“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”— Deuteronomy 6:4

“Let my people go, so that they may worship/serve Me.”— Exodus 8:1

The Exodus story asks an important question:

Why were the Israelites set free?

Most people naturally answer:

to leave suffering behind

But the Torah points toward something deeper.

When Moses stands before Pharaoh, his demand is repeated again and again:

“Let my people go, so that they may worship/serve Me.”

“Let my people go, so that they may worship/serve Me.”

The Hebrew word used here is avodah (עֲבוֹדָה).

This word carries a profound double meaning. It can mean:

worship or service to God

labor or service under slavery

The Exodus is therefore a transformation of service.

from serving Pharaoh → to serving God

from forced labor → to covenantal purpose

from oppression → to responsibility

Freedom in the biblical tradition is never merely the absence of restraint.

It is the possibility of becoming the kind of people we were created to be.

This is one reason the Israelites do not move directly from Egypt into comfort or stability. They move first into the wilderness.

The wilderness becomes a place of formation.

There, a people shaped by slavery must learn:

dependence on God rather than empire

Liberation changes location quickly.Transformation takes longer.

The same pattern appears throughout human life.

People often imagine freedom as........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)