Pearls of Wisdom from the Parshah
Moshe stretched out his arm over the heavens, and there was gloomy darkness in all the land of Egypt. (Shemos 10:22)
Where did this darkness come from? R. Yehudah says it was from the darkness of above, as it says: "He placed darkness to be His hidden place; His sukkah was around Him." (Shemos Rabbah 14:2, Tehillim 18:12)
This is a surprising Midrash. It says that the darkness that enveloped Egypt in makas choshech came from the darkness of above, the darkness that is in heaven. But how does that make sense? Is there darkness in heaven? On the contrary, it says: "Light is in His presence." (Daniel 2:22)
Above, in heaven, there is only light and joy. How can a plague of darkness come from there?
The answer lies in the following pasuk: "Hashem will smite Egypt by smiting and healing." (Yeshayahu 19:22) This means, as Chazal say, that the darkness with which Hashem plagues Egypt is itself light for the Jewish people. And the converse is also true. The light for the Jewish people is itself the darkness that plagues the Egyptians.
It says in the commentary Sifsei Kohen on the Torah that the “darkness” Hashem brought on Egypt was in fact the brilliantly gleaming light of heaven. There is no darkness in heaven, but the light up there is so intensely bright that it “darkens” the eyes of the resha’im. They are not capable of beholding such wondrous light, so when it shines, they see total darkness.
This is why the very next pasuk says: "And to all the Jews, there was light in their dwelling places." (Shemos 10:23) The darkness for the Egyptians and the light for the Jews was really the same exact thing. That which the tzaddikim experienced as a wondrous, great light was experienced by the wicked Egyptians as awful darkness, as black as Gehinom.
This is why the light that the Jews experienced was not just in the land of Goshen, where they lived, but everywhere a Jew went. When a Jew entered any “dwelling place,” he could see what the Egyptians had stashed away in all sorts of hiding places, even though the Egyptians there were paralyzed by darkness. This is indicated by the extra word מושבותם in the verse.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu brought down the light of kedushah from heaven, which is the kedushah of Torah and mitzvos, and for the Egyptians it was a ghastly darkness. This is an awesome message for every generation, including our own, when the Jewish people is threatened by enemies sworn to destroy it.
The more we increase Torah and mitzvos, it creates great darkness and Gehinom for the enemies of the Jewish people. Just as it was in makas choshech back then, when standing Egyptians were unable to sit, and the sitting were unable to stand, so it is today. Our Torah, mitzvos and tefilos will paralyze all our enemies and they will find themselves unable to lift a finger against us.
The Midrash goes on to say that also in the future, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is destined to bring a darkness that will cover the earth and cast a black gloom over the nations, and Hashem will shine for the Jewish people: "For behold, darkness will cover the earth and thick darkness the nations, but upon you Hashem will shine." (Yeshayahu 60:2)
This needs to be our preparation for the Geulah: to increase the light of Torah. It will put our enemies in the dark, it will blind their eyes, at the same time that it sheds brilliant illumination for the Jewish people. We will see and rejoice when the imminent Geulah arrives, may it be soon, amein.
