A Light in the Darkness

Bo

Exodus 10:1-13:16

Précis: God sends the 8th and 9th plagues, locusts and darkness and warns Moses that the 10th and final plague will follow. God instructs Moses on the rituals and observances of Passover. Then, the final plague, the death of all of the first born, is wrecked on Egypt. The Israelites, accompanied by the “mixed multitudes,” leave Egypt, carrying with them the “spoils of Egypt” given to them by the Egyptians.

Exodus 10:23 “…But the Israelites had light in their dwellings...”

     Former JTS Chancellor Ismar Schorsch has written about darkness (reprinted in MyJewishLearning.com 1/19/10). He remarks that darkness “unsettles us.” Children want a night-light, adults like having at least some light on in the house when they return after dark. This is a primal emotion, since we fear what we cannot see. It is part of our essential DNA. It is no coincidence that when Hashem created light, He called it “good.”

     Our daily evening prayer begins at darkness. Even before the call to prayer (Barechu), we recite a verse that seeks protection from the darkness: “May the King save us when we call upon Him.” Midrash suggests that Adam was overcome with fear during the first night he experienced (on Shabbat). To offset his fear, God gave Adam two flints to create a fire, a ceremony recalled with the braided-wicked candle used with during weekly Havdalah ritual.

     The Egyptians in this parasha were terrified by the darkness, particularly since their chief deity was represented by the sun. Rashi tells us that the Israelites were not entirely immune from these plagues, so the darkness remained, even for the Jews (who had light in their dwellings), a source of danger and threat.

     Chancellor Schorsch’s remark that darkness is unsettling brings to mind Eleanor Roosevelt, about whom Adlai Stevenson famously stated upon her death that “she would rather light one candle than curse the darkness.” When we light the Shabbat candles this evening, perhaps we can recall that darkness continues to exist in much of our world, that we are never immune to its threat, but that we have been given light in our homes as a sign of hope and safety.