The original instance of hippazon/haste
(יא) וְכָ֘כָה֮ תֹּאכְל֣וּ אֹתוֹ֒ מׇתְנֵיכֶ֣ם חֲגֻרִ֔ים נַֽעֲלֵיכֶם֙ בְּרַגְלֵיכֶ֔ם וּמַקֶּלְכֶ֖ם בְּיֶדְכֶ֑ם וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֤ם אֹתוֹ֙ בְּחִפָּז֔וֹן פֶּ֥סַח ה֖וּא לַיהוה׃
(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 hurriedly: it is a passover offering to יהוה.
- Connected to the eating of matzah during the night with the Pesach lamb and maror.
- What is the source of the urgency here? Seems to coming from God as a way to eat that will create a certain experience of rushing or pressure.
The second instance of hippazon/haste - forty years later
(ג) לֹא־תֹאכַ֤ל עָלָיו֙ חָמֵ֔ץ שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֛ים תֹּֽאכַל־עָלָ֥יו מַצּ֖וֹת לֶ֣חֶם עֹ֑נִי כִּ֣י בְחִפָּז֗וֹן יָצָ֙אתָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לְמַ֣עַן תִּזְכֹּ֗ר אֶת־י֤וֹם צֵֽאתְךָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ׃
(3) You shall not eat anything leavened with it; for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress—for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly—so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live.
- Not mentioned here as a requirement (The verse from Exodus can serve that purpose), but here it's talking about where the pressure came from.
- It seems from this passage that the pressure came in the morning and from the way in which our departure took place. See Rav Hirsch below on this.
- Hippazon here is also a key aspect of remember the day itself, which is a Yom Etzem/Essential Day of personal and national formation.
The third and final instance of Hippazon in Tanakh
(יב) כִּ֣י לֹ֤א בְחִפָּזוֹן֙ תֵּצֵ֔אוּ וּבִמְנוּסָ֖ה לֹ֣א תֵלֵכ֑וּן כִּֽי־הֹלֵ֤ךְ לִפְנֵיכֶם֙ יהוה וּמְאַסִּפְכֶ֖ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ {ס}
(12) For you will not depart in haste, Nor will you leave in flight; For GOD is marching before you, The God of Israel is your rear guard.
- Isaiah here is using the term in contrast to the previous Exodus.
- In this future promise of redemption, there will be no haste, rush or fear. Perhaps no trauma? This future Exodus will be unlike the initial Exodus.
What is the source of the chippazon/haste?
External Pressure
(ב) "וַאֲכַלְתֶּם אֹתוֹ בְּחִפָּזוֹן", זֶה חֶפְזוֹן מִצְרָיִם. אַתָּה אוֹמֵר כֵּן, אוֹ אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא חֶפְזוֹן יִשְׂרָאֵל? כְּשֶׁהוּא אוֹמֵר: (שמות יא,ז) "וּלְכֹל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יֶחֱרַץ כֶּלֶב לְשֹׁנוֹ", הֲרֵי חֶפְזוֹן יִשְׂרָאֵל אָמוּר. הָא מָה אֲנִי מְקַיֵּם "וַאֲכַלְתֶּם אֹתוֹ בְּחִפָּזוֹן"? זֶה חֶפְזוֹן מִצְרָיִם.
(2) "and you shall eat it in haste": This is the haste of the Egyptians (to make them leave). You say this. But perhaps it is the haste of the Jews (to leave)? (Devarim 16:3) "for in haste you left Egypt" already speaks of the haste of the Jews. How, then, am I to understand "and you shall eat it in haste"? As referring to the haste of Egypt.
- Here the haste/pressure/rush is external, and comes from the Egyptians in the morning after the night of the Tenth plague.
- The midrash is referring to the eating that comes at night during the seder or that took place during the Tenth plague.
- The midrash assumes that the verse in Devarim speaks about the internal pressure that Israel felt.
Internal Pressure
(ג) רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן קָרְחָה אוֹמֵר: "וַאֲכַלְתֶּם אֹתוֹ בְּחִפָּזוֹן", זֶה חֶפְזוֹן יִשְׂרָאֵל. אַתְּ אוֹמֵר כֵּן, אוֹ אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא חֶפְזוֹן מִצְרָיִם? וּכְּשֶׁהוּא אוֹמֵר (שמות יב,לט) "כִּי גֹרְשׁוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם", הֲרֵי חֶפְזוֹן מִצְרָיִם אָמוּר, הָא מַה תִּלְמֹד לוֹמַר "וַאֲכַלְתֶּם אֹתוֹ בְּחִפָּזוֹן"? זֶה חֶפְזוֹן יִשְׂרָאֵל.
