What is חרות?

In the beginning, our ancestors were idol worshippers. But now the Omnipresent has drawn us close in His service; as it is said: “Joshua said to all the people, ‘This is what the LORD God of Israel has said: Beyond the river your ancestors always dwelled – Terah the father of Abraham, the father of Nahor – and they served other gods. But I took your father Abraham from beyond the river, and I led him all the way across the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his offspring and gave him Isaac. And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and I gave Esau Mount Seir as an inheritance, while Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.'"

(13) I ה׳ am your God who brought you out from the land of the Egyptians to be their slaves no more, who broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

(39) That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the commandments of ה׳ and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge. (40) Thus you shall be reminded to observe all My commandments and to be holy to your God. (41) I ה׳ am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, your God ה׳.

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: every day a bat kol (a heavenly voice) goes forth from Mount Horeb and makes proclamation and says: “Woe unto humankind for their contempt towards the Torah”, for whoever does not occupy himself with the study of Torah is called, nazuf (the rebuked. As it is said, “Like a gold ring in the snout of a pig is a beautiful woman bereft of sense” (Proverbs 11:22). And it says, “And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tablets” (Exodus 32:16). Read not haruth [‘graven’] but heruth [‘freedom’]. For there is no free man but one that occupies himself with the study of the Torah. And whoever regularly occupies himself with the study of the Torah he is surely exalted, as it is said, “And from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and Nahaliel to Bamoth” (Numbers 21:19).

Secondly, only the second half of the [ten] plagues were brought upon Egypt due to Pharaoh’s transgressions, as the Torah states, And Pharaoh’s heart was strengthened, (Shemot 7:13, 26; 8:15), and Pharaoh hardened his heart (ibid. 8:28, 9:7). He did not want to send the Jews out of Egypt for the glory of God; rather, when the plagues increased and he was becoming too worn out to withstand them, his heart softened and he decided to send them out because of the severity of the plagues themselves, but not in order to do the will of his Creator. Therefore, God strengthened his spirit and gave courage to his heart so that His Name would be declared [throughout the world], as we read: Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself, and I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Adønαi. (Ez. 38:23). 14:8) because the heart of the king is in the hand of Adønαi He turns it how He wants.

(18) But man does many actions – one differing from the other. And they investigated his activities – [each] activity – to know the purpose of his creation, from these activities. And they found that his purpose is one activity alone, and that because of it, he was created. And the rest of his activities are to maintain his support so that he perfect himself in that activity.

(19) And that activity is to depict for himself the intellectual secrets and to know the truths, according to what they are. As it is to be reasoned that it be worthless and false that the purpose of man is for eating and drinking and sexual intercourse or to build a wall, since all of these events that recur to him do not add to his inner power; and also since he shares this with most of the animals.

(20) And wisdom is that which adds to his inner power and takes him from the level of disgrace to the level of honor – as behold, he was a man in potential and he became a man in actuality, [since] before man understands and knows, he is considered like an animal. He is only distinguished from other types of animals by [his] reasoning – as he is [unique in being] a reasoning life-form – meaning to say through the reasoning with which he depicts ideas to himself.

(21) And the most honored of the ideas to depict to himself is the unity of the Holy One, blessed be He, and all that accompanies that matter from the theological. As the other wisdoms are only to train him in them, until he reaches the knowledge of Divinity. And discussion about this to its end would be very lengthy.

(22) However the depiction of ideas necessitates the distancing of most bodily pleasures; as the beginning of understanding will depict that the ruin of the soul [comes] from the enhancement of the body, and the enhancement of the soul [comes] from the ruin of the body.

(23) As when a man pursues desires and increases the physical over the intellectual and turns his intellect to his desires until, he returns to being like an animal that only depicts for itself eating, drinking and intercourse, the Divine power [in man] – meaning to say, the intellect – is no longer known.

(24) And he then returns to being as if he were a reduced and lowly creature in a sea of hyle – and the explanation of a sea of hyle is emptiness (tohu). And it has become clear from these introductions that the purpose of the world and all that is in it is the wise and good man.

(25) And when it becomes clear to a man that he is from the type of men that are of mind and deed – I mean to say with mind, to depict with his intellect the truth of things according to what they are, and to grasp all that is possible for a man to grasp; and the deed is the enhancement and regulation of the natural things and that he not be drowning in [physical] pleasures and that he not partake of them except for that which is for the care of his body and the regulation of all the character traits – and so, the man that accords with this is the purpose and the aspiration.

(26) And this thing is not known only from the prophets, but [rather] the sages of the transitory nations that did not see the prophets nor hear their wisdom – they too – already knew that a man is not complete unless he encompasses mind and deed.

(27) And let the words of the famous sage among the philosophers who said, "God desires from us to be pious wise men," be enough for you. As when a man is a wise sage that pursues desires, he is not truly a sage; since the beginning of wisdom requires that a person not partake of bodily indulgences, except that which is for the care of the needs of his body. And when we explain Tractate Avot, we will complete this matter and elucidate it according to what is fit.