Hakadosh Baruch Hu informs Moshe Rabbeinu that Makat Bechorot will come, “and there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor shall there ever be again – and indeed it was so.” The Torah states: And it came to pass at midnight that Hashem struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house where there was not one dead.
Not only here does Hakadosh Baruch Hu inform Moshe Rabbeinu that there will be cries; the Targum Yonatan in Parshat Shemot says something wonderful. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe and Aharon: When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Show a wonder for yourselves,' then you shall say to Aharon, 'Take your staff and cast it before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.'
Why was the first demonstration performed with a snake? The Midrash states regarding the snake’s punishment in Gan Eden (Bereishit Rabbah, 20:5): Upon your belly you shall go - When Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him 'upon your belly you shall go,' the ministering angels descended and cut off his hands and feet, and his voice went from one end of the world to the other...
The Targum Yonatan writes: "...all the inhabitants of the earth will hear the sound of the cries of Egypt when I break them, just as all creatures heard the sound of the serpent's cry when it was stripped from the beginning of creation."
The meaning is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe: "Tell Pharaoh that just as the whole world heard the cries of the serpent – from one end of the world to the other, so too the cries of the Egyptians during Makat Bechorot will be heard from one end of the world to the other!”
During the plague of wild beasts, lions and tigers came to Egypt. When a lion arrived at an Egyptian city and saw children at the playground, surely it devoured them. Were there no cries then? Of course there were! So, what made the cries of the plague of the firstborn different? Why would Hakadosh Baruch Hu pre-announce that this plague would bring cries “from one end of the world to the other"?
The Zohar offers a profound answer. It teaches that Rachel Imeinu weeps for her children not just once, but continually, at every moment they are in exile. So too, Hakadosh Baruch Hu brought such a cry upon the Egyptians at Makat Bechorot.
A priest once asked a Jew: "Why are your funerals always filled with weeping and cries? Look how beautiful ours are – we place flowers, bring orchestras, sing the songs the deceased loved. Everything is dignified and peaceful." The Jew thought for a moment and replied: "You're absolutely right. Your funerals really are more beautiful. I think all funerals should be at your place!"
The point is clear: Makat Bechorot brought genuine cries throughout Egypt because "there was not a house where there was not a dead one." Chazal teach that Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh, was a firstborn and was saved through Moshe's prayer. But in every other home, death struck. The firstborn died – whether as infants or grown men. Some Egyptians made images of their dead firstborn and set them in their homes, only to watch them crumble and scatter. Dogs dug through the caves where bodies were buried and dragged out the firstborn to mock them. Every house experienced real loss, real grief.
