Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land to all the inhabitants thereof.” (Lev XXV:10). These are part of today’s Torah portion. And, they appear on the “Liberty Bell” in Pennsylvania.
How nice that this year at least they are the words that we Jews read as sacred scripture for Memorial Day Weekend. It gives us the opportunity to pause, to reflect and to consider what these central words mean to us as Americans and as Jews. As Jewish Americans or American Jews.
And that is exactly what I said several years ago. Before. In May of 2016. Before Charlottesville. Before a pandemic. Before we talked about rising anti-semitism. Before October 7th. Before.
It turns out, there is very little Jewish commentary on them. They seem to be pretty self-explanatory. Rashi has one comment but there isn’t that usual question hanging in the air, “What’s bothering Rashi?” He points out that this liberty was especially for slaves during the Jubilee year.
What then is a jubilee?
- a special anniversary of an event, especially one celebrating twenty-five or fifty years of a reign or activity.
“jubilee celebrations”
adjective
- (of desserts) flambé.
“cherries jubilee”
I think though that it gets confused with jubilant. To rejoice or shout with joy. Psalm 100 begs, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” At a jubilee we clearly should with joy, jubilantly Can we today?
Jews have not celebrated a jubilee year since being in captivity in Babylon in about 600 BCE. A jubilee — yovel in Hebrew — is a year observed once in 50 years, following seven cycles of seven-year shmita, or sabbatical, years, the shmita year. We are back to counting. Like the shmita year, the jubilee is one in which no agricultural work is to be done and the land is to lie fallow. But jubilee also has some additional rituals. Like blowing the shofar to announce the beginning of one, Maimonides cites our very reading this morning:
Maimonides cites our very portion this morning, Leviticus 25:9-10, which states: “Then shall you cause the shofar to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, on Yom Kippur shall you sound the shofar throughout all your land. And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you.” Those very words on the liberty bell.
This is radical, A unique, compassionate way to arrange society, and something to shout joyfully about,
AND YE SHALL PROCLAIM LIBERTY unto slaves, both to him whose ear has been pierced (and whose period of servitude has thus been prolonged until the Jubilee; cf. Exodus 21:6) and to him whose six years of servitude (the period prescribed for an ordinary Hebrew servant; Exodus 21:6 Exodus 21:2), reckoning from the time when he was sold, have not yet ended. R. Jehuda said, “What is the etymology of the term דרור, freedom? A free man is like a person who may dwell (דור) at an inn — meaning that he may reside in any place he pleases, and is not under the control of others. (דרור therefore implies liberty of residence) (Rosh Hashanah 9b). (Rashi on Lev 25:10)
For me, this verse is something of a continuing word puzzle, and I love puzzles. So bear with me…
Proclaim here is from the root Karah, to call out, to read. Something we announce outloud, just like we read Torah, outloud, publicly, Loudly. That was the purpose of putting this on the liberty bell. The bell, much like a shofar that proclaimed the jubilee year did the proclaiming, the announcing, the shouting.
But the Hebrew word for liberty is surprising. It is dror…which really means release. What are we being released from? How does it differ from freedom or liberty? That’s where this gets interesting….
To release is to allow or enable to escape from confinement; to set free. Prisoners are released. Slaves are released. That’s what this verb is talking about. To allow something to move, act or flow freely. Synonyms include free, set free, let go/out, liberate, untie, undo, loose, unleash, unfetter.
We release balloons. Maybe that is how we should celebrate. I’ve seen plenty of them around this weekend and seniors are “released” from school and graduate. Nope. Pretty, but not good for the environment or the birds.
My colleague, Cantor Vera Broekhuysen was introducing to her congregation last night a song, Dror Yakira which is part of the Zemirot that are often sung on Shabbat afternoon. In our siddur, Siddur Sim Shalom, zemirot begin on page 316 with D’ror Yikar on 322. There is nothing more pleasant then sitting around late on Shabbat afternoon singing zemirot.
D’ror Yikara was apparently composed in the 10th century. The version she is teaching is an updated Sephardic version of the one I learned as an undergraduate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJCh8NAJhes
The lyrics in this time are haunting:
He grants release to lad and lass:
As His eye’s apple safe, they play.
