Passover and World’s Freedom

Julius T. Loeb, “Passover and World’s Freedom,” Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA), April 12, 1914.

Passover and World’s Freedom 

By Rabbi Julius T. Loeb

    “Even though we be, all of us, wise, intelligent, old and well-learned, it is still incumbent upon us to tell of the departure from Egypt” (From the Hagadah of the Seder-Night).

    The world today is so prone to call itself old in wisdom, all-important in experience and superior by its glorious achievements to all that preceded it. Yet the thought which brings us back to the event of the Exodus of thirty-odd centuries ago, and which is sustained by Israel’s continued existence as a living testimony thereof in all succeeding ages, is of momentous concern now as in all times past.

    For never was there another such event in human history, which by its wonderful manifestation and far-reaching consequences, has become the ever-shining and increasing miracle of the world. 

    There is not a more precious boon in human existence than freedom. None of the glories of past ages; none of the modern miracles and attainments are accounted for aught beside this heavenly blessing which first came to the world with the liberation of Israel from Egyptian bondage. And let the poets sing sweet freedom’s song, and the hill resound with praise to the heroes of many ages; yet it is the Passover event which sounded the keynote for all human liberty and right. 

    It is this glorious event which gave rise to the spiritually realizing faculties within man and the gradually developing forces tending to the perfection of the social order among nations and states. It is this event with its exhibition of a series of evil plagues that is always to serve as solemn warning of heavenly retribution to tyrants and despots in all their hideous forms. And it is this event which inspires heroes and martyrs of every class and age, to stand for the right against all odds, in the face of all the difficulties or dissenting conditions and creeds.

Most Important Above All.

    What is important above all else in the history of the Passover event Is the fact that “the gods of the Egyptians were smitten.” And it is thus ever since that the gods of the various conceptions and creeds, the idols of the many devices and contrivances for self-aggrandizement and self-deification must fall before the Lord of eternal justice and right.

    In Israel’s liberation from Egyptian bondage the first Declaration of Independence was given to the world, while in the promulgation of the Law of Sinai that followed it, a constitution was formed for all classes and ages. 

    The rule of human equality was then permanently established. “One law and one ordinance for stranger and native born” was the principle of all-embracing righteousness taught by the great leader Moses, and pre-ordained to make the whole world akin.

    From amidst the impenetrable and thick darkness of superstition, paganism and cruel servitude, Hebraism then appeared as the nucleus for the world’s best thought and enlightenment; as the “middle bar” in the entire construction of civilized society; as the most potent instrumentality in the gradual process and progress of humanity.

First Free Commonwealth

    The first free commonwealth was then recorded in history. And when some thirteen centuries later a new era arose from amidst the confusing mess of Grecian philosophies, conflicting theories and multiplied creeds, it was Hebraism that prevailed. The gods of the nations were smitten, the Pantheon was stripped of its glories and Jupiter fell without ever rising again.

    For when Rome conquered Judea, it was the spirit of Judea that vanquished and prevailed to this very day.

    A reaction set in; vestiges of idolatry and human oppression clung to mankind through the lull of darkness in medieval ages; banishment, inquisitions and tortures came to be the fate of the people redeemed from Egypt, the “agents of freedom to the world,” as of all who ventured the word and the thought of Godly freedom. This pitiful condition of affairs continued until the light broke forth again, when Martin Luther, in the earlier part of the sixteenth century, caught an inspiration from the sparks of Jewish thought; when instructed by Jewish men of learning in the Hebrew Bible and literature, he had brought on the famous Reformation; the effect of which was re-echoed with redoubled force in England during the early part of the following (seventeenth) century. There, at the head of the Puritans, a savior appeared in the person of the pious and noble Oliver Cromwell, endeavoring to copy the example of the Bible-heroes, embracing the cause of religious freedom and of the highest civil liberty and right. The upheaval in England with the execution of Charles I, then tended as warning to tyrants and despots of every conceivable form, of every land and state, and in all time to come. In the powerful transformation that ensued, religion, more than ordinary politics, played its high role. The Puritans were resolved by their life’s conduct to portray the pure, plain virtues of the Old Testament. (The sobriquet “Puritans” was thus ironically given them).

    The clarion-call of Israel’s redemption formed the motive power for the establishment, by the sturdy pioneers on the American shores, of a government of freedom, peace and equality before God. 

On the Liberty Bell.

    The cause of the American revolution in 1776 was likewise affected by God-sent George Washington and the galaxy of his valiant compatriots, in fulfillment of this same principle of liberty and right, first begun by Israel at Rameses and Sinai. “And ye shall proclaim liberty throughout the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof,” engraved upon the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall, is a passage from the Hebrew Bible.

    And thus, in the evolution of time, in every struggle for liberty and right, it is the verification of this ideal thought of the Departure of Israel from Egypt, and the hand of the miraculous providence preeminently displayed in the affairs of man and nations in vindication of eternal justice. 

    Israel is still here today, still suffering and pleasing the cause of the oppressed everywhere. There is still a battle to be waged for liberty and right.

    Yet, from amidst the cry of anguish by the oppressed even today, we hear of noble philanthropists, of world benefactors, social reformers, Henry George theorists, a world’s peace conference—and we feel the effects of freedom’s reign; we behold the unmistakable signs of a realization of Israel’s golden hope for a new era of universal happiness and peace.