Omer 2025 Day 9

Day 8 | Day 10

Day 9: Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
Gevurah in Gevurah, Strength in Bravery

I was surprised by how quickly into this book Ellen and William Craft made their way to freedom. Books about slaves escaping to freedom so often spend the beginning of the book on their life in slavery, then tell the story of their escape, and end with the slaves reaching the north. This book, however, subverts all of that, beginning, instead, with the journey to freedom, and continuing the story of the Crafts in freedom. Yes, their journey is harrowing and compelling, and took great strength and courage. But by continuing the story beyond just reaching freedom, Woo shows the extent of their bravery. The Crafts could have disappeared into the north and lived out their lives quietly as free people. But they were offered, and accepted, a more difficult task: to become spokespeople for abolition, a job that put them on the map for bounty hunters to try to recapture them, but also gave them a platform to share their story worldwide. Their strength and bravery did not end with their own personal liberation. In many ways, their story is the story of counting the omer, stretching the story of our journey from slavery to freedom into a lasting fight for self-discovery and improving the world.