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Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler
Dean of Students and Mashgicha Ruchanit, Maharat
Advanced Kollel: Executive Ordination Track Class of 2018
(כא) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יקוק אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה נְטֵ֤ה יָֽדְךָ֙ עַל־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וִ֥יהִי חֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם וְיָמֵ֖שׁ חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ (כב) וַיֵּ֥ט מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־יָד֖וֹ עַל־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וַיְהִ֧י חֹֽשֶׁךְ־אֲפֵלָ֛ה בְּכָל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת יָמִֽים׃ (כג) לֹֽא־רָא֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶת־אָחִ֗יו וְלֹא־קָ֛מוּ אִ֥ישׁ מִתַּחְתָּ֖יו שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים וּֽלְכָל־בְּנֵ֧י יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל הָ֥יָה א֖וֹר בְּמוֹשְׁבֹתָֽם׃
(21) The Lord said to Moses, "Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, and the darkness will become darker." (22) So Moses stretched forth his hand toward the heavens, and there was thick darkness over the entire land of Egypt for three days. (23) They did not see each other, and no one rose from his place for three days, but for all the children of Israel there was light in their dwellings.
Pharaoh's response to this torturous experience is strong. He says to Moshe: Enough! Take your people and leave.
(כד) וַיִּקְרָ֨א פַרְעֹ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לְכוּ֙ עִבְד֣וּ אֶת־יקוק רַ֛ק צֹאנְכֶ֥ם וּבְקַרְכֶ֖ם יֻצָּ֑ג גַּֽם־טַפְּכֶ֖ם יֵלֵ֥ךְ עִמָּכֶֽם׃
(24) Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, "Go! Worship the Lord, but your flocks and your cattle shall be left. Your young children may also go with you.”
Moshe finds this arrangement unacceptable and he utters a dramatic statement in response to the proposal:
(כה) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֔ה גַּם־אַתָּ֛ה תִּתֵּ֥ן בְּיָדֵ֖נוּ זְבָחִ֣ים וְעֹל֑וֹת וְעָשִׂ֖ינוּ לַיקוק אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ׃ (כו) וְגַם־מִקְנֵ֜נוּ יֵלֵ֣ךְ עִמָּ֗נוּ לֹ֤א תִשָּׁאֵר֙ פַּרְסָ֔ה כִּ֚י מִמֶּ֣נּוּ נִקַּ֔ח לַעֲבֹ֖ד אֶת־יקוק אֱלֹקֵ֑ינוּ וַאֲנַ֣חְנוּ לֹֽא־נֵדַ֗ע מַֽה־נַּעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־יקוק עַד־בֹּאֵ֖נוּ שָֽׁמָּה׃
(25) But Moses said, "You too shall give sacrifices and burnt offerings into our hands, and we will make them for the Lord our God. (26) And also our cattle will go with us; not a [single] hoof will remain, for we will take from it to worship the Lord our God, and we will not know how we will worship the Lord until we arrive there."
Moshe understood Pharaoh to be offering a faulty path to God (either instead of, or in addition to, a political manipulation.) Pharaoh's suggestion that the cattle stay was interpreted to be a theological assertion of sorts: that the way to worship the Jewish God is knowable. It requires people, but not animals; human bodies, but not the stuff that they bring with them. Moshe strongly resists this idea and, in so doing, provides a template for the pathway to worship going forward.
In contrast to Pharaoh's spiritual certainty, Moshe asserts a deep sense of uncertainty,
...וַאֲנַ֣חְנוּ לֹֽא־נֵדַ֗ע מַֽה־נַּעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־יקוק עַד־בֹּאֵ֖נוּ שָֽׁמָּה׃
...[W]e will not know how we will worship the Lord until we arrive there.
"שַׁלַּח אֶת־עַמִּי וְיַעַבְדֻנִי" (שמות ז:יז, ז:כו)
“Let my people go so that they might worship me" (Exodus 7:17, 7:26)
Pharaoh encounters darkness as a plague, and his response is a panicked, desperate attempt to return to light. Moshe, who lives in the light ("וּלְכָל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הָיָה אוֹר בְּמוֹשְׁבֹתָם"), calls his people toward a kind of fog, to willingly set out into a life full of mystery, but also of surprise. For in the words of Jeremiah, it is this spirit of risk and trust that ultimately earns God's grace:
... כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יקוק זָכַ֤רְתִּי לָךְ֙ חֶ֣סֶד נְעוּרַ֔יִךְ אַהֲבַ֖ת כְּלוּלֹתָ֑יִךְ לֶכְתֵּ֤ךְ אַחֲרַי֙ בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר בְּאֶ֖רֶץ לֹ֥א זְרוּעָֽה׃
...So said the Lord: I remember to you the lovingkindness of your youth, the love of your nuptials, your following Me in the desert, in a land not sown
"אֲנַחְנוּ לֹא נֵדַע מַה נַּעֲבֹד אֶת ה׳ עַד בֹּאֵנוּ שָׁמָּה"
"we will not know how we will worship the Lord until we arrive there."
