Some thoughts on the Exodus

I think I am absently borrowing a lot here from a book I read about all of this a few months back. I by no means intend to plagiarize Michael Walzer's Exodus and Revolution which was a great read....

The lessons of Egypt and the wilderness-Exodus as social change Model

I am often curious about why Jewish liturgy repeats phrases like, "because I, your God, freed you from the land of Egypt" and "Remember you were slaves in Egypt." Here is a framing that is speaking to me very loudly these days...

1. We, the oppressed, called out to God, an external force, for aid and assistance.
1a. That external force hears us and remembers the oppressed people

2. We needed an external force to help us find our own voices and to harness our power
2a. But initially, the oppressed people could not do it alone but the motivation for change and the modality of change was internally shaped by the oppressed more than the external power coming in.

3. God did not do it for us, but rather offered scaffolding for us to grow, develop and learn our own skills as self advocates-especially Moses.

4. It took us a whole generation to make the mental shift from slaves to free people

5. By coming in to Israel we became more than just free people, but a people with a responsibility for ourselves and others

6. The total trajectory is from slaves to free people to leaders with great power and great responsibility.

7. By helping the oppressed to help themselves, the oppressed then become free to function on their own and are then obligated to hear the oppression of others in need, help them to find their own voices, scaffold them in their transformation from slavery to freedom to agents of change.

8. And PS-God gave up a lot to be that external force. Being that power was not always fun and it meant self sacrifice (we are the stiff-necked people). For us too, we too need to remember that helping others and fighting oppression means discomfort. Regardless of that price to pay, we are still obligated (And hopefully even inspired!) to hear the voice of the voiceless and do what needs to be done.