Why the Rush?

When did the Jews leave Egypt? Exactly at noon on the fifteenth of Nissan. When did they start counting down the 49 days to the giving of the Torah on Sinai? Just a few hours later on the sixteenth!

Let’s think about it for a moment. The Jews hadn’t even crossed the Red Sea yet, Pharaoh was still bound to chase them and bring them back to slavery, (as he so daringly tried to do, and only by the miraculous miracle of the splitting of the sea, and the drowning of the Egyptians was his evil plan averted.)

If that’s the case, then why were they rushing to begin the countdown to the next milestone – Sinai, immediately after the exodus?

Moreover, we can be sure that the Jews had a pretty decent hint about what would transpire at Sinai. They knew that Sinai would spell the end of doing what they want without accountability, and a whole new way of life with so many limitations and consequences/punishment.

The Jews hadn’t even had the chance to live like free men, and they were already counting down to a new form of slavery and accountability? Is there anything wrong with enjoying the delicious taste of freedom for a few days, without thinking about the next leg in this historic journey?

The answer my friend, can be found in the Declaration of Independence of the USA. Let’s take a peek:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Yup, those magic words “endowed by their Creator” are our answer. For in them lay the difference between the American Revolution which made the country the beacon of freedom and liberty to the whole world until this very day; to so many other revolutions crying the same cry of “democracy” or “all men are created equal” (communism) which did not last.

Freedom without a Creator, or in other words, without the understanding that the freedom is a gift of G-d, and that only when serving and being accountable to G-d is freedom possible, is not freedom. It might sound like freedom, it might even taste for a moment like freedom, but it is not freedom. It isn’t even a democracy. For if there are no divine principals to be accountable for, then there are no principals at all.

Just look at so many countries claiming to be democratic, and how far they really are from earning that title. Democracy without G-d is simply not possible.

Our ancestors 3300 years ago were yearning to live like free men with rights such as Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. So they rushed to Sinai to be given those rights, and to live a life of true freedom – as servants of the Creator.