i
God describes the Plague of Darkness as darkness which may be felt.
This
is a new idea. Thus far, we have only known the darkness of absence.
The verse at the beginning of the world, for instance, says: The world was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep.
But here is darkness which may be felt.
Here is darkness of Presence.
*
The Plague of Locusts is darkness caused by life. The creatures
covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened.
And the Slaying of the Firstborn happens at midnight. This is the first time (to my knowing) that the Torah uses the word midnight.
*
So now darkness has presence. And darkness has life. And darkness is linked to time.
Darkness is tied to meaning.
*
This is the kind of darkness that God introduces in the land of Egypt.
ii
This darkness is Egypt's punishment for enslaving
Israel. That enslavement is also characterized by darkness: When God
warns Abraham of the slavery to come, a horror of great darkness befalls him.
*
So say that the Egyptians' darkness parallels Israel's darkness.
So that if the Egyptian darkness is tied to meaning, then the Israelite darkness is also tied to meaning.
iii
If darkness is tied to meaning, then darkness can now be tied to the
process of God's redemption: the process by which all the world gains
meaning.
The horror of darkness can be part of the order of the world.
It can be a part of Good.
*
That is a miracle of darkness. It is the miracle that God delivers in Egypt.
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