Building Blocks of a Sermon

Sometimes, I deliver a sermon just based on notes; I don't usually post them publicly because they're hard to follow in written form. This week, my notes were substantial enough that a reader could follow them, so I thought I'd share. The theme for this sermon was the relationship between darkness and light, drawing on the ninth plague of darkness, and the importance of human beings seeing one another.

Light in Darkness

Read twice:
 
Darkness Starts 
by Christian Wiman [1]
 
A shadow in the shape of a house 
slides out of a house 
and loses its shape on the lawn. 
 
Trees seek each other 
as the wind within them dies. 
 
Darkness starts inside of things 
but keeps on going when the things are gone. 
 
Barefoot careless in the farthest parts of the yard 
children become their cries. 
 
Darkness is a function of things, a shadow cast when an object stands against the light.
 
Exodus 10:15
 
They [the locusts] hid all the land from view, and the land was darkened; and they ate up all the grasses of the field and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left, so that nothing green was left, of tree or grass of the field, in all the land of Egypt.
 
וַיְכַ֞ס אֶת־עֵ֣ין כׇּל־הָאָ֘רֶץ֮ וַתֶּחְשַׁ֣ךְ הָאָ֒רֶץ֒ וַיֹּ֜אכַל אֶת־כׇּל־עֵ֣שֶׂב הָאָ֗רֶץ וְאֵת֙ כׇּל־פְּרִ֣י הָעֵ֔ץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר הוֹתִ֖יר הַבָּרָ֑ד וְלֹא־נוֹתַ֨ר כׇּל־יֶ֧רֶק בָּעֵ֛ץ וּבְעֵ֥שֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה בְּכׇל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
 

 
The 12th century commentator Abraham Ibn Ezra offers a fascinating reflection in his comment on this verse:
 
Ibn Ezra on Ex. 10:15
 
FOR THEY COVERED THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH. The meaning of so the land was darkened is that the locusts intervened between the sun and the land. The land is always dark.
ויכס. טעם ותחשך הארץ כי הארבה הבדיל בין השמש ובין הארץ כי לעולם הארץ חשך היא:
 
“The land is always dark.” It is the natural state of things to be dark, and the locusts, as it were, removed from Egypt the light of day that might otherwise have given them hope. It would seem that darkness is the status quo, the expected condition, the natural state of life on earth. Only when light is introduced, in a way as an antidote to darkness, can we see that things can be another way.
 
/
 
Light illuminates the borders between things, allowing us to discern where one body begins and another ends. In darkness, on the other hand, there is no differentiation, no discernment, no identity.
 
This fundamental truth is reflected in the very opening of the Torah:


Genesis 1:1-5
 
1 When God began to create heaven and earth--
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

2 the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water--
וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃
 
3 God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃
 
4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
 וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃
 
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.
וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃ 

 
The story of Creation teaches that light comes from darkness. The contours between light and dark are necessary in this drama of differentiation, in which God manifests a world that will have definition and duration, independence and individuality.
 
Darkness, substantially or spiritually, is more profound than the absence of light. Indeed, the people in our community who are blind may remind us that much can be done in the absence of light. The concept of darkness, then, of a loss of distinction, implies more than a lack of sight. With true darkness comes the loss of self, figuratively if not also literally.
 
/
 
And this is the terror of the ninth plague.
         
Exodus 10:21-23
 
21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Hold out your arm toward the sky that there may be darkness upon the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be touched.”
 וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה נְטֵ֤ה יָֽדְךָ֙ עַל־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וִ֥יהִי חֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם וְיָמֵ֖שׁ חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃
 
22 Moses held out his arm toward the sky and thick darkness descended upon all the land of Egypt for three days.
וַיֵּ֥ט מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־יָד֖וֹ עַל־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וַיְהִ֧י חֹֽשֶׁךְ־אֲפֵלָ֛ה בְּכׇל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת יָמִֽים׃
 
23 People could not see one another, and for three days no one could get up from where he was; but all the Israelites enjoyed light in their dwellings.
לֹֽא־רָא֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶת־אָחִ֗יו וְלֹא־קָ֛מוּ אִ֥ישׁ מִתַּחְתָּ֖יו שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים וּֽלְכׇל־בְּנֵ֧י יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל הָ֥יָה א֖וֹר בְּמוֹשְׁבֹתָֽם׃
 

Key teaching:
 
People could not see one another
 
Rabbis paint a verbal picture, describing the inability of any lights to pierce the darkness around the Egyptians. Each Israelite, though, like an inverse image of the Peanuts character Linus, walks though Egypt with a personal source of light. Even if they walk into the house of an Egyptian, they can see.
 
The difference is palpable. The Egyptians are paralyzed by darkness, unable even to move, completely consumed by what the rabbis imagine is a tangible heaviness that surrounds them night and day. The Hebrew, on the other hand, during this three-day eye-of-the-storm, are free from their labors and their pain. Some midrashim consider this the time that the Hebrews buried their dead before fleeing Egypt, for even the Israelites were casualties of the earlier plagues. This is a moment of pause, a period wherein all of Egypt is stuck and Israel waits on the precipice of a new dawn.
 
