I haven’t begun the process of bringing our Passover materials out of storage. Each year when I take the boxes out (and please know there are many… I mean many) I have the opportunity to reconnect with years of memories and with so much joy. One of the boxes is the Seder box, with all of the materials from our years of Sedarim. We have numerous versions of representations of the Ten Plagues and each of them portray the 10 occurrences in different ways. The 9th, חושך/Darkness, is typically all black or a pair of sunglasses and is thus one of the easiest to depict. The reality is the plague of darkness is alive and well in the world today and something that needs to be addressed.
From the basic plain meaning of the text, we find that for three days the people of Egypt lived in total darkness and could do nothing as they could not see a single thing. This must have been immensely frightening and damaging to all who encountered it. It’s so difficult to wrap our brains around such an occurrence and to even be able to imagine what it was like. We’re naturally afraid of the dark because we cannot see what’s all around us. This coming Monday, there will be a natural occurrence many are excited to encounter; a solar eclipse. Unfortunately for us, it won’t be a total eclipse but we’ll have the opportunity to experience a portion of the miraculous world in which we live. The darkness we’ll experience will not even come close to the total darkness described in the Torah. It will merely be a taste of something similar.
I’m writing these words as another darkness has just accumulated to 181 days. It’s been 181 days since over 100 people were robbed of their freedom and violently kidnapped to Gaza. It’s been 181 days since they were able to do what they wanted and were able to enjoy life. We have no concept or idea of what they’re experiencing at this time. We only know they are not free and they are not safe. It’s likely most, if not all, of the hostages are being held in dungeon-like tunnels under the Gaza Strip. The darkness and lack of air they’re experiencing, coupled with the lack of food and lack of every other basic human need, is beyond anything we can imagine and yet it’s happening in 2024. They’re living in darkness, and as they’re living in darkness, so too are we to a lesser degree. We’re living in darkness because we have no idea what’s happening to them. We’re living in darkness because as long as any of our people are being held captive against their will, we’re all being held captive. We’re living in darkness because the world is allowing for light to be sacrificed and ignored and to be eclipsed entirely by darkness.
For years I’ve looked at the 9th plague, Darkness, not so much as being about the external darkness of something like an eclipse, but as an internal darkness of something like blindness. This would be the darkness that would prevent people from seeing one another or from being able to leave their places. It’s darkness that was so dark people could actually touch it. With this understanding, we could have light as Israelites while the Egyptians could have darkness because the sun wasn’t blocked but the eyes of the Egyptians were.
Today, in 2024, we live with a gross pandemic of blindness that has to be cured. Let us begin by recognizing one basic fact of humanity: when we’re responsible, we must stand up and say so and make amends for the wrong. The killing of seven humanitarian workers this week by the IDF was nothing short of a tragedy and something that must be rectified immediately. Any attempt to demonize the IDF and to assert this was emblematic of the IDF is revealing the blindness certain people have when it comes to Israel and the Jewish people. Israel must prevent this from being repeated and must be fully transparent in its findings about how this happened. We, proud Zionists, must not allow our Zionism and love of Israel to blind us from seeing that our army, the IDF, made a critical and painful error with real consequences that cannot be downplayed.
The world has shown, time and again, during these past 181 days that they can be quite blind when it comes to Israel and the Jewish people. Every demand for an immediate cease fire that leaves Hamas intact, and that leaves all hostages in Gaza, is blind to the reality that on 10/6 there was a cease fire and it was broken by a demonic violence the world couldn’t believe existed and still exists. There are still people blinded by their need to root for the “victims” that even claim Israel wasn’t attacked on October 7th. It’s just all messed up. It’s time for Hamas to “Let Our People Go”. It’s time for Hamas to be relegated to the dustbin of history in the same way Pharaoh was so long ago. It’s time for all of us to remove the darkness and the blindness and to see clearly what the world is and what we need to do to make it what it should be. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Hearshen
