The Sidra of BO contains the last three plagues; Locusts, Darkness and the Killing of the First Born Sons. These three plagues stand out because they are associated with darkness, directly or indirectly. The Torah says that the locusts came in such vast numbers that they covered the entire sky, so that the land became completely dark. In the next plague, Egypt became dark for three days and, finally, the Killing of the First Born took place at midnight. The repeated episodes of frightening darkness represented God’s attack on the Egyptians’ religious beliefs, because the sun was one of Egypt’s supreme gods.
The Sidra begins with God’s renewed instruction to Moses to go to Pharaoh and warn him once again. He also explained to him that the reason that Pharaoh had not listened so far, was because God Himself had hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
On this occasion Moses went together with Aaron. Although Aaron had been officially appointed to be Moses spokesman and assistant, he did not join Moses for all the plagues, and when he did come with him, he did not always act as a spokesman. His role changed over time. But it seems probable that, on this occasion, he came with Moses, not to help Moses in a practical sense, but in order to reinforce this final solemn warning, which took place inside Pharaoh’s palace. King Solomon said in a famous dictum in the book of Ecclesiastes that two people are always better than one. Moses needed Aaron for moral support, at the very least.
It seems that the plague of hail, which had been particularly ferocious, created the first serious alarm bell in the minds of Pharaoh’s advisers, so that at the end of Moses’ warning regarding the locusts, they began to soften. They asked Pharaoh to make concessions, which Pharaoh heeded. He offered Moses a compromise, by suggesting that the men should go and worship God, without the women and children. But Moses was not prepared to compromise and, for the first time, Moses and Aaron were expelled from Pharaoh’s Palace.
Moses’ answer to Pharaoh was striking and has made an impact for all times. He said: “We shall go together with our children and elders, with our sons and daughters, our sheep and flocks, because it is our Festival of worship to the Lord.” In other words, Moses said to Pharaoh: ‘If you will give us freedom, you will see that we are completely united and that it is a cause of great celebration and rejoicing to be able to serve our God together.’
After the ninth plague of darkness, Pharaoh offered a further concession, which was even more difficult for him. He suggested that Moses could take everyone, except that the sheep and flocks would have to remain in Egypt. Some commentators explain that his intention was that the livestock would remain in Egypt as a pledge, guaranteeing that the Israelites would return to Egypt after three days.
But Moses refused to entertain this idea as well. Indeed, he replied that not only would they not leave their own livestock behind in Egypt, but that Pharaoh would give them his own animals, which they would sacrifice to God on his behalf, for his people’s welfare. This reply infuriated Pharaoh to such an extent that he told Moses to go away and not to dare to come back; and that if he dared to come back to see him, he would be executed, on that very day, without any judicial process or the right to appeal. Moses agreed not to come to see him again.
This was the turning point in the battle between the two personalities, Moses and Pharaoh. Throughout the first nine plagues, Moses and Aaron were able to enter the Palace freely and peacefully. No force was used against them in any way whatsoever. Indeed, they had better experiences then some of our later prophets who had to confront the Kings of Israel and Judah. Surprisingly, Pharaoh was more tolerant than they were.
But, this benevolent attitude on his part came to an end after the ninth plague. He was no longer prepared to listen to Moses and Aaron. For this reason, he brought upon himself the 10th plague, in which, for the first time, human beings were killed and he himself was in the greatest danger, because he was a firstborn. Rabbi Yaakov Medan has suggested that the original divine plan was, in fact, to have only one plague and to kill the firstborn straightaway, but, later on, the Almighty decided to deal with Pharaoh and his people with compassion and patience and allow them to have more time for reflection. For this reason he struck them with 9 plagues which were less severe and did not threaten human life.
One aspect of the story of the Exodus is particularly problematic. We read in the fourth section, in chapter 11 verse 2, that the Almighty told the Israelites to borrow silver and gold utensils from the Egyptians. The language of the Torah suggests that the Israelites were reluctant to do this. They were afraid of retaliation, so Moses had to persuade them. There is a moral issue, as well, which has been raised by modern scholars who are hostile to our religion. Why should the Israelites behave in such a crafty manner, borrowing precious things from their Egyptian neighbours, pretending that they would be returned? There are two answers: the first is that the Almighty wanted the Israelites to leave Egypt with dignity and with enough money to build their lives again. The second answer is that the Almighty wanted to fulfil his promise to Abraham that the Israelites would leave Egypt with great wealth. The Israelites deserved to be given gifts even return for all their hard work throughout the 210 years of their servitude.
Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin offers an interesting insight in trying to understand the reluctance of the Israelites to obey this order. Five years after the Holocaust, there was a bitter argument whether or not to accept restitution from the West German government for the terrible crimes that they had committed against the Jewish people. The debates in the Israeli parliament were extremely passionate. Those who refused any compensation argued that it was immoral to allow the Germans to clear their conscience by means of payments. Others disagreed. After the negotiations were completed, many Jews, who had lost everything during the Holocaust, benefited greatly from the restitution money, which was the minimum that was due to them in the very least. Equally, the Israelites benefited from the property which they “borrowed” from their Egyptian neighbours, which was also their due at the very least.