Walking Upright in the Land

… and I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright (komemiyut).              Leviticus 26:13

My father noted that the verse conveys two blessings. “I have broken the bands of your yoke” is a blessing of the end of servitude. However, one who has been enslaved is liable to retain a slave mentality even after emancipation. Therefore, the Torah adds the second blessing “and made you walk upright.” The double blessing is of freedom of body and spirit.

Rashi translates komemiyut as “erect in stature (in contrast to the bent attitude of a person who is under a yoke).” [Silbermann translation of Rashi] Onkelos, the first century translator of the Torah into Aramaic, translates “I will lead you to freedom.” Some Israelis refer to the War of Independence (Milḥemet haShiḥrur) as Milḥemet haKomemiyut. Indeed, the establishment of the State, on the ashes of the Holocaust, led the Jews to erect stature following one of the greatest tragedies of our history.