Deliverance in an age of Deliveroo

IT WAS an ordinary Friday at the Seed community centre and I was admiring the gigantic poster advertising our next event, which had just arrived. The only problem was, I had nowhere to hang it. Unperturbed, I pulled out my phone and, a few short swipes later, I had ordered hooks from Amazon Prime Now, which duly arrived a few hours later, in time for Shabbat.

Ordering items is just one task that our phones are capable of achieving in record time. Uber reports the average waiting time for a ride in London is between three and four minutes — half the average time it takes for an ambulance to arrive. Deliveroo and similar apps offer a faster-than-ever takeaway service, with a growing kosher range.

The world of 24-hour on-demand services at our fingertips means lastminute decisions have become de rigueur. In many areas, we have been freed from making an advance commitment at all. Our way of life is faster and more convenient than ever before, but is it affecting our lifestyle in a more fundamental manner?

In days gone by, workers expected to remain in the same job for many years. But millennials have very different expectations. The average UK worker will now change employer every five years, according to life assurance firm Liverpool Victoria. A recent survey of 2,000 UK employees by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found almost a quarter of employed people are currently looking for new roles.

Our attitude towards relationships has also changed. On behalf of Time magazine, trend researchers asked 1,000 young people about their attitude towards marriage. Almost half of millennials (43 per cent — higher among the youngest subset) said they would support a marriage model that involved a two-year trial — at which point the union could be either formalised or dissolved, no divorce or paperwork required.

Have we replaced the contentment of long-term commitment with the quick fix of instant gratification?

On Pesach we relive the birth of the Jewish people. One of the key parts of the Seder Night and indeed the whole of Pesach is eating matzah. If you have attended even a few Seder nights, you will be well-versed in the reason for this mitzvah. Our forefathers left Egypt in such a rush they did not have time to let their dough rise or prepare adequate provisions for the journey. Therefore we eat matzah, just as they did.

Really? Does this merit the matzah taking pride of place at our Seder tables? Surely the speed with which our ancestors left Egypt and their culinary arrangements (or lack thereof) is peripheral to the story of our freedom from Egyptian tyranny? A profound answer to this can be found in the words of the prophet Jeremiah. He praises the Jewish people at the time of the Exodus, as seen through the eyes of Hashem: “I accounted to your favour the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride — how you followed Me into the wilderness, a barren land” (Jeremiah 2:2).

Our freedom from Egyptian slavery was indeed a momentous event. But the true birth of the Jewish people took place when we followed Hashem into the wilderness.

The path to our destination was unclear and we were inadequately prepared. Nevertheless, we had seen enough to know this was the right path and were committed to travelling on a journey led by Hashem.

The matzah we eat does not remind us only of the haste with which we left Egypt but of the eagerness with which we embarked upon our new life.

I cannot imagine life without Amazon, Uber and a host of other modern conveniences. However, we must always remember some of the best things in life are achieved only after a journey which requires serious, longterm commitment.

This year, as you eat the matzah on Seder night, perhaps ask yourself if you, too, are prepared to make the commitment to Judaism our ancestors made. If you can answer yes, you may just be ready to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

Are you prepared for the journey of a lifetime?’

Rabbi Dov Birnbaum is rabbi of The Seed Shul, Edgware