That’s what the Egyptians faced during one of the most terrifying plagues described in the Torah: the plague of darkness.
But this wasn’t just any darkness. The text tells us it was a darkness "of such a nature that it could not be dispelled by artificial means." Think about that for a second. Torches, lamps, even the roaring fires that lit their homes – all were useless. The light simply vanished, swallowed whole by the oppressive gloom.
What would that do to you? It wasn’t just an inconvenience. It was a sensory deprivation of the worst kind. Our text emphasizes how even “sight, that most indispensable of all the external senses, though unimpaired, was deprived of its office.” It wasn’t that their eyes weren’t working; it was that there was nothing to see.
And the darkness didn't stop there. It didn't just affect sight. It crippled all the senses. According to the narrative, “all the other senses were overthrown like subjects whose leader has fallen.” They couldn't speak. They couldn't hear. They were paralyzed, not just physically, but sensorially.
Imagine being trapped in that suffocating silence, unable to reach out, unable to connect, utterly alone in the inky black.
The text paints a picture of complete helplessness. “None was able to speak or to hear, nor could anyone venture to take food, but they lay themselves down in quiet and hunger, their outward senses in a trance.” They were trapped, suspended between life and…something else. A living tomb.
It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What was the purpose of such a devastating plague? Was it merely punishment? Or was there something deeper at play? Perhaps it was meant to force the Egyptians to confront their own inner darkness, the darkness of their hearts that allowed them to enslave an entire people.
The story doesn’t end there, of course. It's a testament to Moses' compassion, and the relationship he has with God, that he "besought God in their behalf." And God, in turn, "granted him the power of restoring fine weather, light instead of darkness and day instead of night."
The darkness lifts. The light returns. But the experience, surely, must have left an indelible mark on the souls of those who endured it.
What does this story tell us today? Perhaps it reminds us of the power of empathy, the importance of standing up for justice, and the enduring hope that even in the deepest darkness, light can always return. Maybe it's a reminder that darkness is more than just the absence of light; it can be a force that paralyzes and isolates. And that sometimes, all it takes is one person, one voice, to plead for a glimmer of hope and bring the world back to the light.