הכותב: אבי רבינוביץ, תאריך: 26/12/2010
"ונתתי את ידי במצרים" (ז, ד)
ה' הביא על המצרים את עשר המכות במידה כנגד מידה על חטאיהם.
דם: מימי היאור נהפכו לחדם, עונש על שהמצרים השליכו את ילדי ישראל ליאור.
צפרדע: הצפרדעים נכנסו לכל מקום, עונש על שהמצרים ראו את ישראל בתדמית שלילית של "ותמלא הארץ אותם" (א, ז). זאת ועוד: לפי חז"ל, צפרדע אחת היתה, והמצרים היכו אותה כדי להורגה, וכל פעם שהיכו אותה, השריצה עוד צפרדעים (רש"י ח, ב). זה היה כנגד מה שנאמר על ישראל: "וכאשר יענו אותו כן ירבה וכן יפרוץ" (א, יב).
כנים: עונש על כך שהמצרים ראו את ישראל כשרצים, כמו שנאמר "וישרצו" (א, ז).
ערוב: כשדרש פרעה מהמיילדות להרוג את הזכרים, הן ענו לו: "כי חיות הנה" (א, יט). נמצא שהמצרים הכריחו את נשי ישראל ללדת בסתר כמו חיות. כעונש, ה' שילח חיות רעות במצרים.
דבר: הבהמות מתו הדבר, עונש על כך שהמצרים היו רובעים בהמות, שהרי תועבה זאת מכונה "מעשה ארץ מצרים" (ויקרא יח, ב).
שחין: החרטומים אמרו לפרעה שלא יתרשם מהמופתים שמשה עשה, כיון שהם יכולים לעשות אותם מופתים. כעונש על כך, סבלו כולם מהשחין, גם החרטומים (ט, יא).
ברד: פרעה "לא ידע את יוסף" (א, ח) שהושיע את כל תבואתם; כעונש על כך, ברד השמיד את תבואתם.
ארבה: המצרים תיעבו את בני ישראל - ראו אותם כשרצים (כאמור), ואף לא היו מוכנים לאכול עמהם באותו שולחן (בראשית מג, לב). השרץ היחיד המותר באכילה הוא הארבה (ויקרא יא, כב). לכן ה' שלח על המצרים ארבה, שכילה את כל הירק, וגם נכנסו לתוך בתיהם.
חושך: המצרים עסקו בתועבות של משכב זכור ומשכב עם בהמה (ויקרא יח, ב), דברים הנעשים בחושך. לכן הם נענשו בחושך.
בכורות: כיון שפרעה לא שחרר את "בני בכורי ישראל" (ד, כב), נענש ב"הנה אנכי הורג את בנך בכורך" (ד, כג).
Parshat Va’era
Jews are like Vermin, and they own all the Banks (even the West one)
The Torah applies a rather unflattering word to the multiplication of the Jews in Egypt, [1:7,12], “Vayishritzu”: a word used for insects (sheretz), and in the context of the Torah, not far from the word ‘abomination’ (sheketz), which is used to refer to the eating of insects.
Probably the word refers to the perception of the Egyptians – the Torah occasionally reports matters as seen by the protagonists (eg see Malbim re Bnei HaElohim’). The Jews multiplied like insects and indeed the Torah tells us that the more the Jews were punished the more they multiplied [1:12].
The Torah tells us that the Egyptians were disgusted “Vayakootzoo” (like ‘sheketz’) by the Jews. The Jews multiplied, and the Egyptians in their antiJewish hatred couldn’t stand it: even though there were only a few million Jews at most, the Egyptians considered that “the land was full of them” “Vatimaleh ha’aretz otam” [1:7], a typical anti-Semitic response.
We’ll see later that the plagues of frogs and insects was retribution for this.
And God Said to Moses: “I made you into a god”! (7:1)
The linguistic difference between references to God, humans, animals and inorganic matter is actually often blurred in the Bible, and in a surprising manner.
God tells Moses that he was being made into ‘elohim’ in relation to Pharaoh; this term is often used in the Torah to speak of God, and so its use here can be shocking in reference to a person, especially in that it is being said by God! However actually this term ‘elohim’ is used in other contexts as well.
It is most shockingly employed in the passage describing the actions of the “sons of the ‘elohim’” [Genesis 6:2], a reference which could lead the casual reader to assume a meaning which later contextual usage (for example our passage 7:1) shows to be incorrect.
Similarly, prohibitions against idolatry refer to “other ‘elohim’” meaning “other gods”, which could be interpreted naively as implying the actual existence of other gods. However the context and meaning of the word ‘elohim’ in our passage (7:1) clarifies that the word need have no theological connotations.
Not only in the places mentioned above are there surprising overlaps in the usage of terminology between different levels of beings.
