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By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum
כי לי בני ישראל עבדים עבדי הם אשר הוצאתי אותם מארץ מצרים (פרק כה פסוק נה)
At the end of the laws describing the freedom of a Jewish slave, the Torah makes the point that the Jews are Hashem’s servants that he redeemed from Egypt. The Torah seems to be contrasting the slave’s existence under his master to his current freedom, whereas before he was subjugated to his human master, now he is free to be a true servant of Hashem. The question is, why is his service of Hashem at all impeded by having a human master? A Jewish slave is obligated in all the mitzvos as much as any other Jew? R’ Matisyahu Solomon quoted the Alter of Kelm who explained that although the Jewish slave keeps all the mitzvos, he is lacking in the complete subjugation of his mind and heart to Hashem’s Will. An essential part in our service of Hashem is that we are totally involved in serving Him without any other obligations taking precedence in our minds or actions. When someone has a mortal boss, they will certainly have other tasks that they must do, and they must be sure to please their boss. Only by being free of his slavery can the Jewish slave devote all his faculties, all the time, to his one true Master.
ל”ג בעומר
Lag Baomer is two thirds of the way through the counting of the omer, with only seventeen days left until Shavuos, the day on which we received the Torah. R’ Gedaliah Schorr says that from Lag Baomer we must begin our primary efforts in preparation for receiving the Torah. We find this by the Jews in the desert as well. R’ Schorr quotes the Chasam Sofer who said that the bread that the Jews brought with them out of Egypt lasted a month, then they went three days without food, until they merited the manna on the 18th of Iyar, the day of Lag Baomer. Chazal tell us that the Torah could only have been given to those eating the manna, because through this miraculous food their bodies were cleansed and prepared for the Torah. We see that even at the original giving of the Torah, the main preparation began on the day of Lag Baomer. We also must begin our preparations for our rendezvous with the Divine by involving ourselves in Torah and mitzvos and strengthening our connection and commitment to Hashem.
