1) Other than the Egyptians during the plague of darkness (Shemos 10:23), who else in Parshas Bo was unable to see?
Moshe and Aharon warned Pharaoh that if he refused to free the Jewish slaves, a swarm of locusts would cover the entire surface of Egypt, ולא יוכל לראות את הארץ – and you will not be able to see the ground. The Kli Yakar suggests that the pasuk can also be read as referring to the locusts themselves, saying that there will be so many of them that they will not be able to see the ground. This aspect of the plague compounded its effects, for the Gemara (Yoma 74b) teaches that a blind person does not become satiated by his food as much as somebody who can see what he is eating. Because the locusts were unable to see what they were eating due to their sheer numbers, they did not become full and proceeded to enter the homes of the Egyptians, where they consumed even more.
2) Hashem gave Moshe and Aharon the first mitzvah given to the Jews as a nation, the mitzvah of sanctifying the new moon (12:2). Were the Jews able to perform this mitzvah in the wilderness, and if so, how were they able to see the moon through the Clouds of Glory that surrounded them?
Rabbeinu Chananel (cited by Rabbeinu Bechaye) explains that in the wilderness, the Jews were surrounded by the Clouds of Glory during the day and pillars of fire at night and were unable to see the sun and moon. They sanctified the new month based not upon the testimony of witnesses, but upon calculations of when it should occur, as we do today. Rashi writes (Bamidbar 27:20) that Yehoshua wasn’t on the same spiritual level as Moshe. The elders of the generation sadly noted that while Moshe’s face was comparable to the sun, Yehoshua’s face was only similar to the moon. Rav Yonason Eibeshutz (Yaaros Devash 2:4) suggests that only the elders could make this comparison, for only they had seen the sun and moon in Egypt. The Chazon Ish (Orach Chaim 140:3) argues that it was possible to see the sun and moon through the Clouds, but just as one can’t say kiddush levonah if he sees the moon through clouds, so too they could not sanctify the moon when viewing it through the Clouds. Similarly, Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman (in Ayalas HaShachar) maintains that the Clouds were spiritual in nature, not physical.
3) The Zohar HaKadosh teaches (Vol. 2 38a) that on the night of Yetziyas Mitzrayim, a tremendous light shone which was as bright as the day. If it never became dark and the day of 14th of Nissan never ended, how were they able to fulfill the requirement (12:8) of eating the Pesach-offering on the night of the 15th of Nissan?
The Mirkeves HaMishneh answers that the first half of the night, when the Jews ate the Pesach offering, was dark as usual and was considered the night of the 15th of Nissan. Only during the second half of the night, after the firstborn Egyptians died, did the night light up. Alternatively, he notes that the Targum Yonason (Shemos 19:4) writes that on the night of Yetziyas Mitzrayim, Hashem brought the Jews to Yerusholayim to offer and eat their Pesach sacrifices, after which they returned to Egypt. Because the light shone in Egypt but not in Yerusholayim, it was considered the night of the 15th Nissan when they ate the Korban Pesach in Yerusholayim.
4) Dogs are mentioned in the Torah in three places, one of which is in Parshas Bo. How many of them can you identify?
In Parshas Bo, Moshe warned Pharaoh (11:7) that there will be a tremendous outcry throughout Egypt during the upcoming plague of the firstborn, yet no dog will bark at the Jewish people. In Parshas Mishpatim, the Torah commands us (22:30) to throw to a dog the flesh of animals that are torn in the field and rendered non-kosher. In Parshas Ki Seitzei (Devorim 23:19), we are prohibited from offering an animal that was exchanged for a dog as a sacrifice in the Beis HaMikdosh. (Torah Teasers)
5) The Ba’al HaTurim points out that the word וינח - “rested”, appears twice in the Torah, once by Shabbos: וינח ביום השביעי – “and they rested on the seventh day”, and once by the plague of locusts: וינח בכל גבול מצרים - “they rested on all the borders of Egypt”. We see from here says the Ba’al HaTurim that the locusts rested on Shabbos. The Pnei Yehoshua (cited in Kovetz Moriah, Nissan 5752) is cited as saying that כל המכות שבתו ונחו בשבת – “all the plagues rested on Shabbos”, however, from the Ba’al HaTurim it’s clear it was only by the plague of locusts. Regardless, what is the explanation in this, why did the locusts need to rest on Shabbos?
I saw a wonderful peshat brought down in the sefer Pikudecha Dorashti. By all other plagues, when the animals caused damage they enjoyed themselves, as animals enjoy eating and ruining things. If they would rest on Shabbos it wouldn’t be nice to the animals. By the plague of locusts however, the Medrash HaGadol says that they ate everything, they ate jewelery, metal, and they even ate the eyes of the Egyptians. Since they ate everything, it wasn’t enjoyable for them, as they weren’t use to such things, since it was painful for them, they rested on Shabbos.
R’ Chaim Kanievsky says a similar peshat. He says based on the Yerushalmi (Taanis 3:6) that the locusts ate and destroyed everything, even things not fit for eating. Therefore, on Shabbos they rested “because it was painful for them”. However, he adds, that things that weren’t harmful to the locusts, they continued to eat on Shabbos.
