At the beginning of the pandemic, right around Passover, my estranged father began eating only matzah, feeling that these are biblical times. He is not wrong. These are biblical times. I now understand the ten plagues as catalysts for upheaval, destabilization, and ultimately transformation. After each plague, Moses asks Pharoah to let his people go. Each time he says no. Each ensuing plague is a further test of Pharaoh’s appetite for cruelty. The question before Pharaoh is what will he endure to maintain slavery, what will he put even his own people through, what will he sacrifice before his heart breaks open?
Plagues & Prophets
Plagues & Prophets
Plagues & Prophets
At the beginning of the pandemic, right around Passover, my estranged father began eating only matzah, feeling that these are biblical times. He is not wrong. These are biblical times. I now understand the ten plagues as catalysts for upheaval, destabilization, and ultimately transformation. After each plague, Moses asks Pharoah to let his people go. Each time he says no. Each ensuing plague is a further test of Pharaoh’s appetite for cruelty. The question before Pharaoh is what will he endure to maintain slavery, what will he put even his own people through, what will he sacrifice before his heart breaks open?