In Haste

Bo

Ex.10:1-13:16

Précis: God sends additional plagues (locusts and darkness) and alerts Moses that the 10^th and final plague will follow. God instructs Moses on the institution of the Passover. Then, the final plague, the death of first born, is wrecked upon Egypt. The Israelites, accompanied by the “mixed multitudes,” leave Egypt, carrying with them the “spoils of Egypt” given to them by the Egyptians. The parasha ends with a repetition of the laws regarding Passover.

Ex. 12:11 “This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it quickly.”

Erica Brown notes that the pace at which we run our lives offers challenges and opportunities (Weekly Jewish Wisdom, 1/14/16​)​. There are times when things seem to move impossibly fast, and times when the tick of the clock seems to be running backwards.  In much Biblical text, actors are told to speed up: we are told to make haste in leaving morally compromising situations. One should act like Abraham and rush to help someone. Moses and Aaron often rushed to Pharaoh to demand freedom.

            This verse shows a different kind of acting quickly (the Hebrew is “be-hipazon,” otherwise translated as “in haste”). Why? Because the People needed to be prepared to flee, or perhaps to face combat after the sacrifice of the Pascal lamb. Later, we read that the matzah we eat must be made “in haste” to recall that event, since the Israelites did not have time to let the bread rise.

            Brown reminds us that this haste is not accidental: haste was to be an integral part of the memory of the Exodus. Why? She cites Rabbi Haim Sabato, who makes a profound observation: “The suddenness of the change, and the lack of preparation and of a gradual progression would lead to turmoil. One who leaps levels without adequate preparation cannot sustain the high level he has merited, especially if the change is made with no effort on his part.”

            Leaving quickly helped us be brave enough to leave, but​ left us ill-prepared for the Wilderness challenges.

            There are significant events in our lives which take months or years to prepare for, and then to pass by in the blink of an eye. This is true in bar/bat mitzvah preparation, in love and courtship and in death and dying.  This verse leaves us with an enduring question: What do we need to do in haste, and what do we need to do more slowly? Or from another perspective, we need to take action in haste when needed, and to act with deliberation when it is ​better to do so. Which course to take is part of the human condition.