The most awesome moment leading up to Yetziat Mitzraim, leaving Egypt, was the moment Hashem executed the plague of the firstborn. Precisely at midnight Hashem Himself, in all His glory and omnipotence, descended and smote the Egyptian firstborn while all the children of Israel, including Moshe and Aaron, were ensconced in their homes eating the Pascal lamb.
So much about this plague is unusual. First, this is the only plague for which a precise time is indicated (even though Moshe told Pharaoh “around midnight”). Then, this is the only plague that God Himself performed without the use of an intermediary, and finally, this is the only plague from which the Israelites seemed to need protection through the performance of some mitzvoth in order not to be affected. Our firstborn still continue the commemoration of this great chessed by the institution of the fast of the firstborn every erev Pesach.
The Medrash tells us that the angels had actually challenged Hashem’s decision to save the Israelite firstborn. After all, they argued, both the Egyptians and the Israelites worship idols. Why save the Israelite firstborn? But Hashem, out of His great love for us whom He considered His firstborn, spared us from that fate.
The Sifsei Chaim explains that when we celebrate the Seder each year, we reenact the Israelite experience of that night, and we merit the great revelation of Hashem’s presence, just as it was revealed on that first Passover night. Hashem descending as an Individual without any “aides” is a revelation of His total strength and glory. It is an overwhelming experience.
The Sifsei Chaim continues to interpret this plague. He explains based on the Netziv that a firstborn child has a greater capacity for spirituality than subsequent births, so much so that all firstborns were originally destined to be the priests in the Beit Hamikdosh. This heightened spiritual capacity was also inherent in the Egyptian firstborn. But the Egyptians were so immersed in depravity that they were incapable of receiving the gift of Divine revelation. The shock to their system when Hashem revealed Himself so powerfully was what killed them, rather than an act of God. The phrase “uvemorah gadol”, and with great awe (or fear, or terror) appears with no other plague save with the death of the firstborn.
In contrast, says the Alei Shor, The Israelite response to this great revelation was one of dveikus, of forging an intimate relationship with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. This clarity of vision of Hashem in all His glory became the eternal hallmark of the Jewish people, marking the reciprocal love between Hakodosh Boruch Hu and ourselves. It is the recognition of our own smallness, says the Sifsei Chaim, that suppresses our ego and impels us to perform mitzvoth out of love for Hashem. We understand that we are unworthy of all that Hashem gives us, that He sustains us and showers us with blessings as a result of His love for us rather than as a reward or merit for our performing mitzvoth. This love, says Rabbi Jonathan Sachs in his Torah Studies, is unconditional and irrational, and manifests itself through Hashem’s giving to us irrationally. Similarly, our love and performance of mitzvoth should also be a tribute to Him of our unconditional love for Him. Indeed, the mitzvoth Hashem asked us to perform in Egypt prior to our redemption were irrational and even dangerous. Our males were to undergo surgery just before undertaking a major journey, and we were to take a deity of Egypt, a lamb, tie it up for four days in full view of our oppressors, and then slaughter it as an offering to Hashem.
The Shvilei Pinchas explains the further significance of these mitzvoth. With the performance of these mitzvoth, we showed Hashem how dedicated we were to His will. We were symbolically taking our own blood and applying it to the doorposts of our homes, for hadamhu hanefesh, blood is the actual life force of man. We are indicating that we want to take our yetzer horo, our negative drives and passions, uproot them from our being, leave them outside our homes, and become total servants to Hashem and to His will.
Rabbi Jonathan Sachs based on the Lubavitcher Rebbe, continues to explore the specific timing of this plague in relation to the Medrash. Certainly, according to strict justice, the Israelites should have succumbed to this plague. But Hashem defies characterization. He is both strict justice and pure loving kindness. Each half of the night represents one of these attributes. As night descends and goes deeper into darkness, it portrays strict, harsh justice, and as it then progresses toward the light of day, that darkness is held back, permitting the light of loving kindness to emerge. Midnight is the synapse of these forces, the moment God chose to make His presence immanent on earth through both of these attributes, slaying the Egyptian firstborn and saving the Israelite firstborn.
The Netivot Shalom offers profoundly moving insights in answer to our questions on the plague of the firstborn. He reminds us that we are the sons (and daughters) of the King. We were drowning in the dark waters of Egyptian culture. There was not a moment to lose. Our Father, even though He was still wearing His Kingly robes, did not wait for a servant to pull us to safety. He Himself jumped directly into that maelstrom to save us. This act was a demonstration of absolute love, a love we feel throughout our history as he continues to save us and redeem us, as we continue to exist in the dark night of our exile.
This realization, that we are the children of Hashem, continues the Netivot Shalom, must sustain us and must be the source of our maintaining our dignity. When we may be tempted to go astray, we must remind ourselves that such behavior is beneath the dignity of princes and princesses. Every one of our actions, explains the Shaarei Derech, citing Sefer Hachinuch, works on our character. If we act in the dignified way our Father expects of us, that persona will be actually become who we are. That unconditional love that Hashem revealed to us at that midnight is still the love He has for us. Let us feel that love and live our lives accordingly, and thereby bring the final redemption, speedily in our day.
Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein