The Multi-Stage Process of Redemption
By Rabbi Shua Brick, Jewish Studies Teacher
“Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am the Lord. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I, the Lord, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians.” (Exodus 6: 6-7).
The four verbs found in these two verses at the start of this week’s portion are often referred to as the Four Idioms of Freedom and are said to be the original source for the structure of quadruples that we experience on the night of the Seder. On Passover, when we remember the Jews leaving Egypt, we have a night filled with the number four – four cups, four questions, four children. And they are said to reflect these four phrases, the promise God made describing the actions he will take to save the Jewish people.
This fourfold promise may reflect that there were four stages, and we hope to celebrate, appreciate, and show gratitude for all of these integral stages. One can be free, but not have the resources to leave, and so being freed needs to also come with a deliverance. An escape is incomplete without a full redemption, a neutralization of the cause of the struggle, for all debts to be repaid, or to confirm that the perpetrators are no longer a threat.
While redemption is a full escape from the troubles of the past, the final essential step is confirming a place to go next. God offers here that he not only will free the Jews, but take them both as in commit to them, such as a partner does in a relationship, as well as take them to their future home, the Land of Israel.
When the Rabbis share their obsession with all four steps iterated in these verses, they convey a powerful message that may resonate today as we experience our own multi-stage process, the fraught mixed experience of the heartwarming return of hostages while knowing it is happening in drawn-out stages. True freedom is a multifold process that can be long and arduous, filled with pain and relief, with stops and spurts. Balancing hope and anguish is a process we as a people have been through many times. As a people, we have gotten through it by expressing gratitude and being appreciative of every hard-won step forward.