/
 
          This dynamic of light and dark follows the Hebrews to the Sea of Reeds. The Egyptians, though mourning the loss of their firstborn, pursue Israel with unrestrained vigor.
 

 
Exodus 14:19-20
 
19 The angel of God, who had been going ahead of the Israelite army, now moved and followed behind them; and the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them,
וַיִּסַּ֞ע מַלְאַ֣ךְ הָאֱלֹהִ֗ים הַהֹלֵךְ֙ לִפְנֵי֙ מַחֲנֵ֣ה יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ מֵאַחֲרֵיהֶ֑ם וַיִּסַּ֞ע עַמּ֤וּד הֶֽעָנָן֙ מִפְּנֵיהֶ֔ם וַיַּֽעֲמֹ֖ד מֵאַחֲרֵיהֶֽם׃

20 and it came between the army of the Egyptians and the army of Israel. Thus there was the cloud with the darkness, and it illuminated the night, so that the one could not come near the other all through the night.
וַיָּבֹ֞א בֵּ֣ין ׀ מַחֲנֵ֣ה מִצְרַ֗יִם וּבֵין֙ מַחֲנֵ֣ה יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַיְהִ֤י הֶֽעָנָן֙ וְהַחֹ֔שֶׁךְ וַיָּ֖אֶר אֶת־הַלָּ֑יְלָה וְלֹא־קָרַ֥ב זֶ֛ה אֶל־זֶ֖ה כׇּל־הַלָּֽיְלָה׃
 

 
We can imagine a two-sided cloud, dark in the face of the Egyptians but lighting up the night on the Hebrew side of the divide. Once again, the border of light and dark separates the pursuer from the pursued. The light of shelter is felt all the more strongly when seen in relief against the utter darkness on the other side.
 
/
 

 
But darkness is not to be celebrated, even against our enemies. It is deployed here, in our story, as a kind of necessary evil designed to halt the Egyptians in their tracks and to wrest Israel from its control. The surface meaning of וְלֹא־קָרַ֥ב זֶ֛ה אֶל־זֶ֖ה כׇּל־הַלָּֽיְלָה, “One could not draw near another all night” is that the Egyptian army was kept at a distance from Israel all night long.
 
The phrase וְלֹא־קָרַ֥ב זֶ֛ה אֶל־זֶ֖ה might sound familiar to some, reminding us of the phrase in morning Kedushah: v’kara zeh el zeh, the angels called to one another. A midrash uses this rhyme to make an important point:
 
Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 10b 
 
אין הקב"ה שמח במפלתן של רשעים. ואמר רבי יוחנן מאי דכתיב וְלֹא קָרַב זֶה אֶל זֶה כָּל-הַלָּיְלָה (שמות יד כ). בקשו מלאכי השרת לומר שירה אמר הקב"ה מעשה ידי טובעין בים ואתם אומרים שירה? 
 
The Holy Blessed One does not rejoice in the downfall of the wicked.  And Rabbi Yochanan further said: What is the meaning of the verse, And one came not near the other all the night (Ex. 14:20)?  The ministering angels wanted to chant their hymns, but the Holy Blessed One said, “The work of My hands is drowning in the sea, and you chant hymns?” 
 
/
 
When we look into the world and see darkness there, our natural hope is to be bathed in light like the Hebrews in Egypt. But in truth, we are not Hebrews in Egypt and the pillar of cloud is not magically going to descend to keep us safe. We can’t hope only to keep darkness at bay, to distance and distinguish ourselves from it so that we can live in security.
 
Rather we pray that light will shine on all of us, that darkness will not only disperse in our own lives but that it envelops the entire world. A phrase from L’cha Dodi comes from the prophet Isaiah, who preaches:
 
Isaiah 60:1-2
 
1 Arise, shine, for your light has dawned;
The Presence of the Eternal has shone upon you!
ק֥וּמִי א֖וֹרִי כִּ֣י בָ֣א אוֹרֵ֑ךְ וּכְב֥וֹד יְהֹוָ֖ה עָלַ֥יִךְ זָרָֽח׃
 
2 Behold! Darkness shall cover the earth,
And thick clouds the peoples;
But upon you the Eternal will shine,
And God’s Presence be seen over you.
כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֤ה הַחֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙ יְכַסֶּה־אֶ֔רֶץ וַעֲרָפֶ֖ל לְאֻמִּ֑ים וְעָלַ֙יִךְ֙ יִזְרַ֣ח יְהֹוָ֔ה וּכְבוֹד֖וֹ עָלַ֥יִךְ יֵרָאֶֽה׃
 
Upon YOU the Eternal will shine—not Jews alone but all who walk in the light of God. This is a universal vision, cast as the antithesis of Egypt, the caricatured villain who is plunged into palpable darkness.
 
By Your light may we see light, we pray. May we see light in our own lives and may light permeate our community and our world—politically, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
 
Conclude with priestly blessing
 
יְבָרֶכְךָ יְיָ וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ:
יָאֵר יְיָ פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ:
יִשָּׂא יְיָ פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם:
 
May God bless you and keep you.
May the light of God’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May God show favor to you always and grant you peace.


[1] From Hard Night (Copper Canyon Press, 2005), poetryfoundation.org/poems/56706/darkness-starts.