Keeping the faith

Torah Study

RABBI DONALD WEBER
Bo/Exodus 10:1-13:16

Portion overview

God sends the plagues of locusts and darkness upon Egypt and forewarns Moses about the final plague, the death of every Egyptian firstborn. Pharaoh still does not let the Israelites leave Egypt.
God commands Moses and Aaron regarding the Passover festival.
God enacts the final plague, striking down all firstborn in the land of Egypt. Only those of the House of Israel were spared. Pharaoh then allows the Israelites to leave.
Speaking to Moses and Aaron, God repeats the commandments about Passover.

Focal point

Then God said to Moses, "Hold out your arm toward the sky that there may be darkness upon the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be touched." Moses held out his arm toward the sky and thick darkness descended upon all the land of Egypt for three days. ... (For) three days no one could get up from where he was, but all the Israelites enjoyed light in their dwellings.

Pharaoh then summoned Moses and said, "Go, worship Adonai. Only your flocks and your herds shall be left behind; even your children may go with you." But Moses said, "You yourself must provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer up to Adonai our God; our own livestock, too, shall go along with us." (Exodus 10:21-26)

Your guide

What is "a darkness that can be touched"?
What was the light that the Israelites "enjoyed" in their dwellings?
The events in Exodus 10:1-12:28 take place just before the last plague, during which the Israelite firstborns are saved by the mark of lamb's blood on their doorposts. How do you think that God knew which houses were inhabited by Israelites in order to save them from the first nine plagues?
"In every generation, each one of us must feel that we personally left Egypt." (Passover Haggadah) What was it like for our ancestors to witness plague after plague and to see that none of them worked? Have you ever experienced such disappointments time and time again?
"They had faith in Adonai and in God's servant Moses." (Exodus 14:31) Remember, Moses did not "brief" the Israelites about how Pharaoh was gradually cracking and offering more and more to Moses with each successive plague. All they saw was that they were still slaves in spite of their prayers and God's miracles. Where did they (and where do we) get the faith to continue to believe?

D'var Torah

How long can people have faith when miracles do not work? If God answered our every prayer, we could never understand our ancestors' despair as they waited and waited, their hopes dashed time and again.

We need to understand the faith it took for the Israelites to say, "Maybe this time Moses will succeed. Maybe this time Pharaoh will let us go." It is easy to have faith in miracles if we can call them up at will. It is difficult to have faith in God when we are repeatedly disappointed. Yet the Israelites had faith, and so should we.

Rabbi Donald A. Weber is the spiritual leader of Temple Rodeph Torah of Western Monmouth, Marlboro, N.J.

Torat Hayim, produced by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, is on the Internet at www.uahc.org/growth.

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