A PLAGUE OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT

January 21st, 2021

The ninth plague of the ten to afflict Egypt was “choshech” — the plague of darkness, described in Parshat Bo. For six days the Egyptians were plunged into total darkness, unable to see each other, or even to physically move from where they were.

The commentaries all struggle to define this darkness, particularly because the Torah tells us that the Jews had light even as the Egyptians experienced darkness.

Rabbi Dunner focuses on a fascinating Kedushas Levi, which presents us with a left-field explanation of the darkness in Egypt, which he says had much more to do with light than it had to do with darkness.

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