(3) R. Yehoshua says: "and you shall eat in haste": This is the haste of Israel. You say this. But perhaps it is the haste of the Egyptians? (Exodus 12:39) already speaks of the haste of the Egyptians. How, then, am I to understand "in haste"? As referring to the haste of the Jews.
- This midrash assumes that the haste on the night of the Tenth plague is internal, coming from Israel.
- The assumption is that the haste of Egypt is mentioned later in the passage when it speaks about Egyptians sending away Israel, although the same term for haste is not used there.
External Pressure from God
(ד) אַבָּא חָנָן אוֹמֵר מִשֵּׁם רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר: זֶה חֶפְזוֹן שְׁכִינָה. אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵין רְאָיָה לַדָּבָר, זֵכֶר הוּא: (שיר השירים ב,ח) "קוֹל דּוֹדִי הִנֵּה זֶה בָּא, מְדַלֵּג עַל הֶהָרִים, מְקַפֵּץ עַל הַגְּבָעוֹת." וְאוֹמֵר: (שיר השירים ב,ט) "הִנֵּה זֶה עוֹמֵד אַחַר כָּתְלֵנוּ, מַשְׁגִּיחַ מִן הַחַלֹּנוֹת, מֵצִיץ מִן הַחֲרַכִּים." וְאַף לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא יְהֵי בְחִפָּזוֹן? תִּלְמֹד לוֹמַר: (ישעיה נב,יב) "כִּי לֹא בְחִפָּזוֹן תֵּצֵאוּ, וּבִמְנוּסָה לֹא תֵלֵכוּן", וּמִפְּנֵי מָה? "כִּי הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיכֶם יהוה, וּמְאַסִּפְכֶם אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל." "פֶּסַח הוּא לַיהוה", שֶׁיִּהְיוּ כָל מַעֲשָׂיו לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם.
(4) Abba Channan says in the name of R. Elazar: This ("in haste") is the haste of the Shechinah. And even though there is no proof for this, it is intimated in (Song of Songs 2:8) "the voice of my Beloved, behold, it comes," (heralding the redemption, etc.), (Ibid. 9) "Behold, (seeking to redeem us), He stands behind our wall, etc." I might think that this will be so in the future, too. It is, therefore, written (Isaiah 52:12) "But not in haste will you leave, and you will not go out in flight. For the Eternal walks before you, and your rear guard is the God of Israel." "It is a Pesach (offering) to the Eternal": All of their acts (in respect to it) are to be for the sake of Heaven.
- The third option is that the pressure comes from the Shechinah, the Indwelling of God that was with Israel all during the period of slavery.
- There is no direct verse to support this, but the support brought comes from Song of Songs, and from our verse in Isaiah.
Looking at the word's Hebrew root
חפז בְּחָפְזָהּ לָנוּס (שמואל ב' ד, ד), אֲשֶֽׁר־הִשְׁלִיכוּ אֲרָם בְּהחָפְזָם [בְּחָפְזָם] (מלכים ב' ז, טו) אֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי בְחָפְזִי (תהלים קטז, יא), אַל־תִּֽירְאוּ וְאַֽל־תַּחְפְּזוּ (דברים כ, ג), הֵן יַֽעֲשֹׁק נָהָר לֹא יַחְפּוֹז (איוב מ, כג). והשם כִּי בְחִפָּזוֹן יָצָאתָ (דברים טז, ג), כִּי לֹא בְחִפָּזוֹן תֵּצֵאוּ (ישעיה נב, יב). והנפעל נֶחְפָּז לָלֶכֶת מִפְּנֵי שָׁאוּל (שמואל א' כג, כו), נִבְֽהֲלוּ נֶחְפָּֽזוּ (תהלים מח, ו), מִן־קוֹל רַֽעַמְךָ יֵחָפֵזֽוּן (תהלים קד, ז). ענין הכל נחיצה ומהירות ותנועה עם הפחד.
The subject of all of these instances of the root Ch-P-Z is victory, speed and motion accompanied by fear.
Hippazon = Pressure
כי בחפזון יצאת. והטעם להזכיר חפזון הלחם הוא כי תמורת אותו חפזון העוני היה לך אח"כ חפזון הגאולה כענין והפכתי אבלם לששון:
כי בחפזון יצאת, the reason why we have to remember this state of haste is because haste is a form of pressure. It was because you always had to rush while being slaves that the redemption when it came also came in the guise of extreme haste. Jeremiah 31:12 describes such an experience in the words והפכתי אבלם לששון, “I will turn their mourning into joy.”
