There is an emphasis on the קול משה - the voice of Moshe, as opposed to ולא שמעו אל משה [Shmos 6-9] without the "קול". This is also in contrast to what is says later in Rashi on the pasuk "ויצעקו בני ישראל" [Shmos 14-10] that "תפסו אומנות אבותם" - they adopted to the craft of their forefathers, meaning that when they cried out to Hashem, it was done by rote [Gur Aryeh] while here it was done with דעת and not just as a learned habit. Another novelty in this context: They brought the צרה on themselves in order to bring the downfall of the Egyptians, as per Rashi [פסוק ב]: לפני בעל צפון BEFORE BAAL-ZEPHON – It (the idol of this name) alone had been left by God of all the gods of Egypt and, this, too, in order to mislead them – that they should say that their god was a difficult one to overcome. It was with reference to this that Job expressly said, (Job 12:23) "He causes the nations to err (מַשְׂגִיא, is taken in the sense of מַשְׁגִיא from root שגה to err) and then destroys them" (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:2:2; cf. Rashi on this passage).

2. The explanation is based on the Medrash [שמו"ר יד,ג] that every one of the מכות was 7 days while the מכה of חושך was three days and three days [Rashi 10-22]. Asks the Medrash - Where was the 7th day? Answers the Medrash that it remained in limbo until appearing in the darkness of קריעת ים סוף. The idea behind this is rooted in the Ramban [Breishis 1-4/10] "וירא כי טוב" "He saw and it was good". Explained the Ramban that this is an expression of the קיום - fulfillment and existence, of the creation. It means that Hashem was satisfied, as Rabban Gamliel said "רואה אני את דברי אדמון" - I see, meaning, I agree. The use of the sense of sight is through light and particularly related to light is what it says on the first day, that the creation of light was good. "וירא א-להים את האור כי טוב" - He saw the light and IT was good. Afterwards it says about about the other days of creation "כי טוב" on what was created on that day. The "כי טוב" relates to the light that was revealed in that creation because the entire creation is a revelation of Divine will, and that is through the light [again - רואה" אני את דברי אדמון"]. Six times it says "כי טוב" about creation but on the sixth day after the creation of man it says a 7th time "וירא א-להים את כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאד" - just as now man who encompasses all of creation has been created, so it says about him "טוב מאד" - which includes all the good. 

 

3. It appears that the six days of מכת חושך on the Egyptians comes to show how they fell out of the positive will of the "וירא כי טוב" of creation because darkness is the opposite of the light which was "כי טוב"  and the whole world was created for the Jewish people about whom it says "ולכל בני ישראל היה אור במושבותם". Not only were they not affected by מכת חושך but an element of the primordial light was revealed to them and they were able to have x-ray vision [à la the Medrash]. In other words a בירור-clarification of the purpose of creation was taking place here where the Egyptians fell from the "טוב" of the details of creation. But the seventh day still remained in limbo. This darkness of the 7th day goes beyond the details of creation and constitutes a בירור on the very reality of evil and darkness and their ultimate purpose in our world. This בירור and clarification was made at קריעת ים סוף where it was revealed that all of the evil and darkness exist only in order to reveal goodness and light. That is why the entire episode of קריעת ים סוף was pre-planned and brought by the Jews upon themselves [when they turned back "וישובו ויחנו על פי החירות"] in order to bring about the Tachlis of ואכבדה בפרעה and the revelation of the glory of Hashem. This was in the micro an expression of the purpose of all darkness in this world. Chazal say about the pasuk "וירא א-להים את כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאד" - that the "טוב" is the יצר הטוב while the "מאד" is the יצר הרע. The יצר הרע is "very" good [!!!]. The good that comes from the evil is enormous. That is the meaning of the pasuk "ויהי הענן והחושך ויאר את הלילה" - there was a cloud and darkness and it lit up the night [14-20]. How does darkness light up anything? Explains Rashi that the darkness related to the Egyptians while the light relates to the Jews. "ויאר" clarified what the darkness is all about. That explains Rashi [14-25] who says that the pillar of light burned the wheels of the Egyptians chariots. In other words, the very same fire that was a pillar of light for the Jews was a fire that burned and harmed the enemy because fire is both the light of חסד and the burning of דין. It emerges that that this בירור and revelation of light on the seventh day of Pesach at קריעת ים סוף was designed to expose to man the ultimate purpose of all darkness and evil in the world and why we suffer ["seven" represents nature in its fullest]. 

 

4. So we start the chag on the first night doing all these strange things in order that the children should ask in order that the Seder should be in a structure of questions and answers [as R' Akiva would distribute nuts to the children in order to arouse their curiosity and questions - Pesachim 109a] which is in essence a lighting of the darkness felt by the perplexed questioner. The question/answer format is a type of preceding the light with darkness. The actions we do to arouse questions are part and parcel of the lesson we are trying to impart, namely that there must first be darkness in order to bring the light. [See Pachad Yitzchak, Pesach 17] So even within the שירה there are allusions to the צרות and darkness - מי כמוך באלים - מי כמוך באלמים Gittin 56b that “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods [elim]” (Exodus 15:11), should be read as: Who is like You among the mute [ilmim], for You conduct Yourself like a mute and remain silent in the face of Your blasphemers. Also תביאמו ותטעמו is a prophecy that Moshe will not bring the Jews into Eretz Yisrael [Rashi Shmos 15-17]. The Rema says that we eat an egg at the Seder as an expression of mourning because Seder night is always the same night of the week as Tisha B'av that year. What has Tisha B'av to do with anything here? This teaches that all of the Tisha B'av's are intended to bring to much greater light. [When we left Egypt it wasn't just מאפילה לאורה but מאפילה לאור גדול as we say in the Hagada]. 

 

5. We return to where we started. "וישובו ויחנו וכו' ויעשו כן". They said that they have to carry out the bidding of Ben Amram [Rashi]. שמעעו לקול משה - The emphasis on קול משה is that Moshe was the "דעת" of Klal Yisrael. דעת includes both recognizing the truth and distinguishing it from the opposite. That is why we say הבדלה in the bracha of דעת because "אם אין דעת - הבדלה מנין" [Yerushalmi Brachos 5-2]. This act of returning in the direction of their pursuers was designed to distinguish between light and darkness, good and evil. They listened to the קול of Moshe. The "קול" is the פנימיות and depth of his words. They looked deeper into what Moshe commanded them and understood that the mehalech is to bring the great light out of the darkness which will give them the capacity to withstand difficulties for the rest of time. This is a revolution in our approach to suffering and difficulties.  

 

[עפ"י תורת מרן ראש הישיבה שליט"א] 

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ליקוטים על יתרון האור מן החושך מרבי צדוק הכהן זצוק"ל 

  

 

ובכתבי חב"ד מוטיב זה חוזר על עצמו אלפי פעמים - אפשר לעשות חיפוש באוצר החכמה "אתהפכא חשוכא לנהורא" ולראות מקורות רבים.