OU TORAH YU TORAH and NALLEH.COM Omnipresence Oneness By Shira Smiles

Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein It was the ultimate moment of redemption. Hashem Himself came down and smote the Egyptian firstborn. The Torah says, “I shall go through Egypt…, I shall strike every firstborn…, I shall mete out punishment, I am Hashem” (Shemot 12:12). The Haggadah drives this point home: “I and not a malach/angel, I and not a seraph/fiery angel, I and not hashaliach/the messenger – it is I and no other.” Nevertheless, in Egypt we were commanded not to go out of our houses until morning, for Hashem will not permit “the destroyer” to enter your homes (Shemot 12:23). Several interrelated questions arise when we juxtapose these verses. First, why was it necessary for Hashem Himself to come down and “personally” administer this plague? Then, if it was Hashem Himself, why do we hear of a Destroyer in the form of a plague? Finally, why was it then necessary to later repeat that Hashem saved our homes? (Shemot 12:27)