You Have To Serve Somebody

By RABBI DAVID ROSENN

Parashat Vaera (Exodus 6:2-9:35)

God spoke to Moses, saying: "Go to Pharaoh and say to him: Thus says God, 'Let my people go so they may serve me.'"

(Exodus 7:26)

The verse above is probably one of the most familiar lines in the Bible. However, most people quote only the first part—"let my people go"—and leave out the end—"so they may serve me."

True, the exodus is a story about liberation from servitude. But it is not a story about liberation from service. God insists that the Israelites be granted freedom so that they can serve not an earthly ruler, but the Ruler of All. A verse from the book of Leviticus makes this very clear:

For the children of Israel are my servants, who I brought up from the land of Egypt...

(Leviticus 25:45)

Now, if you are still in servitude, what's the advantage of moving from one master to another? Slave to Pharaoh, slave to God—it seems the same. The rabbis of the Talmud attempted to explain one of the implications of thinking about God as the one we serve, rather than human taskmasters:

Rav taught: A day laborer can decide to stop working on a job, even in the middle of the day, as it says, For the children of Israel are my servants, [they are not] the servants of servants.

(Bava Kama 116b)

What does it mean to say that we are the slaves/servants of God? What sort of service does God require of us? When God has Moses say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go so they may serve me," what kind of service do you think Pharaoh thinks Moses is talking about? What kind of service do you think God is talking about?