Dear Friends,
As I write this, we are nearing the dramatic climax of the Exodus story in our weekly Torah cycle. It’s one of the great human narratives; one which we revisit every day in our prayer services and every year around the seder table. But we tend not to dwell on the plagues (apart from the hokey children’s seder toys, anyway), which would have been quite terrifying to experience! Consider the penultimate plague of darkness:
“And Adonai said to Moses: ‘Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” (Ex. 10.21)
The medieval Italian commentator Ovadia Seforno attempts to understand the unique character of this darkness. He explains that darkness is not a substance, as such, but rather the absence of light. But the darkness of Egypt, he explains, is a separate entity, entirely: not an absence, but a tangible presence. Thus, no light could banish it.
Sometimes it feels that there is darkness in our world that no light can banish. We are living through difficult and dark times, for certain. And all of us go through seasons of trial and challenge — darkness out of which it may feel that we will never emerge.
The Torah goes on to specify that the Israelites could not see one another, so they did not rise from their dwellings for three days (10.23). How does the Midrash respond? It says that the greatest darkness we experience is when we do not truly see one another — when we do not participate in the distress of others.
The only antidote to this darkness, of course, is reaching out to those around us who are in need. Or, when we are in need, we may reach out to others for a helping hand. This is one of the reasons our community exists. The relationships we can build at TBT are like a candle in the dark. Just ask our families who have been here for decades. It doesn’t take decades to feel the warmth and profundity of these relationships, though — and like any profound journey, it starts with a first step. If you are interested in your first (or next) step, I’d love to talk with you about it.
L’Shalom,
Rabbi Moss