I shall try to help as much as I can.
The nation, the community, the family, and the Temple, are all real things. We can imagine ourselves separate from them, but we are not. Maybe we are smart, but that is not enough. Our fortunes are intertwined with our nation, our people. The ideas that form our groups. It is not everything, but it is a great deal. There is the individual, but there is also the establishment and the community.
Children must be taught and punished, by parents and schools. Governments must punish and reward, they decide big choices that determine economies. Bosses manage employees. Women and men discuss behavior and laws.
What does it matter if a microscopic percentage is smart enough to manipulate the system, make enough money to escape, and then scream that he is free? The same is the case for knowledge, even knowledge of G-d. We correct one another, we criticize one another, we punish and reward. It produces the best result we are able.
As long as we don't completely screw things up, the question is not slave or free, it is somewhere in between. The same goes for peace. Our objective is not saintliness, we are real people, and our creator wants us to be the best we can be. So be passionate, be loud, offend others, inspire, and condemn. Clearly among the Christians there is not enough judgment and condemnation. While among the muslims there is not enough tolerance, empathy, and honesty. We got a job to do, lets get to it. In G-d I trust.
