Born to be wild?
I saw a front page article in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal that really got me thinking: It seems that the citizens of the State of New Hampshire are in a real tizzy. They have, thus far, remained the only state in the union where seatbelt wearing is not mandatory. Lawmakers are trying to change that, and with the state motto, "Born to be Free," many citizens are up in arms, claiming that their very freedom is at stake.
With Passover around the corner, this made me stop and think about an objective definition of freedom. Is unrestricted freedom true freedom? Or is it just glorified anarchy? The Torah defines freedom as the ability to make moral choices, and as being in control of our impulses. In other words, the strength to control my yetzer hara, my lower, base drives.
That night I came home at 11 pm and heard a bag of onion-garlic chips call my name. I knew that I should go to bed and not get caught in the kitchen/midnight-snack-trap. Alas, I gave in to my yetzer hara and ate the whole bag while ignoring that nagging voice from deep within myself saying, "You don't really need that now...you're not hungry...it's not healthy...just say no!" Am I really free? If not, what am I doing about it?
But, fortunately...Pesach, holiday of freedom, is the time to do something about it.