Humanistic Judaism, Autumn/Winter 1975/6, pages 18-21
OPENING SONG
SHA-LOM LA-RA-HOF V’-LA-KA-ROV
Let the freedom of peace fill the world.
OPENING WORDS
Freedom is power.
The power to know oneself.
The power to understand others.
The power to control fear.
The power to pursue life.
MEDITATION
Freedom is a magical word… Most people like the sound of the word. Most people say they want to be free.
Can a man be free if he is a prisoner?
Can a prisoner of ignorance be free?
Can a prisoner of fear be free?
Can a prisoner of other men’s opinions be free?
Can a man without power be free?
Freedom is the power to know oneself. Without self-insight there is no liberty. To be out of contact with one’s inner feelings and thoughts is to live in the jail of one’s own ignorance. No man can be free if he is the puppet of wants and desires he cannot control. Liberty is an illusion when men do not know why they are driven to do what they do. Lust, hate and envy are human and normal. But they love to hide behind respectable excuses. Freedom is the power to know them intimately, so that they become our servants – and not our masters.
SONG
HA-NA-A-VA BA-BA-NOT
A-NA HA-EE-REE PA-NIE-YIKH AY-LIE
Let the beauty of free people shine upon us.
MEDITATION
Freedom is the power to understand others. We live in a world of spoken goodwill. Parents, friends, teachers and public leaders – all inform us that our welfare is their special concern, our happiness their special desire. If we are naive, we become the victims of propaganda. We become the prisoners of speech. Genuine goodwill can be easily distinguished from false affection. It passes from the tongue to the hands and feet. It becomes action and behavior. Freedom is the ability to tell the difference between those who really care and those who pretend to. Liberty is the power to see the hate through loving words, the wisdom to see the love shining through dark anger.
Freedom is the power to control fear. When our fears and anxieties overwhelm us, they paralyze our will. We cannot choose between alternatives. We cannot make decisions. As weak and dependent children we seek the protection of a strong father who will assume the burden of our will, who will tell us what to do. Many people crave obedience and slavery. It makes everything more secure, more predictable. Gods and dictators may indeed be bossy. They may be pushy and oppressive. But they love to take responsibility. Rational fear is the fear of losing control. Irrational fear is the fear of being in control. No man can be free who refuses his own power.
SONG
A-NEE MA-A-MEEN BE-E-MOO-NA SH’-LAY-MA B’-VEE-AT HA-MA-SHEE-AKH
I believe with all my hope in the ultimate triumph of freedom.
MEDITATION
Freedom is the power to love oneself when others don’t. As little children we need the approval of our community – we crave the acceptance of our parents and teachers. As little children we need to please – in order to survive – in order to achieve our self-respect. We cannot love ourselves unless other people love us first.
Many men and women are physical adults. But they remain spiritual children. They possess an insatiable need to please – a fearful desire to win the approval of others – an eternal wish to conform to the expectations of their peers and superiors. They are prisoners of their childhood. Hostility and disapproval terrorize them. Public opinion fills them with dread. Self-respect eludes them. They become the perennial followers – who never create • who never resist. In their drive to win the love of others, they come to hate themselves. They despise their weakness and bear contempt for their continuing surrender. No laws and no police restrict their activity. But they are not free.
Genuine liberty is the careful strength to say no when others say yes – to say yes when others say no.
SONG
HA-NA-A-VA BA-BA-NOT
A-NA HA-EE-REE PA-NIE-YIKH AY-LIE
Let the beauty of free people shine upon us.
MEDITATION
Freedom is the power to release the past. It is the good humor to give up what cannot be altered – the easiness to surrender what cannot be changed. Countless men and women live in the prison of their past. They are the tortured victims of their memories. They are the martyr slaves of their regrets. The present and the future hold no special challenge to them. They are merely opportune moments to reflect on old pleasure and on old pain. What might have been is an obsession. What could be is scarcely a thought.
The free man learns from the past. But he does not live there. He does not seek to recapture old pain. He works to achieve new pleasure. He does not need to survive on the faded memories of faded happiness. He strives to create new joy. He uses the past to fashion a more interesting future.
MEMORIAL TRIBUTE
Y’-HEE SHA-LOM TO-VA OO-V’-RA-KHA KHAYN VA-HE-SED OO-V’-RA-KHA-MEEM
Let peace, love and true freedom pervade our lives.
CEREMONY
(Barmitsva, Confirmation, Naming)
MENORAH CEREMONY
Freedom is power
The power to know oneself
The power to understand others
The power to control fear
The power to pursue life.
Freedom is light.
The light to see the reality of oneself
The light to see the reality of others
The light to dispel the darkness of fear
The light to reveal the path of life.
SONG
BA-ROOKH HA-OR BA-O-LAM
BA-ROOKH HA-OR BA-A-DAM
BA-ROOKH HA-OR SHEL KHAY-ROOT
Radiant is the light of the world
Radiant is the light of man.
Radiant is the light of freedom.
CLOSING WORDS AND CLOSING SONG