And So It Was, At The Stroke of Midnight
Posted by Jack Kustanowitz on March 29, 2010 | Tags: Pesach, Bo
Pesach 5770 / 2010
We read in the Hagaddah (and in Parshat Bo), that Makat Bechorot (the plague known as the Death of the Firstborn) happened "bachatzi halaila", or roughly translated, "at the stroke of midnight". Not "be'emtza halayla" (meaning in the middle of the night") or "balaila" (meaning "at night"), but bachatzi halaila.
Interestingly, not much happens on the Jewish calendar at midnight, or at night in general. Books have been written on the relative time of sunrise or sunset, first light and final darkness, how to measure the times for startng or finishing shma, shacharit, mincha, maariv, etc. Does Shabbat end when there are 3 small stars, or 3 medium size stars? What is the definition of day or night?
But from the time there is total darkness until the first light, there are comparatively few times of importance, relative to what happens during the day.
But not tonight. Tonight, we watch the sun go down and start "leil shimurm", a night where we are being watched over. A night when many years ago (as I explain to my son Gil, before Saba's saba's saba's saba was born), death and panic spread in the Egyptian cities.
This happened bachatzi halaila, at the midpoint of the night. This is the infinitesimal point in time before which you are moving into the night, and after which, you can look towards the dawn. It's a point of inflection that takes almost no time but changes everything.
I think that as we talk about moving from avdut to cherut, from slavery to freedom, everything rests on that moment. Until makat bechorot, nothing was working. God was pulling out all the stops and yet Pharaoh held firm. The night still loomed large. And then at that moment, things changed, and the end of the long night of slavery was suddenly within reach. Perhaps that is why we need to finish the story and eat the afikoman before the midpoint of the night -- we relive slavery and the yearning for freedom not until redemption comes, but until the end of the night is first visible -- and then we go to sleep, knowing that the night is not eternal, but that the sun will shine when we wake up in the morning.
As a final parallel to the "stroke of midnight", the actual Exodus is described as happening "be'etzem hayom hazeh" -- at the "core", or perhaps "center" of the day. At times of darkness, it helps to remember that while redemption happens in broad daylight, the turning point happens at midnight, the night before. And so as in Genesis, it is evening, and then it is morning, a new day.
Chag kasher vesameach!
|
Jack KustanowitzJoined: July 15, 2007 Jack is an Internet professional living in Silver Spring, MD. He is a proud alum of the Frisch School in Paramus, NJ as well as Boston University, where he was active at BU Hillel. Divrei Torah (32) |
