parsha bit: Bo

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)