ืดืึดึผื ืึดื ืึฐื ึตื ืึดืฉึฐืืจึธืึตื ืขึฒืึธืึดืื, ืขึฒืึธืึทื ืึตืืด โ ืึฐืึนื ืขึฒืึธืึดืื ืึทืขึฒืึธืึดืื
The Jewish people are My servants, and not servants to servants (Bava Metzia 10a)
Commenting on this verse, Rabbi Abraham Twerski, connects the ideas of slavery and servitude to our inner world. Externally, Hashem has blessed us to live as free people: physically, we are not under the dominion of any enemy ruler, nor are we being oppressed. However, psychologically, Rabbi Twerski demonstrates that the concepts of slavery and freedom are much more complex. Even though we may be free in a physical sense, there may still be much to be desired in terms of our inner freedom.
In the context of getting angry and being reactiveโthat is, responding impulsively to external stimuli without conscious thought or controlโRav Twerski writes1:
If we react to someoneโs provocation, we are essentially allowing them to control our behavior. A sign of slavery is being deprived of the ability to think for oneself, so here, if we react reflexively rather than rationally, we are at least temporarily in involuntary servitude. How foolish to allow ourselves to become enslaved, even momentarily.
Thus, being “servants to servants” translates to being enslaved by our own reactions. When we react impulsively, we become servants both to the person who provoked us and to our own uncontrolled emotions.
Choosing Your Response, Reclaiming Your Freedom
This shows us that the idea of freedom goes beyond physical liberty. It extends to the way we control our thoughts, our emotions, and our responses to the world around us. When we react to someone elseโs provocation without thinking, we are, as Rabbi Twerski points out, enslaving ourselves. Instead of remaining free, we are allowing someone elseโs actions to dictate our emotional state, our behavior, and our sense of self-worth. We feel compelled to defend ourselves, fight back, or retaliate when someone is rude or dismissive. In this way, the other person gains control over us because weโve given it to them. Theyโve upset us, and in doing so, weโve allowed them to shape our mood and determine how weโll respond.
In this sense, true freedom is not simply the ability to do what we want, as we commonly think of it, but the ability to choose how we respond to the circumstances life throws at us rather than feeling compelled to act in a certain way.
If we react to someoneโs provocation, we are essentially allowing them to control our behavior. A sign of slavery is being deprived of the ability to think for oneself, so here, if we react reflexively rather than rationally, we are at least temporarily in involuntary servitude. How foolish to allow ourselves to become enslaved, even momentarily.
So, when we pause and take a moment to think before responding to a provocation, we are doing more than just preventing a rash reaction. We are reclaiming our freedom. We are saying, ‘I will not let you control me. I will choose how to respond.’ In that moment, we break free from the mental chains of reactivity and step into a space of freedomโfreedom to act with intention and to decide what kind of person we want to be, regardless of external circumstances.
The True Path to Freedom: Mastery Over the Inner Tyrant
We encounter this notion of self-mastery in Pirkei Avot 4:1:
ืึตืืึถืืึผ ืึดืึผืึนืจ, ืึทืึผืึนืึตืฉื ืึถืช ืึดืฆึฐืจืึน – Who is strong? He who conquers his own inclination.
The Mishna teaches us that true strengthโand thus true freedomโdoes not come from external power, nor does it rely on defeating enemies or overcoming external challenges. Rather, it lies in our ability to control the internal forces that threaten to undermine our peace of mind and derail our sense of purpose.
The internal โtyrantโ of unchecked emotions can be far more dangerous than any external adversary. When we act impulsivelyโwhether out of anger, fear, insecurity, or frustrationโwe surrender our freedom to those emotions. In those moments, we are not acting as free individuals, but rather as slaves to our impulses. Each time we allow an emotion to dictate our response without reflection, we hand over a piece of our inner sovereignty.
Serving God, Not the Evil Inclination: Choosing Divine Servitude Over Self-Enslavement
Contrary to the popular belief that we were freed from Egypt to no longer be in servitude, the truth is that we were always meant to serve, but the nature of our servitude changed. We were not freed to become entirely free individuals in the sense of being without any master. Rather, we were freed from the physical servitude of Egypt in order to become servants of a different rulerโHashem.
ืึดึผึฝืึพืึดึคื ืึฐื ึตึฝืึพืึดืฉึฐืืจึธืึตืึ ืขึฒืึธืึดึืื ืขึฒืึธืึทึฃื ืึตึื ืึฒืฉึถืืจึพืืึนืฆึตึฅืืชึดื ืืึนืชึธึื ืึตืึถึฃืจึถืฅ ืึดืฆึฐืจึธึืึดื ืึฒื ึดึื ืึฐ-ืึน-ืึธึฅ-ื ืึฑืึนืงืืึถึฝืื
For it is to Me that the Israelites are servants: they are My servants, whom I freed from the land of EgyptโI, your God. (Vayikra 25:55)
This theme of servitude to Hashem versus servitude to oneโs own impulses is explored further in the Gemara (Shabbat 105b). The Gemara discusses how giving in to anger, actually leads us to serve the evil inclinationโan internal force that can enslave us just as Pharaoh did. The passage says:
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says in the name of แธคilfa bar Agra, who said in the name of Rabbi Yoแธฅanan ben Nuri: One who rends his garments in his anger, or who breaks his vessels in his anger, or who scatters his money in his anger, should be like an idol worshipper in your eyes, as that is the craft of the evil inclination. Today it tells him do this, and tomorrow it tells him do that, until eventually, when he no longer controls himself, it tells him worship idols and he goes and worships idols. Rabbi Avin said: What verse alludes to this? โThere shall not be a strange god within you, and you shall not bow to a foreign godโ (Tehillim 81:10). What is the strange god that is within a personโs body? Say that it is the evil inclination.
The message here is that when we give in to our anger and impulses, we are serving our yetzer hara, which is an internal form of servitude. By allowing these emotions to control us, we are, in a sense, worshiping an idol: the idol of our unchecked anger. And in doing so, we cannot serve Hashem. The true service to Hashem requires us to overcome this inner “tyrant” and master our reactions.
True self-mastery means developing the ability to step back from these powerful emotions and choose a thoughtful, deliberate response. Choosing not to react immediatelyโto pause and thinkโis an act of self-liberation. It allows us to regain control over our emotional and mental state, ensuring we are not slaves to the whims of others or the turmoil of our own feelings. Itโs an acknowledgment that we canโt always control what happens to us, but we can always control how we respond. And that is the truest form of freedom.
- Growing Each Day p.285 โฉ๏ธ
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