כי בחפזון יצאת ממצרים
The entire story of Yetzias Mitzrayim is centered on the fact that we left “b’chipazon, quickly,” with little to no pre-conditioning or preparation. Rabban Gamliel connects this idea in the Hagaddah to explain why we avoid chametz and eat matzah. It seems to be very central to whatever the avodah of Pesach is.
The Chayei Adam, on the other hand, in his instruction for how to enter tefillah and other mitzvos, seems to take a very different approach. He teaches that it is important to stop and wait a bit before davening in order to prepare, contemplate, and create an intentional time and space, and to allow one’s self to transition their body, heart, and mind into standing lifnei Hashem. This kind of hachanah — slow, reflective preparation — is important to being able to perform a mitzvah properly, with meaning, presence, and consciousness, rather than as מצוות אנשים מלומדה. He specifically says about tefillah and other mitzvos, ולא יעשה אותה בחיפזון, one should not do it in a rush, without any preparation.
The Chayei Adam’s teaching thus leaves us confused. We are supposed to avoid rushing into avodas Hashem. We should prepare ourselves physically, emotionally, and intellectually — integrating all levels of our nefesh, ru’ach, and neshamah — before stepping into a mitzvah and connection point with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Yet, when it came to Yetziyas Mitzrayim, the most important moment in the collective Jewish experience — the moment that birthed Am Yisrael as a people — this was done in a rush, בחפזון. There was no time for the yotzei Mitzrayim to prepare and reflect on the significance of the moment and the relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu that was being created through this event. We rushed out; perhaps in a way that was not so different from the times that we rush through tefillah, finding ourselves saying Aleinu but not knowing how we got there.
We can begin to explain this point by focusing a bit on the very different experiences of tefillah and mitzvos on the one hand, and of Yetziyas Mitzrayim on the other.
When it comes to davening, the emphasis on preparation and the caution against praying with haste, serves a purpose. It ensures that our recital of the tefillah does not become a purely external activity devoid of kavanas halev and the mental and emotional awareness needed to create a tefillah that leaves us refreshed, connected, and in a relationship with our Creator. However, when the moment of Yetziyas Mitzrayim arrived, there was simply no need to mentally prepare ourselves to experience Hashem’s presence. The Yad Hashem was evident in everything and everywhere, more clearly and unmistakably revealed at this moment than at any time since creation.
The whole process of Yetziyas Mitzrayim was a profound gilui of the Ohr Haganuz — the manifest and revealed presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu in this world. Hashem-consciousness and a real, honest relationship with the Borei Olam was tangibly felt within every fiber and moment of our being.
We could rush out of Egypt without preparation because we were always intentionally aware of how everything around us — and how we ourselves — are just expressions and reflections of the pure, absolute ratzon Hashem that lies at the core of all reality. Leaving בחפזון was not a contradiction to mindful and intentional avodah; it was a consequence of the yotzei Mitzrayim existing in a state of permanent kavanah and perpetual awareness.
As we receive and experience the Ohr Elokus and Ratzon Hashem that created and defined the original events of Yetziyas Mitzrayim — and which continues to shine and create our experience of Pesach today — perhaps we can try to transform ourselves into people that are more like the original yotzei Mitzrayim. We can use the incredibly powerful gilui and presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu that lies at the core of Pesach itself to take small steps towards becoming more intuitively aware that we are in a real relationship with Hashem everywhere all the time. We can use this Yom Tov to become more like those who left Mitzrayim, who had no need to prepare for the powerful avodah they were entering into because they were living with Hakadosh Baruch Hu in a constant, tangible reality. In this way, we can experience one aspect of how “each and every person should try to see themselves as leaving Egypt;” we can be ready to jump into any avodah בחפזון because we are always ready and always prepared to encounter a new way of experiencing d’veikus with our Redeemer.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 31 Special Pesach.
