Harry Potter: Exodus Discussion Contributed by Alexa Dysch Source: The (unofficial) Hogwarts Haggadah by Moshe Rosenberg
The most precious things in life are only obtained by those willing to pay the price. The Talmud says that three precious gifts were granted the Jewish people - Torah, the World to Come, and the Land of Israel - and all three can only be acquired through underdoing affliction. The Haggadah records the God gave Esau the land of Seir with no strings attached. Jacob and his family, however, had to go down to Egypt and be tempered in the crucible of slavery to earn the gift of the land of Israel.
As early as Book One, Harry is aware that fighting the good fight can carry a steep price, but he is willing to pay it. When he thinks that his friends are trying to dissuade him from going after the Sorcerer's Stone, he declares, "Losing points doesn't matter any more, can't you see?... If I get caught before I can get to the stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there, it's only dying a little bit later than I would have, because I'm never going to the Dark Side!"
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Pharaoh, according to the midrash, began the enslavement of the Children of Israel with mild words. He proclaimed a national day of good citizenship, summoning Egyptians and foreigners alike to assemble and work to build for their country. The Hebrews, wishing, as always, to be seen as the most loyal citizens, worked tirelessly, making more bricks per capita than any other group. Their surprise was great when, the next day, all the other groups were allowed to stay home and only they were required to continue, having to match each day the prodigious total of bricks they had reached on the first day.
Harry learned to distrust those whose voices were too silken and whose promises were too unctuously offered. From the insincere offers of Voldemort to the self-serving questions of Rita Skeeter to the saccharine tones of Dolores Umbridge, he learned to judge words by their content, not their deceptive outer garb. Many have suggested that God saw to it that Moses was hampered by a speech impediment to make clear that his appeal was the message of God, not the charisma of a cult leader.
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Beyond the immediate and visible threat, one of the chief dangers at a time when good is threatened by evil is the temptation faced by those fighting the overwhelming odds to despair of continuing daily life in inhuman circumstances, much less bringing a new generation into the world to face the same cruelty. It takes vision, in addition to courage, to fight and plan for a better future simultaneously.
In the Exodus story, it was the women who displayed that vision... The midrash depicts Amram, the father of Moses and leader of his people, as divorcing his wife so as not to add to the babies being drowned by Pharaoh. It was his daughter Miriam that brought him back to his senses, declaring that his decree was crueler than Pharaoh's for precluding the birth of girls, as well.
In the midst of the battle to defeat Lord Voldemort, Remus Lupin despaired of the prospect of marrying and bringing a new life into the world. He nearly abandoned his wife and unbord child to go with Harry on his quest, until Harry played the role of Miriam, firmly taking Lupin to task and refocusing him on the need to plan for posterity. It was the resulting child, Teddy, who survived the Battle of Hogwarts, in which his parents were killed.
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"It's got to be me," Harry says at the final showdown against Voldemort... "There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me." This was the moment when Harry, who had sought a father throughout the seven books, became the father he sought. It was the moment when, after the death of Dumbledore, arguably the most Godlike figure of the series, Harry takes his place and personally steps up to fight the ultimate evil. It is the culmination of his development, when all that he had learned about the world and himself came together.
Harry's moment echoes the instant of the Biblical plague of the smiting of the firstborn Egyptians. As the Haggadah emphasizes, the time for agents is past... When it comes time to reveal the face of ultimate good and finally vanquish evil and its supporters, God says, " Ani hu v'lo acher." It's got to be me.