Slave or Jew?

 Hashem finally liberated the Jews from Egypt and their treacherous slavery. However, He freed the Jews so they could be slaves to Him.  Nevertheless, Hashem does not treat His servants in the manner a normal master would treat his slaves.       

Normal masters have their servants clean for them, dress them, cook for them, hold a lantern in the road for them at night, etc. However, we see Hashem never demands such things from the Jewish people. During their sojourn in the desert, Hashem provides the Jewish people with their every need.  He provided them with the seven Clouds of Glory, four Clouds provided shelter for the camp in all directions, two Clouds protected Bnai Israel like a shelter, from the blistering desert sun, and the last Cloud guided the camp on their journey into Israel. Hashem in His great might even provided Bnai Israel with light during the night, the seventh Cloud, which was replaced by a burning fire to illuminate their tents.

Moreover, during their journey in the desert, Hashem continuously provided Bnai Israel with food and water no matter where they were, ie. the manna which fell from Heaven each day. Clearly, we can see that Hashem is indeed the Master of the universe, and we are His slaves; however, the relationship we have with Him is not the conventional master/servant relationship, where the servant provides the master with his every need, it is a father/son relationship, in which the father is and will continuously care for and nurture his son- Bnai Israel.

From this, we should all recognize that Hashem is our Father and we are His children. So to, just as a father only wants what’s best for his children, we need to remember that everything that happens in our lives is done with the best intentions from our Father above.