Part III — Zerizut (Alacrity and Redemption)

If Zehirut is the pause before the act, Zerizut is the sacred leap forward.

“Zerizut is the eagerness to perform mitzvot.”
— Mesilat Yesharim 6:1-2

1 · From Vigilance to Velocity — Avraham Awakens Dawn

Ramchal opens by defining Zerizut as acting before obstacles arise: “Zerizim makdimin la-mitzvot” (Pesachim 4a).
If Zehirut was Avraham’s contemplation beneath the stars, then Zerizut is the moment he rises early — “Vayashkem Avraham baboker” (Genesis 22:3; Bereshit Rabbah 56:1).
He does not wait for confirmation, nor delay for comfort.  Awareness ripens into movement; reflection into obedience.  The dawn he wakes before becomes the model of spiritual readiness.

2 · Nachshon’s Leap — Avraham’s Descendant in Motion

When Israel stood paralyzed at the sea, Nachshon ben Amminadav of Judah leapt first (Sotah 37a).  The waters split for the one who moved.
Avraham’s first Lech Lecha was the prototype of this courage.  Just as Nachshon’s plunge opened the Red Sea, Avraham’s obedience opened history: leaving land, kindred, and logic.
The covenant begins when a human will accelerates toward the Divine command faster than fear can reply.

3 · Two Phases of Zerizut — Avraham’s Beginning and Completion

Ramchal divides Zerizut into two fields (Mesilat Yesharim 7): The first concerns the initiation of an act — that one should not delay when a mitzvah presents itself, but “seize it immediately, without hesitation or deliberation.” The second pertains to its completion — that once begun, the act should not be interrupted or performed sluggishly, “for a mitzvah is not called by his name who begins it, but by his name who finishes it.”
As Ramchal explains:

There are two divisions of alacrity: one prior to the performance of a deed and one during its performance. The first consists in a person's not delaying the mitzvah when the opportunity for it presents itself, but rather seizing it and doing it without delay. The second consists in a person's being diligent in the performance of the mitzvah itself, not lightening his hand from it, but directing his exertion to its speedy completion.

Before the act: seize the mitzvah the instant it appears — “Don’t let it become chametz” (Mechilta to Exodus 12:17).
Avraham embodies this swiftness: when the three guests appear, “he ran from the tent door to meet them” and “hastened to prepare bread and meat” (Genesis 18:6–7).

After the act begins: finish without delay — for “a mitzvah is called by the name of the one who finishes it.”
Avraham completes the Akeidah’s command to its final word; he does not flinch midway.  His momentum carries through to completion, the measure of true zeal.

4 · The Enemy: Heaviness Disguised as Thought

Ramchal names the adversary keveidut (כְּבֵידוּת) — the heaviness that dresses as prudence.In Mesilat Yesharim (Chs. 6–7), keveidut is described as the lethargy of the soul that restrains movement toward the good. It persuades the intellect that delay is wisdom, that moderation is safety, and that passion is folly. Yet beneath this veneer of reason lies spiritual inertia — the weight that keeps a person from acting even when clarity has been attained. Ramchal warns that one who succumbs to keveidut will “wish to serve, but the heaviness of his limbs will prevent him.” True zerizut, he teaches, requires both an inner awakening and a practiced resistance to this false prudence.
Avraham conquers it each time he acts without consulting inertia: leaving Ur, traveling through famine, circumcising himself at ninety-nine.  His body’s slowness bows to his soul’s speed.

Shlomo warns that delay corrodes: “A little sleep… and your poverty comes” (Proverbs 6:10–11); “Through sloth the roof sinks” (Ecclesiastes 10:18).
Avraham’s tent, always open on four sides, stands un-decayed — a metaphor for motion defeating stagnation.

5 · The Angelic Pace — Avraham and the Messengers

The angels who visit Avraham are described as runners of fire; yet, strikingly, he outpaces them.
He imitates their nature: “Vay’maher Avraham…” — he hastens to serve (Genesis 18:6).
Zerizut thus mirrors heaven’s tempo: “Mighty ones who do His word” (Psalms 103:20); “Creatures darting like lightning” (Ezekiel 1:14).
Avraham’s movements are angelic deeds performed willfully and like lightning.

6 · The Fire Within — Avraham’s Will as Flame

Ramchal teaches that outer motion awakens inner fire, and inner fire demands outer motion.
Avraham lives this loop: his outward journey to Canaan ignites inward love; his inner faith erupts as outward service.
R. Eliyahu Dessler calls this ratzon ha-nefesh — the soul’s will as its spiritual energy (Michtav Me-Eliyahu, vol. I).
Zerizut is the visible form of Avraham’s ratzon: the will that transforms awareness into revelation.

