HEBREW TEXTS  .  HEBREW LANGUAGE  .  JUDAISM

The narrative of the last three plagues—locusts, darkness, and the death of the Egyptian firstborn—begins this week. This concludes chapter 11 of Shemot in Exodus. Chapter 12 then starts with a narrative that seems somewhat out of context. It begins by stating that the month of Nisan, the month of Freedom, the month of Pesach, will now become the first month of the year. Since the people of Israel now have control over their time as they are no longer slaves, they must organize themselves according to the Mitzvot, according to the designs of the Kadosh Baruch Hu, distinguishing sacred and profane times, and thus ordering each of the years and each of the months.

We are at the end of the plague series. In our parashah we find the last 3 plagues: locusts, darkness and, of course, the worst of all, the death of the firstborn. But of the three, the one that seems to be out of place is the 9th, darkness.

The last plagues. The most terrible. And in a way, the best known. But I don't want to stop at the last one that is THE plague par excellence, Makat Bechorot: the death of the first-born Egyptians. Let's do a general overview of the pests.