What Does It Mean the Israelites "Felt" The Darkness?

“And Hashem said unto Moshe, Stretch out thine yad toward Shomayim, that there may be choshech over Eretz Mitzrayim, even choshech which he can feel.”
(Exodus 10:21; The Orthodox Jewish Bible) 

The darkness became matter, a tangible thing (Rashi). 

Why was there a Plague of Darkness? There were wicked Jews who refused to leave Egypt. They died during the Plague of Darkness and were buried at that time [so the Egyptians would not see the Jews suffering] (Rashi on Exodus 10:22). 

There is a body. there is a soul. There is matter, there is form. There is darkness, there is light. There is death, there is life. The first of each pair are all one concept, as are the second (Likutey Moharan I, 37:2). Those who pursue the material—the body—are actually pursuing matter and darkness. Those who pursue spirituality merit to form and light.  Therefore the Egyptians, who were steeped in bodily lusts, literally felt the darkness envelop them. And the wicked Jews who did not want to leave the materialistic lifestyle of Egypt died, since matter, body, darkness and death are the same concept. But those Jews who sought spirituality and anticipated the salvation had light in their homes, for spirituality and light are synonymous. In fact, they merited to the light of the Future, which is similar to the light of Creation that enveloped the entire world (see Rashi on Genesis 1:3) (Likutey Halakhot V, p. 149a).

Our material sense work as a boundary, a wall, between us an G-d.  The focus of the believer should always be “for the sake of Heaven” and the Malchut HaShamayim.  The palatable things, the things that are tangible wither away, they are not long for this world.  Because the world itself is not infinite.  For HaShem has always been, HaShem created the heavens and the earth but He has always been in existence.  The world, is only approx 6,000 to 6 billion years old depending upon who you ask.  But HaShem always was and always will be as he says in Exodus 3:14, אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה (I Am that I Am) which the Zohar refers to as אין סוף (Ayn Sof) meaning the never ending.  

Think about this.  Here soon, the new cell phone, the new video game system, the new television with the most pixels to date, the new laptop or tablet will be unveiled by your favorite company.  There will be much hype around it.  People will flood the stores to get it, and it will be pandaemonium.  Next year, that device will be out of date and considered obsolete when the new version comes out. 

When I was a child, around 5 years old VCRs were close to $1,000 dollars, jump to 35 years later, a VCR is not considered revolutionary anymore and you can get one with more heads and more features, more lightweight and much more advanced for only $50 than the one released only 35 years ago.  

The Israelites, made a wage that would be considered middle class by today’s standards.  When we look at slavery we tend to think of America on the 1800s, but slavery was much different in Egypt.  They were indeed worked hard and under a rule where everything they did was dictated to them.  But they made a very good wage.  This was the slavery of Egypt.  

Now imagine that you were making $100,000 a year at your job, your boss is a tyrant, you hate your job with a passion but you do it because it puts your children through private school and allows you to have the big house and the big sports package on your cable subscription.  Now say, you were given the opportunity to break free from the bondage of the tyrannical ruler, you no longer had to serve his gods but....you would totally, 100% lose that wage that kept you afloat and allowed you a degree of privilege.  Even the most religious of people would would have to think long and hard about this or say, “I can’t, I have obligations.”  

One may ask, is it a sin to be wealthy?  We can examine the words of Yeshua here and we can almost come to that conclusion.    

(Aramaic from the Khabouris Codex in Swadaya Aramaic Script)
ܬܘܒ ܕܝܢ ܐܡܪ ܐܢܐ ܠܟܘܢ ܕܕܠܝܠ ܗܘ ܠܓܡܠܐ ܠܡܥܠ ܒܚܪܘܪܐ ܕܡܚܛܐ ܐܘ ܥܬܝܪܐ ܕܢܥܘܠ ܠܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܐܠܗܐ

(Transliteration of the Khabouris Codex) 
Toov deyn amarna lchoon; dadleel hoo l’gamala, l’me’al bachroora d’amkhata, aw athiyra dne’ool l’malkutha dalaha 

Now furthermore, I say unto you, that it is easier for a gamala (heavy rope) to enter into the akhrura d’amkhata {the hole of a needle}, than an athiyra {a rich man} that he might enter into The Malkutha d’Alaha {The Kingdom of God}.” 
(Matthew 19:24; the Aramaic Scriptures) 

We could also source verses such as Matthew 6:24, and Mark 10:21 and come to that conclusion.  But, what about the prominent figure in John 3 whom Yeshua spoke to about Eternal Life?  I am talking about Nicodemus ben Gurion who is spoken of in Lamentations Rabbah, the Talmud and Avot Natan.  

