by Rabbi Miriam Berger - Finchley Reform Synagogue

Being the mum of a teenager who has just marked becoming Bar Mitzvah, I  am really aware of the link between freedom and responsibility. Although our children don’t get a lot of freedom in what often feels like a dangerous capital city with busy roads and the perception of "stranger danger", there is a turning point when they start secondary school and then the teenage years become an exponential shift of gear into seeking independence. Yet our education system and the process with which we guide our children towards Bnei mitzvah means that with that freedom most certainly comes a sense of responsibility. Teenagers know their education affects their future and start feeling the consequences if they don’t take seriously their responsibility for looking after their own possessions, their sleeping habits and looking out for their friends.

The 7 week journey from the festival of Pesach/Passover to that of Shavuot takes the Children of Israel on a journey which mimics this shift from childhood into teenage-hood. It demonstrates that freedom from slavery, Pharaoh and life in Egypt is not enough because we have to learn to be responsible to each other, to the land and for the future.

Shavuot is the moment when we commemorate the standing at the foot of Mount Sinai and the receiving of Torah. The rules and societal structures which have been the foundations of western civilisation and will be forever more; life order which includes time to work with built in time to rest. The sanctity of life. The need to protect the poor, the widow and the orphan. The true revelation is that “freedom from” is synonymous with “responsibility to”. Those of us with the greatest freedoms should feel the deepest sense of responsibility to others.

Modern day slavery exists in many forms because poverty, unfair access to health care and the [differential suffering caused by the impact of our and other people's failure to care for the environment] difference in environmental issues around the world sets up dependencies akin to slavery. Pesach may give us the opportunity to celebrate that freedom but Shavuot is the reminder not to be complacent but to use that gratitude for the good of others. One of the  Torah’s overarching messages is that of seeking justice for all.

The Sinai moment and our annual celebration of Shavuot is the reminder to ask if you are taking your “responsibility to..” in proportion to your reality of being “free from…”.