After icing four large trays of cookies in honor of my son’s third birthday, I left them out on the counter so the icing could harden. Big mistake. I returned to find that my dear son had taken a mouse-sized bite out of every cookie on an entire tray. What was I to do with the remaining cookies—stand guard over my kitchen for the many hours it takes for royal icing to solidify?

My husband had an idea. He bent down to my son and whispered into his ear, “Moishy, can you be in charge of the cookies, to make sure no one else touches or eats from all the goodies?” My son stood tall and proud, and transformed into the guardian angel of the cookies—not even allowing his big brother to “touch them for just a second.” My cookies were saved not in spite of him, but because of him.

Many miracles were performed for the Jewish people throughout our history. What most of them have in common is that our enemies sought to destroy us, but G‑d saved us in the nick of time.

This Shabbat, we commemorate a unique miracle that was performed not despite our enemies, but thanks to them.

On Shabbat, the tenth of Nissan, when the Jews tied sheep to their beds and informed the firstborns of Egypt that they would soon perish, the firstborns rebelled. They demanded that Pharaoh free the Jews from exile, and when that didn’t work, they instigated a civil war, killing many Egyptians who had been cruel to the Jews.

Whenever Jews had a victory over their enemies, it was miraculous. When the foes—the firstborn Egyptians—turned into “friends” by punishing their own brethren, that was truly a great miracle. And that is why the Shabbat that commemorates it is called “The Great Shabbat.”

Thoughtstream: When we can help our children channel their negative characteristics toward positive pursuits, we transform foes into friends. Today, I will help my child use his energy to be the initiator of good.

(Adapted from Likkutei Sichot, vol. 12, pg. 33.)