A Thought on Parshas Bo

"...k'chatzos ha'lyla..." "...around midnight..." (11:4) Much has been written about the contrast between the Torah stating that the final makka occurred "at midnight" (12:29) and Moshe's seemingly tentative phrasing this as "around midnight." Rashi and others cite Chazals as to different ways of understanding this. Let's step back. What is so important about having a "midnight"? We can understand the concept of midday, chatzos ha'yom, which can be tracked and calculated by the sun's position in the sky overhead. Midday marks the transition from morning to afternoon (midday is also called "noon") and this is important for clocking events, for preparing for the visible onset of dusk and night, and for many halachos which revolve around the pinpointing of midday. Midnight, on the other hand, seems much less pivotal. Firstly, we cannot really track midnight through observing the overhead sky. There is nothing going on up there in the darkness that might compare to the daytime sun's position throughout the day. Moreover, night is dark, midnight is dark, and after midnight it is still dark, with hours remaining before we spot signs of the blackness lifting (ibn Ezra has written that this is the real meaning of alos ha'shachar - when the blackness rises) after which we then see the beginning of first light, daybreak and dawn. So, what is the importance anyway of midnight from our experiential view point? Even in halacha, there are relatively few areas where midnight is significant, as compared with noon. ibn Shu'aib helps us here. He begins by alerting us to the fact that midnight, by virtue of it being beyond the regular person's ability to identify it, must have some other-worldly properties. It is a time that HaShem calculates and clocks, and perhaps we could add that only HaShem knows when it occurs. That is a transcendent concept, and midnight's invisible intangible dimensionless quality makes it less a mortal, and more a cosmic or Divine, concept. Yet, we acknowledge that midnight is special. Dovid HaMelech proclaims (Tehillim 119:62) "chatzos layla akum l'hodos Loch al mishpatei tzidkeka" - Midnight I arise to praise You for Your judgements of righteousness. ibn Shu'aib observes that King Dovid is revealing to us that midnight is the time when we thank HaShem for invoking both justice (mishpat) and charitableness (tzedaka). This is a curious blend, for how often can we look at the harshness of mishpat and consider it charitable? ibn Shu'aib explains that Dovid is actually defining and illuminating for us the cosmic midnight: because we cannot see the higher and deeper activities Above when all is dark, we prepare for wondrous miracles; this is when HaShem will decree that an event which may be punitive at one level is redeeming and interventional at another level. The example is the makkas bechoros: this plague struck the Mitzri'im mercilessly yet it also facilitated the salvation of Benei Yisroel. The synthesis of two opposing forces, destruction and salvation, is beyond our comprehension. Harsh judgment and clemency are not natural companions. Yet, says Dovid in his psalm, "midnight is when justice and salvation can coincide". Midnight is when we might blur boundaries and not see clearly, yet it is the time Above when all is clear and lucid. Once a saga unfolds, we too can see the perfection and precision. Dovid does not say "at midnight I arise; he says, "Midnight: I arise..." He is defining the concept of midnight for us. Therefore, explains ibn Shu'aib, when Moshe tells Pharaoh "k'chatzos ha'layla" HaShem will make His Presence known, he does not mean "around midnight." The letter chof here is chof ha'dimion, a prefix denoting comparison. The verse's translation is "in a midnight-like manner, HaShem will make His Presence known." Midnight is the time when we cannot see what things, or how things, are going on. Midnight-like Divine acts are those events which only HaShem can craft, far beyond our comprehension and recognition, yet with an exactitude which takes all things into account, with paradoxical synchronicity. K'chatzos means "as if things are separate when they really are not." K'chatzos ha'lyla means "just like when perceived darkness actually masks the synthesis of apparent opposites." The midnight-like appearance of makkas bechoros will indicate that only HaShem has dominion over all worlds, all forces, all fates and all living things. Good Shabbos. D Fox