The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts on the parsha that R' Frand spoke about in his shiur tonight. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
In Shemos 11:6, the Torah states וְהָֽיְתָ֛ה צְעָקָ֥ה גְדֹלָ֖ה בְּכָל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר כָּמֹ֨הוּ֙ לֹ֣א נִֽהְיָ֔תָה וְכָמֹ֖הוּ לֹ֥א תֹסִֽף - there will be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt, the likes of which there never were and there will never be in the future.
R' Frand quoted a Medrash HaGadol which told a story about an old woman who approached Moshe and said - you are a liar. She said that she had no parents, no husband and no children - there would be no reason that I will cry for anyone! Moshe responded to her - I swear you will be the first to cry.
The Medrash HaGadol then relates that even though this woman did not have children, she previously had a son who had died. She then had a statue of her son built for her and every night after having dinner, she would dance before the statue of her son. But the night of Makas Bechoros, dogs came into her house and knocked over the statue and destroyed it and sure enough she was the first to cry out.
R' Frand then asked - what was the woman thinking? After all, until this point Moshe was 9 for 9!
R' Frand then quoted the famous Rashi on the pasuk in Shemos 11:4 - וַיֹּ֣אמֶר משֶׁ֔ה כֹּ֖ה אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֑ה כַּֽחֲצֹ֣ת הַלַּ֔יְלָה אֲנִ֥י יוֹצֵ֖א בְּת֥וֹךְ מִצְרָֽיִם - Rashi comments that the midnight hour is not mentioned precisely because the Egyptian advisors might not be correct in their timekeeping and would call Moshe a liar if the event did not occur at the time they calculated as midnight.
But why would they do so?
R' Frand answered based on the sefer Milchemes Yehuda - who observes that people will often be blinded by money, or desire or the need for honor. This can be seen in the prior plague of darkness. The sefer writes that this plague was not so much of a punishment as it was a warning to Pharaoh. How can you be so blind that you don't see this is all from Hashem? Because you are willfully blinding yourself to the truth, you will walk around in pitch darkness.
The Milchemes Yehuda also tied this into a different Medrash which states that the darkness was as thick as a dinar coin. This was also a message - people can be blinded by money as well.
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