The Tenth Step: Makkat Bechorot-The Death of – The Firstborn Preserving Our Elite Faculties
Firstborn a Metaphor for Our Elite Talents
The death of the firstborn was obviously the most devastating plague, because it actually killed at least one family member in each household.
According to the teachings of Chassidus and Kabbalah, at midnight, when the plague occurred, the greatest G-dly revelation took place. It was an awesome G-dly force that combined and unified night and day. This was the ultimate plague in terms of its destructive nature as well as in the sense of its G-dly revelation.
This final plague can also serve as the ultimate step in our spiritual self-advancement, wherein our firstborn is spared even as the firstborn Egyptians perish.
The firstborn is a metaphor for the elite powers and talents we possess. By successfully completing all of the nine preceding steps, we reach our goal of total selfactualization, where our most elite faculties are alive and well.
But before we can actualize our elite talents we must destroy the elite forces of mitzraim with their confining, suffocating and destructive nature. This death of the firstborn is the destruction of the most powerful, elite forces of mitzraim. The most potent and destructive part of a person or a nation is its ego. The plague of the firstborn was G-d’s way of finally attacking their ego by attacking their most elite members. And when we destroy the ego that stands in the way of expressing our true identities, it is time to leave mitzraim and experience true freedom.
Building a Positive Ego
Applying this to our own self-development, the destruction of the ego alone does not suffice. One must also build a positive ego in its place. The tenth plague therefore comprised a simultaneous destruction of the Egyptian firstborn while saving and sparing the Israelite firstborn. Thus, the b’chor-the firstborn became holy.
The positive ego that was introduced at the time of this plague is the recognition that we are the children of G-d. We possess a holy soul that comes form G-d’s wisdom; and as Tanya explains based on Maimonides, “G-d and His wisdom are one.” We therefore possess a soul that is one with G-d.
And just as a child originates in the mind of his father, so too, our souls originate in G-d’s wisdom. Thus, we are essentially a part of G-d. This part of us is our own firstborn power and it is holy.
This essential bond between G-d and us that can never be severed was revealed during the plague of the firstborn, and it is the final step in getting out of exile.
Continuity
In addition, to the awareness of one’s unique G-dly identity, the Tenth Plague therapy can assist us in overcoming a feeling that stunts our growth. It is the fear that our achievements will not endure. Why bother to scale the heights of spirituality when we fear that it will not endure?
The fact that the firstborn of the Israelites were spared even as their Egyptian counterparts all perished, conveys a comforting message to all of us: Only when one lives within the confining and stifling environment of Egypt- Mitzraim (that means “straits” and confinement) is there a justifiable fear that one’s legacy and achievements will not endure.
In the quest for spiritual growth, however, there is a guarantee that our most precious legacies (represented by the firstborn), will endure forever.
Our Sages of the Midrash tell us that this final plague was a punishment for enslaving G-d’s first child. It is a crime to not recognize the spiritual talents that we possess and it is an equally egregious crime when we try to inhibit, control and confine these talents.
Parallel to Tenth Commandment
This plague can be said to parallel the tenth commandment not to covet the possessions of another. One of the reasons why people covet the possessions of others is because they look at the gains of others and fail to appreciate their own special qualities.
With the final removal of every obstacle to revealing our own most powerful and rich nature, we no longer need to be validated by others—we are the firstborn!
The Divine Attribute: Chochma
Chochma is the first and most elite of the Divine Attributes. It is the first flash of light in the intellectual and spiritual process; it is the part of our soul that is expressive of our strongest attachment to G-d.
According to Tanya, it is the source of inspiration and energy for the Jew to give his or her life for G-d rather than betraying his or her loyalty to Him. This is the elite force that every one of us possesses, although we are not always aware of its presence. And it is the counterforce to the chutzpah associated with the ego of mitzraim.
When the level of chochma is revealed, it empowers us more than anything else and can even transform our entire being.
Connection to Moshiach
Maimonides describes the ultimate Messianic age as a time when there will be no more envy because the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d. When we realize this ultimate knowledge, including the knowledge of one’s own elite nature, we no longer can be jealous of another. This freedom to be ourselves and not be envious of others is the reward that comes with the successful culmination of the Ten-Plague therapy.
Therapy: The plague of the firstborn involves destroying the ego that is associated with Mitzraim and cultivating the Divine ego. The tenth plague comprised a simultaneous destruction of the Egyptian first born and a saving of the Israelites. This final step of spiritual development is to get in touch with our most elite force of chochma. Once we reach this awareness we no longer have to look at others; we are free to be ourselves and to reach total selfactualization, which is the actualization of our G-dly essence.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Voeira by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
