פרשת בא תשי"ט - עשר המכות + הפטרת בא

and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what I have wrought upon Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them; that ye may know that I am the LORD.’

ולמען תספר, and so that you Israelites will be able to tell about My attributes and remember this throughout future generations.

Why is thy strong one overthrown? He stood not, because the LORD did thrust him down.

He made many to stumble; Yea, they fell one upon another, And said: ‘Arise, and let us return to our own people, And to the land of our birth, From the oppressing sword.’

He made many to stumble; Yea, they fell one upon another, And said: ‘Arise, and let us return to our own people, And to the land of our birth, From the oppressing sword.’

He made many to stumble; Yea, they fell one upon another, And said: ‘Arise, and let us return to our own people, And to the land of our birth, From the oppressing sword.’

But fear not thou, O Jacob My servant, Neither be dismayed, O Israel; For, lo, I will save thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity; And Jacob shall again be quiet and at ease, And none shall make him afraid.

Man could not see his fellow man, nor could anyone rise. This darkness was not merely an absence of light like the darkness of night. Rather it was like a thick mist that descended from Heaven. For this reason Hashem instructed Moshe, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky” (v. 21). It even extinguished their fires the way that the air of a deep excavation does. That is why no man could see his fellow, for had this been an ordinary darkness they would have simply kindled lamps. Thus the meaning of the verse, “He sent darkness and made it dark” (Tehillim 105:28), is that Hashem actually “sent” them darkness rather than merely removing the light of day. According to Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra such a mist-like darkness is sometimes found at sea.