31 Mar 2026 Pesach 5786: Unexpected Redemption

With the onset of Chag HaPesach, we relive the foundational moment of our nation’s birth – yetzias Mitzrayim, the Exodus from Egypt. We recount the miracles, the plagues, the splitting of the sea, and the transformation of a nation of slaves into a people redeemed by the Hand of Hashem.

Pesach is zman cheiruseinu – the time of our freedom. It is the yomtov that reminds us that no darkness is permanent, no exile eternal, and no suffering beyond the reach of geulah.

And this year, these ideas are not theoretical.

For over a month, Eretz Yisrael has been under attack – missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, sirens piercing the air, families running to shelters, brave IAF pilots back and forth to enemy territory, Iran, and now courageous soldiers of the IDF risking their lives on the front lines in Lebanon. The worry, the fear and the uncertainty are real, present, and deeply felt.

In a time of crisis, we ask ourselves: where is the geulah? Where are the miracles we speak about at the Seder table?

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the Rav zt”l, offers a profound insight into the very nature of redemption: “Genuine geulah, genuine redemption, always comes suddenly, unexpectedly, at a time when people are ready to give up hope. Sometimes historical situations keep deteriorating; people pray and cry, begging for mercy – but there is no answer to their prayer, only silence. At that moment, when the crisis reaches its maximum and threatens the very existence of the community, when people begin to give up, the geulah suddenly comes and takes them out of the land of affliction. It comes in the middle of the night and knocks on the door when no one expects it, when everybody is skeptical about it, when everybody laughs off the possibility of redemption.

“This is what happened in Egypt. וַיְהִי בַיָּמִים הָרַבִּים הָהֵם וַיָּמָת מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם וַיֵּאָנְחוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִן הָעֲבֹדָה וַיִּזְעָקוּ וַתַּעַל שַׁוְעָתָם אֶל הָאֱלֹקים מִן הָעֲבֹדָה (Shemos 2:23). G-d did not answer at that moment, and the people had no knowledge that ‘G-d looked and G-d knew’ (2:25). When the crisis reached its climax and the Jewish people were on the verge of complete assimilation and disappearance, Moshe came. At the beginning, he was very far from successful; apparently, the plagues did not convince the Jews that redemption was near. They did not expect Divine revelation that night. Indeed, this is the most important feature of geulas Mitzrayim. The redemption from Egypt consisted not only of the fact that our ancestors went from slavery to freedom, but, more importantly, that this redemption and the revelation of the Almighty were a surprise to them. This is the nature of geulah” (The Seder Night: An Exalted Evening, Haggadah Shel Pesach, p.99-100. See as well: Festival of Freedom, p.58-59).

The Rav is teaching us that redemption does not always unfold in a way that we can anticipate. It does not always come when we expect it, nor in the manner we imagine. At times, history appears to move only in one direction – deeper into darkness, increasing uncertainty. We daven, we cry, we hope – and the silence can feel overwhelming.

And yet, beneath that silence, Hashem is present. וירא אלקים את בני ישראל וידע אלקים (Shemos 2:25). Hashem sees, and Hashem knows. The night of the Exodus was not a gradual unfolding of redemption. It was a sudden, Divine intervention – בחצי הלילה – at midnight, when no one expected it.

So too in our days.

Even as sirens sound and tensions rise, even as Eretz Yisrael lives with daily uncertainty, we hold onto emunah that the story is not over. The same RS”O Who redeemed us from Mitzrayim, Who brought geulah in a moment of deepest darkness, continues to guide history – even when we cannot see His Hand.

Pesach calls upon us not only to remember past miracles, but to believe in future ones. At the Seder table, we speak of redemption not as a distant memory, but as a living reality.

In every generation, a person must see himself as if he personally left Egypt. And perhaps this year, we might add: in every generation, a person must believe that just as geulah came then – suddenly, unexpectedly, and completely – so too it will come again.

There is an additional dimension to this idea that is especially relevant as we sit at the Seder table. The night of Pesach is called ליל שימורים – a night of guarding, a night that has been protected and designated for redemption since the beginning of time (Shemos 12:42). This night is ripe for geulah, imbued with a unique spiritual potential for salvation.

This is a great foundation in how Hashem runs His world. Often, what appears to us as concealment is, in truth, preparation. What feels like silence is not abandonment, but a stage before revelation. We do not always merit to see the full picture as it unfolds for we live within the process. But Pesach teaches us that even when we cannot yet see the geulah, it is already in motion.

As we sit at our Seder tables this year, surrounded by family and friends, recounting the miracles of the past, the hearts of all of us are in Eretz Yisrael. The contrast is striking. On the one hand, we are experiencing the beauty and holiness of the yomtov. On the other hand, there is danger facing Klal Yisrael.

But perhaps this, too, is part of the message of Pesach. Geulah does not require “perfect” conditions. Redemption does not wait until everything is calm and secure. On the contrary, it often emerges from within the darkness itself.

May this emunah strengthen us, and guide us, as we celebrate the yomtov of geulah. May HKB”H protect the soldiers of the IDF, watch over all of Klal Yisrael, and bring comfort and safety to our land, our home.

And in the merit of our emunah, our tefillos, and our unwavering connection to HKB”H, may we merit to witness a geulah sheleimah – sudden, complete, and filled with revealed miracles – speedily and in our days.

בברכת חג כשר ושמח ובשורות טובות,

Michal