Fan the flames of the fire of freedom

The title above is a  quote from Matisyahu's song 'Fire of Freedom' from the Spark Seeker album, released July 2012. This one line alone exhorts us to get hot and bothered about injustice and inequality and slavery in our times, and to keep on pushing and driving towards freedom in all the forms that it can take.

Here is his very recent post about Passover - the festival of Freedom - drawing on traditional text from the Haggadah (the 'telling,' a booklet that guides our ceremony during the festive Seder meal), from Psalms, and from Chassidic teachings.

This was posted on www.matisyahuworld.com on Monday March 25th, 2013.

WE WERE SLAVES TO PHARAOH IN EGYPT!

In our generation, PHARAOH lives inside of us. He is a part of us. Our slave master is one with us making it very HARD to escape. But that’s what we are… A nation of slaves on the run… Escaping pogroms, and inquisitions, and Nazis… Running through the wilderness….

Master of the World, we have no place left to run. Where can we go to escape ourselves?
Help me to find my place in your kingdom, for I know I was not created a Slave. You direct my feet in paths of righteousness.

I am about to burn my ego in the flames of your eternal love. Let me burn the shackles off, fire blazing, melting the iron chains, the golden calf, the shekel, back to its original state of purity.

Break free with love
You are not a slave
You are God’s Glory

See you on the other side of the Sea

We cannot run from PHARAOH anymore, he is in us.
May we all be blessed this Pesach to melt his heart and redeem our whole selves.

Blessed Love.
Matis

Passover, Festival of Freedom

Freedom from
and
Freedom to

Freedom towards
and 
Freedom away 

Where is our slavery, our freedom, our Redemption....today?



Freedom Song, Song of Redemption
by Bob Marley 

Studio session by Bob Marley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfpciI47KFk 

Acoustic cover by Matisyahu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1arthxVjVao

Musings before travel to Eretz Yisrael

Looking ahead to this great adventure, the trip I am making in May 2013, here are some thoughts that begin already to bubble up from the pre-travel conversations, thoughts, emails being sent to me etc.



How am I able to keep the tour 'pure'? I can't! It cannot be about the holy ancient sites without also being about the people politics tensions chaos beauty of today.  Just today I read about the bus to/from Jericho, and people's aspirations that we get to visit Ramallah...



On the video below, here is a look, many looks (at the Land and mostly Jewish men, no women or Palestinians that I noticed),  while hearing the national anthem.  So many breathtaking landscapes await us. 

Hatikvah