Their innocence shall never pass:
Then take your ease this Sabbath day.
O seek in love my martyred shrine
And to mine eyes salvation show.
In Zion’s vineyard plant her vine
And hear my people’s cry of woe.
May the hostages be released, safely, speedily and in our day. Release them now!
Remember when Listen Up was here? They have a version of Acheinu, the prayer we have been saying since October. It came back to me from my chevruta partner, Rabbi Linda Shriner-Cahn, because really it is a small world:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYE7HQJCSPU
But while we just observed Yom Hazikron, Israel Memorial Day on May 13 and Israel Indepence Day on May 14 this year, a muted version of other years, we live here in the United States, and this weekend we mark Memorial Day, dedicated to the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect our liberty, our freedom,
Our ancestors, our relatives, came to this land, some earlier than others, for that sense of release, for freedom. For freedom to worship as they saw fit. For freedom, in some cases, not to worship at all.
We have in this country, the freedom to do what we want to do, when we want to do it. Within reason. If I had chosen to sleep in this morning, and not come, I could have exercised that freedom but there would have been consequences.
What freedoms do you value:
We brainstormed a list of those freedoms we value here. It still read like the Bill of Rights. Freedom of religion, freedom to assemble, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, yes, even freedom to bear arms (although personally I believe there should be some limits on that one).
There has been much discussion this year on freedom of speech and freedom to assemble. In fact, as we discussed, there are limits on freedom of speech. You cannot walk into this sanctuary, or a movie theatre and announce, proclaim if you will that there is a fire if there is no fire.
Freedoms that I believe in but have limits. And we added to our list freedom to select your own healthcare and freedom to vote. This week marked the anniversary of when Fiddler was released (another use of that word) as a movie. Like Tevye I pray for the freedom to sit in the synagogue and pray. Shabbat is a sign of the freedom to not work, to relax, to just be.
As we have said, with freedom comes responsibility. The Torah is really clear on that point. Because we were slaves—and we were freed—we are responsible for taking care of the widow, the orphan, the stranger—as I often say, the most marginal among us.
Jews have been praying on behalf of our governments since Jeremiah’s day, during the first exile to Babylon. Jews have been praying on behalf of the American government since colonial times and when this nation was young. I have read part of Moses Seixias’s prayer before to you. I have read the Richmond Jewish community’s prayer for Washington in the past. This one fascinates me because it is an acrostic spelling out Washington’s name in Hebrew. http://opensiddur.org/prayers-for/collective-welfare/government/prayer-for-george-washington-first-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-by-kahal-kadosh-beit-shalome-1789/
Our own prayer book, Siddur Sim Shalom has a prayer for our country. The Reform movement prayer books have prayers for our country. In Great Britain there are prayers for the queen, now king.
The U46 School System has a mission statement that says that U46 is a great place for all students to learn, all teachers to teach and all employees to work. All means all.
I have spent some time recently helping U46 navigate some very complicated waters around freedom of speech and honoring all students and staff. I still believe that “all means all.” For me, it comes from the idea that we are all created in the image of the Divine, we all have a spark of the divine in us.
All means all. Quoting Tevye, “Sounds simple, no?” But how we achieve it is part of that American dream that is so important to me. To all of us. We want to be able to sit under our vine and fig tree where none will make us afraid. We want to be able to proclaim liberty throughout the land to ALL the inhabitants thereof.
I ended that sermon in 2016 with these words:
“I am glad that my ancestors had the vision to come to this country. I am glad that many of them were compelled to fight for the freedoms that they believed in—the very same ones that I believe in too. The very same ones that our American ancestors, William Bradford, Samuel Adams, John and Abigail Adams, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Moses Sexias, Gershom Mendes, Hayyim Solomon Rebecca Gratz dreamed of. An America that would be a light to the nations. A new Jerusalem. Those freedoms include, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Those freedoms include “justice for all.” All means all. That is what my ancestors, my Jewish ones and my American ones dreamed of and fought for. We are not there yet. We have a ways to go. And a responsibility to make sure that the next generation, from generation to generation, l’dor v’dor can live in a land that embraces all. I am willing to fight for it. With my words. Responsibly.”