Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
The Torah describes the plague of darkness:
לֹֽא־רָא֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶת־אָחִ֗יו וְלֹא־קָ֛מוּ אִ֥ישׁ מִתַּחְתָּ֖יו שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים וּֽלְכׇל־בְּנֵ֧י יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל הָ֥יָה א֖וֹר בְּמוֹשְׁבֹתָֽם׃
No person could see their brother
Isn’t it a little obvious that people couldn’t see each other in the dark? Why does the Torah have to explain how darkness works?
Here’s an interpretation that suggests the Torah is trying to teach us a lesson:
מעינה של תורה
הַחוֹשֵׂךְ הַגָּרוּעַ בְּיוֹתֵר הוּא כַּאֲשֶׁר אִישׁ אֵינוֹ רוֹצֶה לִרְאוֹת אֶת אָחִיו בְּצַעֲרוֹ וּלְהוֹשִׁיט לוֹ עֶזְרָה.
בְּרַם, הַתּוֹצָאָה הִיא, שֶׁכַּאֲשֶׁר אָדָם מִתְעַלֵּם מִדָּחְקוֹ שֶׁל חֲבֵרוֹ אֵין הוּא עַצְמוֹ יָכוֹל לָמוּשׁ מִמְּקוֹמוֹ - "וְלֹא קָמוּ אִישׁ מִתַּחְתָּיו."
R. Alexander Zusia Friedman (Poland, 100 years ago)
The worst kind of darkness is when a person cannot see their own sibling in pain and offer them some help.
And the result of this is that when a person ignores the suffering of their friend, they themselves get stuck, and that explains the continuation of the pasuk: “And no person could get up.”
- R. Friedman suggests that the people in מצִרְַיםִ (Mitzrayim, Egypt) were not able to see each other as friends or care about each other's pain. Why would that be the worst kind of darkness?
- Why do we get stuck ourselves if we don’t help other people? Can you think of more than one reason?
- What happens when people do not consider themselves responsible for others? Can you think of a time when you have seen this?
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