The Haggada of Pesach night tells a story of absolute divine agency. God acts; Israel receives. So deliberately does the text place redemption in God’s hands alone that Moshe himself barely appears.

For those of us living in a reality where miracles require human hands – soldiers, engineers, intelligence officers, first responders – this raises an urgent question: Is the Pesach model of redemption rooted in passivity still the paradigm?

The haftarah of the first day of Pesach answers clearly: No. It introduces a different model, one of active redemption, in which those who enter the Land of Israel become major partners in the process.

The scene in Yehoshua chapter 5 marks a pivotal threshold. The Israelites have crossed the Jordan and entered the Land of Israel. For forty years, the mitzvah of circumcision had been suspended during the hardships of desert wandering; now it is performed for the first time, on Canaanite soil. The manna at this point also ceases. The people begin to eat from the produce of the land – no more bread descending ready-made from heaven.

These moments signal the........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)