Cup of Restoration

The Pesach story teaches us that only God could be called the Deliverer. God, not Moses! When Moses acted on his own strength, he failed. That's why he needed to be humbled in the desert. The desert is God's great laboratory, where his methods are applied to correct and trim the edges of our character traits. The desert is God's great incubator. We go there to receive doses of his medicine and to produce antibodies. Moses became the most humble man in the world in the desert. The desert was his first level of freedom.

The message of Passover is one of freedom. It is about understanding the meaning of slavery and why we should pursue freedom. If Egypt is inside us, we all have our own Pharaohs. Understanding our "inner Egypt" is truly understanding our "inner Pharaoh." That is why freedom is a process of constant renewal. We never stop pursuing freedom. In fact the freedom to explore beyond the bounds of our normal routine is often essential. There is always a next step in life.

To give meaning to our existence, we must know where to go. When there is a lack of meaning, of purpose, crisis takes over. The Tikun Olam is the project planned by God, and Yeshua is the operational leader of this project. Its objective consists of treating the imperfections of man, creating a process of spiritual inclusion, also known as salvation.

And salvation is freedom!

No process occurs with a snap of the fingers. The only thing that is ready in three minutes is instant noodles. The improvement process is similar to a rally, where there are control posts at different stages, with methods for calculating the results and metrics defined.

Life is a gift! Declare this!

The present is the moment to decide the path to be followed.

The issue of the path to take comes to light again in the story of Alice in Wonderland.

Alice meets the Cheshire Cat.

"Smiling Cat, please do tell me, what path shall I take?" asked Alice.

"That depends on where you want to go," responded the cat.

"I do not much care where I am going," responded Alice.

"Then it does not matter which path you take," said the cat.

An enormous lesson: If you do not know where you want to go, any path works! We need to know where we are. We need to know where we are going.

We must identify the path to be followed. And identify it soon, because the cat is laughing at us!

Shabbat Shalom!

Eduardo Stein Maroniene

www.faithgenome.org