What is Darkness?
(2) the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water—
(א) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לַשּכְוִי בִינָה לְהַבְחִין בֵּין יום וּבֵין לָיְלָה.
(1) Blessed are you, Hashem, our G-d and king of the world, who gave the mind insight to distinguish between day and night.
(א) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה'. אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. אֲשֶׁר בִּדְבָרו מַעֲרִיב עֲרָבִים. בְּחָכְמָה פּותֵחַ שְׁעָרִים. וּבִתְבוּנָה מְשַׁנֶּה עִתִּים וּמַחֲלִיף אֶת הַזְּמַנִּים. וּמְסַדֵּר אֶת הַכּוכָבִים בְּמִשְׁמְרותֵיהֶם בָּרָקִיעַ כִּרְצונו. בּורֵא יום וָלָיְלָה. גּולֵל אור מִפְּנֵי חשֶׁךְ וְחשֶׁךְ מִפְּנֵי אור. וּמַעֲבִיר יום וּמֵבִיא לָיְלָה. וּמַבְדִּיל בֵּין יום וּבֵין לָיְלָה. ה' צְבָאות שְׁמו: אֵל חַי וְקַיָּם תָּמִיד יִמְלוךְ עָלֵינוּ לְעולָם וָעֶד: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', הַמַּעֲרִיב עֲרָבִים:
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe,
who speaks the evening into being,
skillfully opens the gates,
thoughtfully alters the time and changes the seasons,
and arranges the stars in their heavenly courses according to plan.
You are Creator of day and night,
rolling light away from darkness and darkness from light,
transforming day into night and distinguishing one from the other.
Adonai Tz’vaot is Your Name.
Ever-living God, may You reign continually over us into eternity.
Blessed are You, Adonai, who brings on evening.
The 9th Plague
YHWH said to Moshe: Stretch out your hand over the heavens, and let there be darkness over the land of Egypt; they will feel the darkness! Moshe stretched out his hand over the heavens, and there was thick darkness throughout all the land of Egypt, for three days, a man could not see his brother, and a man could not arise from his spot, for three days. But for all the Children of Israel, there was light in their settlements.
וימש חושך ויסיר את החשך הטבעי של לילה. כי אמנם חשך הלילה הוא אויר מוכן לקבל האור, והוא חשוך בהעדר האור בלבד. אמנם זה החשך יהיה אויר בלתי מוכן לקבל האור לרוב עביו, ולא יפול עליו העדד האור בהיותו בלתי מוכן אליו, ולפיכך לא ראו איש את אחיו כי לא הספיק לזה אור נר ואבוקה:
They will feel the darkness: In general, darkness is not a substance that can be felt; it is merely the absence of light. That is why light has the ability to banish darkness. However, the darkness in Egypt was a separate entity; one that was tangible -the darkness was felt. Thus, no light was able to banish it.
Even Ha-Ezel:
A man could not see his brother, and a man could not arise from his spot, for three days: The greatest darkness is when a person does not see his fellow, and does not participate in the distress of others. "A man could not see his brother" ––they did not feel the other's distress. Their senses were dulled - "a man could not rise from his spot." This is what our Sages meant when they stated in Exodus Rabbah that "the darkness was as thick as a golden denar" (a certain coin). Running after the golden denar increases one's egocentrism, dulls his eyes, and makes it difficult for him to feel the distress of others.
Eshkol Ma'amarim:
And there was thick darkness throughout all the land of Egypt, for three days: If a person does not see his fellow, or does not want to see him, there is darkness in the world.
Chidushei HaRan Al HaTorah 2:1:1:
A man could not see his brother: The darkness increased until no one could see another person, so no two people partnered together due to the great difficulty, as the verse says "no one saw their brother." This is the result: when I do not feel the pain of my friend, I dull my senses--as the verse says "no one was able to arise from under it" which means that there is no overcoming it.
Questions For Discussion:
1. What are the embodiments of darkness that prevent people from seeing one another?
1. What does darkness that is so thick, it can be felt, look like? What does it feel like?
2. How can we be a light that pushes away darkness?
4. What does the world look like when we don't see one another? How do we feel when we think that others don't see us?