January 8, 2011 | 3 Shevatt 5771

Darkness can be frightening at any age.  That is because darkness can be isolating.  We can see absolutely nothing.  Therefore it is as if there is nothing except ourselves…even when we know differently.  Darkness can also be frightening because of the potential for injury it introduces.  If we must move, with every step comes the possibility of something unseen…and a resulting injury.  However, as soon as we can pierce the dark with light, even a small amount, our fears dissipate.  We can see that we are not alone.  We can see well enough not to trip or stumble or otherwise cause ourselves injury.

The darkness that the Egyptians confronted in the penultimate plague of the Ten Plagues was ghastly in the way it must have frightened those who experienced it.  The darkness itself was unique.  Chapter 10, Verse 21 refers to a “darkness that can be touched.”  Sforno, the medieval commentator, reflecting on this quality of this darkness said, “The natural darkness of night is simply air that has no light; this (on the other hand) was air so thick that light could not get in.”  In other words, according to Sforno, no flame or flashlight (an ancient Egyptian invention) could pierce the dark.  Rashi’s image of the darkness was even more direct and disabling.  This darkness, Rashi said, was “so thick that one who was sitting could not stand and one who was standing could not sit.”

Such darkness, in a literal manner that the Torah projects it, is unimaginable.  Even if we understand the image of such paralyzing darkness as a metaphor, it is difficult to apply it to the lives of the Egyptians and reflect on its potential relevance to us.  However one image and application does occur to me.

Depression.  Deep, shrouding, isolating depression.  Some of us know about such depression from personal experience or the experience of loved ones or friends.  Depression is a unique form of darkness…every bit as unique as was the plague in Egypt.  Like darkness, depression obscures one’s perceptions, especially self-perceptions, and serves to isolate a person from others.  Often, in a most drastic sense, a person is no longer himself or herself.

Depression is an insidious disease.  An individual’s history can reflect “bouts” of depression.  But a person can also suffer a “situational depression.”  In the latter case, a person who has seemingly been just fine begins to exhibit signs of depression. 

May is “Mental Health Awareness Month.”  Let’s start early this year.  If necessary, educate yourself about signs of depression and of the “bluesy” states that may precede clinical depression.  Pay attention to yourself and especially to what you are seeing in loved ones and friends so that you may seek proper care for yourself or encourage others to do so for themselves.

I can’t imagine the plague of darkness in Egypt in a literal sense as the Torah describes it.  I just can’t fathom such a paralyzing darkness.  In light of the horrors and inevitable disorientation the Egyptians experienced as a result of the plagues that preceded the darkness, is it possible that this plague which preceded the slaying of the first born Egyptians was the personal “darkness” of debilitating depression?

Shabbat Shalom.