Seize the Moment!

For centuries the Jewish people waited for the day they would be freed from Egypt. When the time finally came they had to leave immediately in order to seize the opportunity for freedom. There was no time to even bake bread for the journey and it is the abstinence from leavened bread, in Hebrew chametz, that symbolizes the exodus from Egypt. From the Hebrew word, chametz, comes the word hachmatza, which means to miss an opportunity.

One of the messages of the story of the leaving Egypt is learning how to not miss opportunities. This is not an easy challenge as many of us are set in our ways, and when there is a call to move, by the time we answer the call, it is already too late.

The Talmud compares chametz to the evil urge. This reflects that the enemy inside of us is not something demonic but rather the urge that makes us delay at critical moments and not to seize the moment, this inclination is what ultimately prevents us from achieving that which we are capable.