After Hashem had already brought eight plagues on the Egyptians, the time has arrived for the ninth plague, the plague of darkness. The posuk tells us that Moshe stretched out his hand, ויהי חשך אפלה בכל ארץ מצרים and there was a darkness of gloom throughout the land of Egypt.
The Midrash explains that when the posuk says שלח חושך ויחשיך ולא מרו את דברו , He sent darkness & made it dark and they did not defy His word, it's talking about the plague of darkness. The commentators disagree on whom the pronoun “they” refers to. Some say it refers to the Egyptians while others say it's talking about the Jews. The Chasam Sofer asks, how can one say it's going on the Jews? It's puzzling, for what kind of praise is it to the Jews that they didn't rebel by the plague of darkness?
He answers that during the last three days of the darkness, the Egyptians were stuck in their places & couldn't move. In this situation, it would have been easy for the Jews to go attack all the Egyptians, take revenge on them, kill them & then be able to leave Egypt with no one stopping them. Why didn't they? Yosef had made them swear that they would not try to hasten the redemption but would wait until it was the time to go out. The posuk is telling us that even though the plague of darkness provided the opportunity for the Jews to leave Egypt still they didn't rebel & go against what they swore to Yosef.
The question we can ask is that we know that really this wasn't the time that they were supposed to leave. It was one hundred & ninety years early, so how did they leave a little while later? it was still not the time. What happened to their promise?
The Dubno Maggid explains with a mashal. There was a guest staying at a hotel who went out to tour the city. He returned a little after noon & asked the cook to serve him lunch. The food is not ready yet, apologized the cook; it's still too early. However, the man was insistent that he be served, so the food was brought out to him. When the man started to eat the food, he wasn't too happy with the taste because it was all undercooked.
He went to complain to the cook who said, “I told you it was too early, but you insisted so you got food but it was no good.”
The next day, recognizing the guest’s habits, the cook started to cook lunch early so that the food would be ready for this man who liked to eat earlier than everyone else. This time, when the man came and insisted on eating early, the food was delicious. He asked the cook, “I don't understand. Yesterday you told me that if I eat before the scheduled time, the food wouldn’t be ready, yet today it was perfect even early?” “The difference,” said the cook, “is when you rushed me, I wasn't ready, so the food wasn't good. Today, however, I rushed myself & therefore the food was ready & good.”
The Dubno Maggid continued that when the people want to rush the redemption before Hashem is ready, it won't be good, so He made them swear not to do so. However, when He wants to hurry the redemption, there is no better time than that so it will be good.
The Chasam Sofer’s statement of the reason the Jews didn't try to take revenge on Egypt during the days of darkness helps support the אדמו"ר מסטמאר who explains the end of that Midrash. It says that all the angels agreed to bring this plague on the Egyptians, even the angel of Egypt, whereas by the other plagues not all the angels agreed. What was different about the plague of darkness?
This plague was different, for in it was a great challenge for the Jews. They now had it in their power to take revenge for all those years of slavery; they had their captors right where they wanted them. They could easily have overpowered them & leave. However, had they done that, it would have been terrible for them, for they were sworn not to try to get out on their own early, but to wait for the right time.
This is why the angel of Mitzraim agreed to the plague, for he was betting that the Jews would mess up; that after so many years of subjugation, this would be too great a test to bear & they would avenge themselves & lose it all.
However, he was wrong; the Jews didn't rebel, teaching us not to push the envelope. If it's not the right time, whatever we do, will only hurt us, but when the time is right, things will fall into place & everything will work out!
The Midrash explains that when the posuk says שלח חושך ויחשיך ולא מרו את דברו , He sent darkness & made it dark and they did not defy His word, it's talking about the plague of darkness. The commentators disagree on whom the pronoun “they” refers to. Some say it refers to the Egyptians while others say it's talking about the Jews. The Chasam Sofer asks, how can one say it's going on the Jews? It's puzzling, for what kind of praise is it to the Jews that they didn't rebel by the plague of darkness?
He answers that during the last three days of the darkness, the Egyptians were stuck in their places & couldn't move. In this situation, it would have been easy for the Jews to go attack all the Egyptians, take revenge on them, kill them & then be able to leave Egypt with no one stopping them. Why didn't they? Yosef had made them swear that they would not try to hasten the redemption but would wait until it was the time to go out. The posuk is telling us that even though the plague of darkness provided the opportunity for the Jews to leave Egypt still they didn't rebel & go against what they swore to Yosef.
The question we can ask is that we know that really this wasn't the time that they were supposed to leave. It was one hundred & ninety years early, so how did they leave a little while later? it was still not the time. What happened to their promise?
The Dubno Maggid explains with a mashal. There was a guest staying at a hotel who went out to tour the city. He returned a little after noon & asked the cook to serve him lunch. The food is not ready yet, apologized the cook; it's still too early. However, the man was insistent that he be served, so the food was brought out to him. When the man started to eat the food, he wasn't too happy with the taste because it was all undercooked.
He went to complain to the cook who said, “I told you it was too early, but you insisted so you got food but it was no good.”
The next day, recognizing the guest’s habits, the cook started to cook lunch early so that the food would be ready for this man who liked to eat earlier than everyone else. This time, when the man came and insisted on eating early, the food was delicious. He asked the cook, “I don't understand. Yesterday you told me that if I eat before the scheduled time, the food wouldn’t be ready, yet today it was perfect even early?” “The difference,” said the cook, “is when you rushed me, I wasn't ready, so the food wasn't good. Today, however, I rushed myself & therefore the food was ready & good.”
The Dubno Maggid continued that when the people want to rush the redemption before Hashem is ready, it won't be good, so He made them swear not to do so. However, when He wants to hurry the redemption, there is no better time than that so it will be good.
The Chasam Sofer’s statement of the reason the Jews didn't try to take revenge on Egypt during the days of darkness helps support the אדמו"ר מסטמאר who explains the end of that Midrash. It says that all the angels agreed to bring this plague on the Egyptians, even the angel of Egypt, whereas by the other plagues not all the angels agreed. What was different about the plague of darkness?
This plague was different, for in it was a great challenge for the Jews. They now had it in their power to take revenge for all those years of slavery; they had their captors right where they wanted them. They could easily have overpowered them & leave. However, had they done that, it would have been terrible for them, for they were sworn not to try to get out on their own early, but to wait for the right time.
This is why the angel of Mitzraim agreed to the plague, for he was betting that the Jews would mess up; that after so many years of subjugation, this would be too great a test to bear & they would avenge themselves & lose it all.
However, he was wrong; the Jews didn't rebel, teaching us not to push the envelope. If it's not the right time, whatever we do, will only hurt us, but when the time is right, things will fall into place & everything will work out!
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