Tolna Rebbe Shlita
The Midrash Tadshei (by Rav Pinchas ben Yair) comments that the ten plagues which HKB”H brought upon Egypt correspond to the ten pronouncements with which HKB”H created the world, and to the Ten Commandments. It thus emerges that the ninth plague, the plague of חושך - darkness, is associated with the ninth pronouncement of creation, which preceded the creation of Adam: נעשה אלקים ויאמר כדמותנו בצלמנו אדם G-d said: Let us make a man in our image and in our form” – Bereishis 1:26).
The Midrash Tadshei (by Rav Pinchas ben Yair) comments that the ten plagues which HKB”H brought upon Egypt correspond to the ten pronouncements with which HKB”H created the world, and to the Ten Commandments. It thus emerges that the ninth plague, the plague of חושך - darkness, is associated with the ninth pronouncement of creation, which preceded the creation of Adam: נעשה אלקים ויאמר כדמותנו בצלמנו אדם G-d said: Let us make a man in our image and in our form” – Bereishis 1:26).
This
plague also corresponds to the ninth of the Ten Commandments – the prohibition against giving false testimony (13:20 Shemos – לא תענה ברעך עד שקר). It behooves us, then, to identify the point of connection between these three topics – the plague of
darkness, the creation of man, and the prohibition of false testimony.
In describing the plague of חושך ,the Torah relates:
לא ראו איש את אחיו ולא קמו איש מתחתיו שלושת ימים, ולכל בני ישראל היה אור במושבותם.
Nobody saw his fellow, and nobody rose from his place, for three days, whereas there was light for the
Israelites in their residences (10:23). The darker it became for the Egyptians, the brighter the light that shone for Benei Yisrael. As the Zohar
(vol. 2, 36a) comments, "נגוף למצרים ורפוא בישראל" – "He delivered a plague upon Egypt and cured the
Children of Israel.” And so by understanding more fully the plague of darkness, we can understand
more fully the light which shone at that time for Bnai Yisrael.
The Toldos Yaakov Yosef (Parshas Yisro) writes:
מצד מסך חושך ואפילה לא ראו והשגיחו איש את אחיו, היפך מה שצריך לראות את אחיו מצד ערבות ולהוכיחו,
ולכך לא קמו איש מתחתיו לעלות ממדרגה למדרגה.
Because of the covering of thick darkness, nobody saw and looked after his fellow, the opposite of how
one should be looking out for his brother out of a sense of responsibility and reprimand him. Therefore,
“nobody rose from his place” to rise from one level to the next.
The defining quality of the impurity of Egypt was the failure to see one another, to pay heed to one’s
fellow’s distress. By contrast, the quality of Am Yisrael is to see and be concerned about one’s fellow, to
rejoice in his good fortune and to feel the pain of his distress. The more we see and look after other
people, the more we will be able to grow, and to experience great light.
The Arizal writes (Etz Chaim – Sha’ar Ha’kelalim, chapter 1) that HKB”H created the world – "in order to bestow goodness upon His creatures.” Similarly, the Maor Va’shemesh writes: The intention of creation was only to bestow goodness, meaning, that [a person] would not sin and not
be punished, so that all goodness will come upon him.
Thus, the ninth pronouncement of creation, נעשה אדם ,is rooted in the notion of bestowing goodness
upon others, as HKB”H created man and brought the entire world into existence solely for the purpose
of bestowing goodness upon people.
The Rambam writes in Hilchos Eidus (17:1):
מי שהעידו לו אנשים רבים וגדולים בחכמה וביראה שהם אומרים שראו פלוני שעבר עבירה פלונית או שלוה
מפלוני, אע"פ שהוא מאמין הדבר בלבו כאילו ראהו, לא יעיד עד שיראה הדבר בעיניו או יודה לו הלוה מפיו...וכל
המעיד מפי אחרים, הרי זה עד שקר ועובר בלא תעשה, שנאמר: לא תענה ברעך עד שקר.
A person to whom many people of wisdom and fear [of G-d] testified, saying that they saw so-and-so
violate such-and-such transgression, or borrow from so-and-so – even though he believes it in his heart
as though he saw it himself, he may not testify unless he saw the matter with his eyes, or the borrower
verbally confessed to him… And whoever testifies based on the words of others is a false witness and
violates a prohibition, as it says, לא תענה ברעך עד שקר.
Even if a person knows with complete confidence that what he says is true, and his intent is purely to
relay the absolute truth, nevertheless, it is prohibited for him to testify against his fellow. The Torah
strictly forbids testifying against another person unless he saw the matter with his own eyes, or if the
borrower himself confessed to him, in which case he must testify in order to help the victim retrieve
what he rightfully deserves. Otherwise, the Torah strictly forbids testifying against a fellow a Jew based
on secondhand information, regardless of how reliable his source of information is.
It emerges, then, that all three “ninths” – the ninth plague, the ninth pronouncement of creation, and
the ninth of the Ten Commandments – revolve around the theme of אהבת ישראל, love and concern for
our fellow Jew. During the plague of darkness, Benei Yisrael looked out for one another’s needs; HKB”H
created man for the purpose of bestowing goodness upon people; and the prohibition of false testimony
reflects the need to avoid causing harm to one’s fellow.
This is also the essence of the period of שובבים ,which we are now observing. A שובב - wayward
person, is one who fails to see and look out for other people, who follows the wishes of his heart
without concern for what will happen to other people because of his actions. The period of שובבי"ם is
the time to heighten our awareness of other people and of the need to take them into consideration,
and to understand that we cannot simply act as we wish.
The more we take other people into consideration and concern ourselves with their wellbeing, the more
“light” we will experience. This is our task during the period of שובבי"ם – to increase the light of אהבת
ישראל ,through which we will be able to grow in the area of בין אדם למקום - between man and G-d, as
well, for one depends on the other.
[Translated by Rabbi David Silverberg]
[Translated by Rabbi David Silverberg]
