Locusts, darkness and death of the first born. The plagues, Makot, literally meaning “strikes”, strike against Pharoah’s enslavement of the Hebrews having intensified from the waters to the land to the sky, the realm of Higher Being. The intensity of the liberation movement is reaching a climax. We experience the last three Makot in Parshat Bo. The Makah of the Locusts further devastates the economy. The Makah of Darkness is a metaphor for confusion and a blindness of mind, heart and purpose plaguing the Pharoah and the Egyptian oppressors. It is during these Makot that the Israelites more fully buy into the struggle for their liberation. They now see the light and begin to emerge from their own darkness to transcend their physical suffering and weak hearts.
Read MoreWelcome to Parshat Bo. Many of us have been troubled by God’s devastating decrees in the biblical story of our people’s liberation from enslavement. Many of us have wondered about the people of the land, Egyptians and others, who suffered economically and physically. It doesn’t seem right. Last Shabbat, one of our members, remarked how, when she was a youth, hearing about the slaying of the first born of Egypt turned her off to Judaism. It seemed so cruel. Someone else in our community asked if this was a kind of revenge for the Pharoah’s killing of new born baby boys. Does Judaism teach revenge?
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