Nicodemus was a very wealthy man.  Paul of Tarsus was as well.  The thing we see however is their wealth did not serve as a hinderance to their spirituality, nor did it cause them to put their trust into the material things.  The Sadducees were a different animal all together however.  

The Sadducees didn’t believe in the Olam Haba, they felt that if they achieved wealth in the world that it was Hashem’s blessing to them and that their reward was not in the Malchut HaShamayim but rather it was in the here and now.  So they held tightly to what they felt was their salvation which was their material possession or endless cash flow.  Nicodemus however, had a different approach.  He used his immense wealth for good, he funded additions to the Holy Temple he payed for the food of the poor in his entire village.  He was not bound to his wealth and new he couldn’t take it with him.  Nicodemus broke that spiritual wall, much in the same way Paul of Tarsus did.  In Acts 21:22-24 we see him take a Nazarite vow with 4 men.  Most scholars claim there is evidence that Paul paid their fees for this which was the wages they would earn during the duration of the vow.  Paul took it upon himself to do this.  We see that Paul traveled to the nations not on the dime of the Pharisees but upon his own dime.  

So in the words of Yeshua in the above passage in Matthew 19:24 it was not that the people had to become poor but instead they had to not be bound by the material possessions.  For a person who cannot break away from it, it is better that they are struggling so they can then not be bound to the luxury but rely upon HaShem.  

This is why the Noahide laws deal with the aspects of the flesh and the finite.  For a person to walk with HaShem they have to shed their fleshly desires.  This is what the Noahide laws set out to do, because a person must shed their fleshly desires if they are gonna live a life that is truly for HaShem.  
The words of Paul reflect on this as well: 

(Aramaic from the Khabouris Codex in Swadaya Aramaic Script)
ܘܥܡ ܡܫܝܚܐ ܙܩܝܦ ܐܢܐ ܘܡܟܝܠ ܠܐ ܗܘܐ ܐܢܐ ܚܝ ܐܢܐ ܐܠܐ ܚܝ ܒܝ ܡܫܝܚܐ ܘܗܢܐ ܕܗܫܐ ܚܝ ܐܢܐ ܒܒܣܪ ܒܗܝܡܢܘܬܐ ܗܘ ܕܒܪܗ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܚܝ ܐܢܐ ܗܘ ܕܐܚܒܢ ܘܝܗܒ ܢܦܫܗ ܚܠܦܝܢ

(Transliteration of the Khabouris Codex) 
w`am Meshikha zqeef ana, wmekeel la hwa ena chay ana; ela chay bee Meshikha, whana dhasha chay ana bavsar; bhaymanootha hw davreh dalaha chay ana, haw dachvan, wyahv nafsheh chlafayn,

And I have been crucified together with Meshikha {The Anointed One}, and now, I'm not alive, but rather, I live in Meshikha {The Anointed One}, and now, this which I live in the flesh, I'm living by The Faith of The Son of Alaha {God}, He who loved me and gave His Soul for me.  
(Galatians 2:20; The Aramaic Scriptures) 

Considering that “Darkness” (materialism) in the parsha is the antithesis to “light” this should give us new context into the statements of the Messiah when he says:  

(Aramaic from the Khabouris Codex in Swadaya Aramaic Script)
ܐܡܪ ܠܗܘܢ ܝܫܘܥ ܩܠܝܠ ܐܚܪܝܢ ܙܒܢܐ ܢܘܗܪܐ ܥܡܟܘܢ ܗܘ ܗܠܟܘ ܥܕ ܐܝܬ ܠܟܘܢ ܢܘܗܪܐ ܕܠܐ ܚܫܘܟܐ ܢܕܪܟܟܘܢ ܘܡܢ ܕܡܗܠܟ ܒܚܫܘܟܐ ܠܐ ܝܕܥ ܠܐܝܟܐ ܐܙܠ 

(Transliteration of the Khabouris Codex) 
amar lhoon Eshu`, qaleel achreen zavna noohra `amchoon hoo, halechw `ad eeth lchoon noohra; dla cheshoocha nadrechchoon, wman damhalech bcheshoocha, la yada` layka azel

​Eshu {Yeshua} said unto them, “Another short amount of time, The Light is among you, walk while there is Light for you, so that the darkness doesn’t overtake you. And whoever walks in the darkness doesn’t know unto where he goes.
(John 12:35; The Aramaic Scriptures)

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