What is the difference between the Exodus story we encounter in the spring in the Haggadah and the Exodus story we encounter in the winter in the Book of Exodus? One common answer is that Moses is hardly mentioned in the Haggadah and is obviously a major protagonist in the Torah’s telling. But there is another important difference. 

The Torah has a lot to say about the Israelites taking silver and gold on their way out of Egypt.

The announcement before the 10th plague:

“Tell the people to borrow, each man from his neighbor and each woman from hers, objects of silver and gold.” Exodus 11:2

The execution of the 10th plague:

“The Israelites had done Moses’s bidding and borrowed from the Egyptians objects of silver and gold, and clothing. And the Lord had disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people, and they let them have their request; thus they stripped the Egyptians.” Exodus 12: 35-36

By contrast the Haggadah says nothing about the silver and gold.

Why does the Torah make such a tzimmus about the silver and gold? What is the Torah trying to teach us here?

Tomorrow morning we will consider traditional explanations that focus on reparations and a modern explanation that focuses on what Andy Stanley calls the whirlwind. The whirlwind is the daily intensity that keeps us from building the future we want to live in. Here God knows that the Israelites are going to need silver and gold to build the wilderness tabernacle, the mishkan. Even though the Israelites were dealing with the urgent business of getting out of Egypt, God has them plan ahead and gather the resources they will need for their tabernacle. Can we do that? Can we transcend the to do lists of today to work on the promise of tomorrow?