7 · Portraits of Speed in the Covenant Line

• Avraham runs to hospitality (Genesis 18:6–7);
• Rivkah, his spiritual heir, runs to draw water (Genesis 24:20);
• Shimshon’s mother “made haste and ran to tell her husband” (Judges 13:10);
• David, Avraham’s royal descendant, sings: “I hastened and did not delay to keep Your commandments” (Psalms 119:60).

Each inherits the Abrahamic current of motion.  Love overturns nature; mercy accelerates duty.

8 · Training Zerizut — Avrahamic Habits for Modern Souls

1. Seize first light. Avraham’s “rose early” becomes a daily rule: start mitzvot at dawn’s edge.
2. Finish the deed. As he bound Isaac yet completed the mission, end each holy task fully.
3. Remove friction. Prepare the path the night before; zeal thrives on readiness.
4. Move, then feel. Even when the heart is dull, imitate Avraham’s motion — desire will follow the deed (Hosea 6:3).
5. Run to mitzvot. Physical momentum trains the soul (Berachot 6b).
6. Strengthen daily. “Torah and good deeds require strengthening” (Berachot 32b) — Avraham’s life proves strength renews itself through use.

9 · Zerizut and Geulah — From Avraham to Nachshon

When faith becomes movement, history itself accelerates.
Avraham’s early rising and Nachshon’s sea-leap frame the same theology: redemption begins when one acts without waiting for certainty.

Ramchal explains that Zerizut “derives from the fire of the heart” — For one whose heart burns in the service of his Creator will not be sluggish in performing His commandments. Rather, his movements will be like the quick movements of fire. He will not rest or be still until he has completed the act.

This fervor is not mere haste but the rhythm of emunah realized: when a person’s love for G-d “presses him forward,” his deeds synchronize with divine time.
Thus, Ramchal explains further: According to the measure of a person’s love and longing for the Blessed One, so will he hasten in His service.
(Mesilat Yesharim, ch. 7)

Avraham rises “early in the morning,” Nachshon steps before the sea divides — both reveal that faith fulfilled through zerizut becomes the instrument of geulah.
Zehirut revealed what to do; Zerizut is acting upon it.

10 · From Movement to Purity — The Heart That Follows the Deed

Zerizut perfects motion; now the soul must purify the reason it moves.
Avraham, who once ran to serve strangers, now ascends the mountain to serve the Infinite. The same feet that hurried toward kindness now climb in silence toward sacrifice. What began as zeal in action becomes refinement of intent.

Ramchal’s ladder turns inward here. Once the limbs are quick, the heart must be cleansed — that no trace of ego hide within love, no self-interest mingle with faith. Zeal without purity risks becoming noise; but when alacrity meets intention, it becomes pure — which is Nekiyut and Taharah (Cleanliness and Purity of Intention).

Thus Part IV opens the next gate: Nekiyut and Taharah (Cleanliness and Purity of Intention) — where the fire of Zerizut is tempered into clear light, and every motion is judged not by speed, but by sincerity. The path now bends from what we do to why we do it.

Sources (primary)

• Mesilat Yesharim chs. 6–7 — definition of zerizut; two phases and the psychology of movement.
• Sotah 37a — Nachshon’s leap into the sea as faith in motion; redemption through action.
• Bereishit Rabbah 56:1 — Avraham’s early rising; love that overturns nature.
• Pesachim 4a — Zerizim makdimin la-mitzvot — the zealous rise early to perform mitzvot.
• Mechilta to Exodus 12:17 — “Don’t let a mitzvah become chametz.”
• Berachot 6b — Run to a mitzvah (even on Shabbat).
• Berachot 32b — Torah and good deeds require strength.
• Nazir 23b — Precedence and reward; Lot’s elder daughter as example of prompt virtue.
• Psalms 103:20 · Ezekiel 1:14 — Angelic speed: “Ratzoh va-shov k’mar’eh ha-bazak.”
• Psalms 119:60 — David’s haste in mitzvah performance.
• Hosea 6:3 · Hosea 11:10 — “Let us run to know Hashem.”
• Genesis 24:20 · Judges 13:10 — Rivkah and Shimshon’s mother; the righteous act in haste.
• Ecclesiastes 10:18 · Proverbs 6:10–11 · Proverbs 18:9 · Proverbs 24:30–34 · Proverbs 22:29 — Kohelet and Mishlei on laziness vs. diligence.
• Pirkei Avot 5:20 — Animal traits in service: “Bold as a leopard, light as an eagle…”

Sources (secondary / orientation)

• Maharal, Netzach Yisrael chs. 1–2 — redemption as divine motion born from inner vitality.
• Ramchal, Derech Hashem II:3 — balance of Divine justice and mercy in human striving.