The Amen Effect -- chapter 2: PLEASE, HOLD ON sheet 1:SURVIVING THE DARKNESS

(כא) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה נְטֵ֤ה יָֽדְךָ֙ עַל־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וִ֥יהִי חֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם וְיָמֵ֖שׁ חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃(כב) וַיֵּ֥ט מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־יָד֖וֹ עַל־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וַיְהִ֧י חֹֽשֶׁךְ־אֲפֵלָ֛ה בְּכׇל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת יָמִֽים׃(כג) לֹֽא־רָא֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶת־אָחִ֗יו וְלֹא־קָ֛מוּ אִ֥ישׁ מִתַּחְתָּ֖יו שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים וּֽלְכׇל־בְּנֵ֧י יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל הָ֥יָה א֖וֹר בְּמוֹשְׁבֹתָֽם׃

Exodus 10:21-23

(21) Then Adonai 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.”(22) Moses held out his arm toward the sky and thick darkness descended upon all the land of Egypt for three days.(23) People could not see one another, and for three days no one could move about; but all the Israelites enjoyed light in their dwellings.

אבן עזרא על שמות י׳:כ״א:ב׳

וימש חשך. והנה הטעם שימששו בידם החשך שכל כך יהיה עב כי האור של אש לא ידלק ולא הנר והעד לא ראו איש את אחיו. לא באור היום ולא באור הנרות:

Ibn Ezra on Exodus 10:21:2

A darkness that can be touched: Now the meaning of ve-yamesh hoshekh is that the Egyptians would actually be able to feel the darkness with their hands; the darkness would be so thick that neither a candle nor a fire could give off light. People could not see one another (v. 23) neither by daylight nor by candlelight.

Questions To Consider

a. What must it have been like for the people of Egypt to experience such a profound and impenetrable darkness?

b. Why do you think this plague was more severe a punishment than those that preceded it-- including desecration of the Nile River, the source of life, boils and locusts and burning hail?

Eshkol Ma’amarim (Anthology of Hasidic discourses)

thick darkness: When a person can not see anyone other than himself, or he does not want to see anyone other than himself, then the whole world is encased in darkness.

Even HaEzel (Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, 1870-1953)

And this is what the Rabbis meant when they said (in Shemot Rabbah), “the darkness was as thick as dinarim -- coins:” they were so busy running after their money, after their gold coins, strengthening themselves in their selfishness, that their eyes were darkened so that they couldn’t see and they couldn’t feel the pain of the Israelites around them.

Hiddushei HaRim (Rabbi Yitzhak Meir Alter, 1799-1866)

for three days no one could get up from where he was: this is the deepest darkness -- when a person cannot even see his neighbor, and therefore he cannot be with any other person in her suffering and pain. When a person no longer feels the pain of his neighbor, he feels as though he is impotent, and therefore he sits by her pain idly -- no one could get up from where he was -- and they do not stand up to help one another.

Questions To Consider

a. What are some of the ways in which we fail to see one other, leaving us in a kind of darkness that mirrors the experience of the ninth plague?

b. What do you think of the Hasidic approach-- that the plague of darkness is fundamentally a failure to see one another's suffering, which renders us impotent?

c. How can we develop a practice of seeing each other with tenderness?

d. Have you or has someone you love had an experience that resonates with this darkness?

Invitation To Practice: Try to Make a Dent in the Darkness

It’s hard, but we have to speak of the darkness that lives in some of our bodies and spirits, a darkness that sometimes manifests as depression, despair, and suicidal ideation, a darkness that may feel inescapable. Try not to fear meeting a loved one for an honest conversation about the darkness.