Pressure is a feeling, not good or bad, but just a feeling. It epitomizes the state of slavery and it comes to be associated not only with the oppression of slavery (an outward pressure in), but also the pressure experienced at the time of redemption (could be pressure pushing out, could be an inner pressure pushing out)
Consider the various sources of this pressure. What is the meaning of the pressure when considering which source it comes from? The internal pressure of an Israelite feeling the urgency to leave, feeling both out of place and unwanted. The external pressure on an Israelite to get out lest more people die; this is rooted in fear and panic. The internal pressure of an Egyptian who has just experienced the capstone of a series of terrible events leading them to force Israel out. The external pressure of God on everyone to make this situation arise.
Only God had agency that night
Your entire departure from Egypt bore the stamp of "pressed haste" (ḥippazon).
God's hand lay heavily upon the Egyptians—those who had previously refused you even a three-day respite from labor, not even a breath free from work—now they were the ones driving you into freedom.
They gave you no time, just as during all your years of slavery, not even enough time to prepare proper bread. Thus, at the very moment of redemption, you were still a slave. You did not win your freedom by your own power. You received it from God, through the hand of your oppressors. Your oppressors were in ḥippazon, you were in ḥippazon, your oppressors were driven by God, you were driven by your oppressors—"And Egypt pressed upon the people, hastening to send them out of the land, for they said: ‘We are all dying!’… They were driven from Egypt and could not tarry, and they had also not prepared provisions for themselves."(Exodus 12:33 & 39) Only God was truly acting freely on that unique day in human history. And all of this: "So that you may remember the day of your departure from Egypt all the days of your life"—because that day was to become the point of origin for all your future thought and action. On that day, you did not become your own master. You passed from human dominion into God’s possession; from human servitude into the service of God.
Our experience of hippazon at the seder when eating matzah
הא לחמא עניא וכו׳. הכי גרסינן ולא כהא לחמא דהא קרא כתיב למען יראו את הלחם אשר האכלתי אתכם וגו׳. מאמר זה סדרו חכמינו ז״ל לומר כדי לפרסם ענין הלחם הזה שהוא לחם עוני שאכלו אבותינו במצרים. שמפני שקבעו לסדר ההגדה על הלחם כמו שדרשו לחם עוני שעונין עליו דברים הרבה. לפיכך מתחיל בלחם וקורא קרואיו על הלחם כדי שיהיה נראה שכל מה שיאמר אח״כ הוא על הלחם שהתחיל בו. ואם היה מתחיל מה נשתנה לא היה נראה שהוא אומר דברים אלו על הלחם. וכשיאמר הא לחמא וקורא את קרואיו אל הלחם ואחר כך מתחיל מה נשתנה אז נראה שהוא עונה על הלחם הדברים האלו. ולפי שאין זה רק דברי בעל הבית שקורא את הכל אל הלחם כדי לספר עליו הגדה. הוא בלשון שדרך לדבר אל בני ביתו בלשון ארמי:
From this you will understand the meaning of Scripture, "You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shall you eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of poverty, for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste…" (Deut. 16:3)
The bread of poverty means bread which stands by itself and is not connected to does not include any other ingredients. Why must you eat this bread? Because you left Egypt and ate it in haste. There was no attempt to prolong or delay in eating the matzah. Matzah is made with haste, just as Israel left Egypt with haste in the first month, so there was no delay in eating the unleavened bread, and no additions to it. Redemption must be immediate and absolute without unnecessary additions.
Hippazon: The trauma of the hasty departure
The gates of Egypt are opened, but this redemption comes only b’chipazon (Deut. 16:3)—in a kind of convulsive rush. Unable to comprehend their own history, they cannot truly hear God’s message or speak their own redemption. The development of their subjectivity becomes the project of the wilderness years, of their process of receiving the Torah, which was given at Sinai. At the same time, Moses, part of them, and representing them, undergoes his own process of coming into language.
To remember the haste is to remember that we had no time to process, which is what the Counting of the Omer gives us, ritualizes for us, and we develop enough to receive the Torah, beginning at Sinai, and coming to understand it over the forty years.
The traumatic gap in communication is indicated, writes Sefat Emet, by the word chipazon, “panic haste.” This expresses the inherent nature of such traumatic departures: “You shall eat it [the Paschal lamb] in chipazon” (12:11), God instructs Moses just before the Exodus. And forty years later, in retrospect, Moses remembers, “You left Egypt in chipazon” (Deut. 16:3).