parsha bit: Bo

[cellio]

Why did the Holy One, Blessed Be He, send a plague of darkness? Because there were wrongdoers among Israel who did not obey God and were deserving of death. God said: let not the Egyptians say "we have been struck down by plagues and so have they"; rather, he sent darkness so the Egyptians could not see the Jews burying their dead. (Exodus Rabbah 14:3)

Comments

[geekosaur]

Only the first three plagues also happened to the Israelites, according to the gemara. (And lanterns wouldn't have helped with the supernatural darkness.)