“This is how you must eat [the Passover offering]: with your waist belted, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You must eat it with chipazon — in haste.” (Ex. 12:11)
The word chipazon is an uncommon word. In the entire Bible, it appears only three times. Twice it is used to describe the Israelites’ haste when they fled Egypt. Why did they need to be ready to depart at a moment’s notice?
According to the Midrash, there were in fact three parties who were in a rush for the Israelites to leave Egypt. The Egyptians, afraid of further plagues and catastrophes, wanted the Hebrew slaves to clear out as quickly as possible. The Israelites were in a hurry lest Pharaoh change his mind yet again and refuse to let them leave.
And there was a third party in a state of urgency. The Midrash speaks of the chipazon of the Shechinah. Why was God in a hurry?
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