This week’s Torah portion that Jews around the world read is called Bo. It's the third chapter in the book of Exodus. In it, we read about the last three plagues God brings down upon the Egyptians as well as the Exodus of the Jews leaving the land after 210 years of slavery.
The Jews living in Egypt were forced into back breaking labor and subjected to murder and rape. There was no avenue of escape under the despotic Pharaoh. Plague after plague decimated the land of Egypt and still, tyranny prevailed because of Pharaoh's stubbornness. At long last, after the death of his own first born and the deafening cries of his people, Pharaoh relented and “let the people go.”
We Jews consider the Exodus from Egypt the beginning of our redemption which came with the freedom of living our life as we see saw fit. In other words, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness with the 10 Commandments as our blue prints.
In America today, we find ourselves, Jew and non-Jew alike, under the thumb of a President who has repeatedly stated that our God given right to self-defense in the form of the Second Amendment will be severely restricted if not eradicated. In other words, the Biden/Harris administration wants to control the populace of America and take away the one thing that makes us Free people. They want the government to have the means to protect themselves but not the citizenry. In essence the government and its different agencies become the overseers of the workers as we attempt to live our life as a free people.
The Jews of America should be leading the way in combating the anti-gun laws that are coming. We, the Jews, should know more than anyone what a dictator can do to an unarmed population. We saw it 3000 years ago and we saw it 75 years ago. Yet so many of us, continue to call for the abolishment of the Second Amendment. Understand this, the twenty-seven words that make up the Second Amendment is what separates freedom over tyranny. With it, we are free. Without it, we once again become slaves.
Now, more than ever, Jews should embrace the lessons from the 210 years of slavery and the Exodus and realize we live in a country that allows for the God given right to defend ourselves. Whether Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, Orthodox or Reformed, Jews should remember that Pharoah’s biggest mistake was to let us go and we as Jews should not just lead the way but also link arms with other freedom loving Americans and refuse to allow our Second Amendment to be restricted.
Freedom above all else.