Riddles of the Week

(For answers see above)

1. Rashi brings from Chazal that during the final three days of the plague of darkness, the darkness was so thick that the Egyptians could not move. If so, why didn’t they all die from starvation and dehydration during this period?
2. Who was Pharaoh’s firstborn child, and did he/she die in the final plague?
3. In this week’s parsha we have the pasuk, ליל שמורים הוא לה'. The Zohar and Medrash both write: מכאן שאותה הלילה הוי נהיר להון כמו בתקופת תמוז – “We see from here that that night was as bright as a day in Tamuz”. It is clear from the Medrash that the night Klal Yisrael left Mitzrayim was as bright as day, what is the source for this and why was this miracle even necessary?
4. In this week’s parsha we have the pasuk והיה לאות על ידכה ולטוטפות בין עיניך. The Gemara (Menachos 37a) darshens, ידכה = יד כהה, i.e. the weaker hand, and learns that the tefillin shel yad should be placed on the left arm. The question is, why is such a choshuvah mitzvah like tefillin fulfilled with the left arm, normally we afford chashivus to the right side, so why by tefillin is it not like this?