Haggadah: What Really Happened

I am so confused about that final night in Egypt: Here’s what we know and wonder:

1. They had to place some of the blood of the Pesach Offering on their doorposts to protect them from the Plague of the First Born.
2. They did not need protection from any of the other plagues.
3. The actual plague began immediately after they finished their Pesach Offering – at midnight. If the time of the Pesach was over, how did the blood protect them? Why was it the blood and not the Pesach itself that protected them? Don’t we refer to God’s protection as Pesach, meaning the actual suffering?
4. They had to eat the Pesach as if ready to begin their trip at any moment, but they didn’t leave until morning. We may understand why they didn’t begin their journey during the night, but why the tease?
5. They were not allowed outside all night even though the plague was exactly at midnight. Was the Angel of Destruction wandering the streets?
6. Pharaoh, looking for Moshe, knocked on their doors on the night they were terrified of the Angel of Destruction. He was safe outside. They were not.
7. 600,000 men were able to gather to leave in how many hours? (Consider: How long does it take to load a plane with a few hundred people? How long does it take to get children ready for a trip?) They didn’t begin to gather until early morning and yet they left in the morning!
8. At some time during the night or early morning, the women began preparing dough for bread for the trip. When? If after midnight; it would have had sufficient time to rise. If in the early morning, how could they even prepare the dough as the Egyptians are rushing them out?
9. What did they do from midnight until morning?
10. When did they gather the Egyptian treasures?

Perhaps we can find some more pages From The Diary of A Former Slave and find some answers…