The second creation account (the Garden of Eden account) refers to man and the animals by the same term - 'nefesh khaya' (living spirit);
Adam was seemingly originally directed to search among the animals for a 'helpmeet', before the creation of Eve;
The Flood account (in Genesis) refers to the pairs of animals as "man and wife" in the same way as it refers to human couples. [Compare Gen 7:2,3,7,16, 18; and 19 re animal ‘families’]
The placement of the curtains ('yeriot') in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) next to each other was referred to as “woman facing her sister” “isha el achosa” (Exodus 26:3). This wording is used elsewhere to refer to an actual woman and her sister: (Vayikra (Leviticus) 18:18 ) “Do not have relations with a woman and (in addition to) her sister” “isha el achosa”.
[In fact the word translated as ‘facing’, is ‘el’ in the first passage, and ‘el’ is used in the other passage to mean ‘with’, and so the Torah uses the exact same language in both passages, once for ‘a woman in addition to her sister’ the other time for ‘a curtain facing a curtain’.](ish el achiv?)
God tells Moses “I will make you a god to Pharaoh, and Ahron will be your prophet”! In what sense is Moses to be a god and Ahron his prophet?
Answer: God doesn’t perform the miracle directly; instead God tells Moses that when he and Ahron are in front of Pharaoh he should tell Ahron to cast his staff and it will turn into a serpent: in this way he seems to Pharaoh like a god, with his brother Ahron as his prophet.
Blood: After the ‘tanin’ episode, God sent Moses again, this time to teach Pharaoh a lesson [7:17].
Pharaoh was not to be given an additional ultimatum before the first plague would be delivered: instead Moses was to go to Pharaoh, deliver a short speech castigating him, and then immediately turn the Nile into blood; and so he did.
The magicians then also turned the Nile water into blood. And Pharaoh hardened his heart (seemingly by himself, not as a result of God’s intervention in his choices), as God had warned Moses would happen.
This reaction of Pharaoh’s might be considered reasonable - after all, his magicians had the same power as this alleged “God”!
However the crucial point is that the magicians couldn’t return the Nile to water (as can be seen from the continuation of the story - the Egyptians couldn’t find drinking water), and so Pharaoh should have been more forthcoming, he could even have requested more signs, perhaps more unequivocal ones, but instead he simply refused their request.
Frogs: The order of events for the next plague is ambiguous: [7:26 - 8:11]: God tells Moses to tell Pharaoh that if he doesn’t send out the Jews he’ll be hit with a plague of frogs. We’re not told about their delivery of this message. Instead we are told that God said to Moses “tell Ahron “pick up your staff… and bring the frogs”, but this does not seem to have been in the presence of Pharaoh.
Could it be that Moses and Ahron didn’t deliver the prior warning? Perhaps at the behest of God, canceling the order to give the warning?
We are told [8:3] that Pharoah’s magicians duplicate this miracle, presumably at his request, implying that he understood that this sudden plague of frogs was brought by Moses. This being the first plague, it was not necessarily obvious that Moses was the source, and therefore Pharaoh’s realization of this implies that indeed Moses and Ahron had carried out the warning.
As with the plague of blood, although the magicians could duplicate the bringing of frogs they couldn’t get rid of them. This time however [8:4] Pharaoh calls for Moses and asks that he pray to God to get rid of them, and he’ll send out the Jews to sacrifice to God.
It’s interesting that Pharaoh breaks at this point, but not earlier with the plague of blood.
Also, Pharaoh ask Moses to pray to God for help, rather than simply asking Moses to get rid of them. Does he believe in God? And that God sent the plagues? If so, it makes sense that he agrees to send out the Jews as requested, especially as the entire (temporary) departure is ostensibly only in order that the Jews offer sacrifices to this God.
As per Pharaoh’s request, the peace plan, Moses cries out to God about the frogs, and God does as Moses requested.
This is quite strange! Did Moses really have to pray to God to get rid of the frogs?! What was God’s plan?! Would God have otherwise let Pharaoh stew in his juice? If Pharaoh agreed to let the Jews go after the plague was cancelled, why did God not immediately cancel it?
Two reasons suggest themselves:
God wanted Pharaoh to treat Moses as the intermediary (Moses was to be as a ‘god’ to Pharaoh):
God knew that Pharaoh would not actually agree to let them go.
However, why did Moses have to actually cry out to God to cancel the plague – God knew that Moses had agreed to this peace treaty and was now required to cancel the plague, so why not just tell Moses, OK I’ll cancel it?
It seems as though Moses was willing to believe Pharaoh but God knew it was futile and so it was up to Moses to convince God to cancel the plague. Moses prayed, and so God relented. And then so did Pharaoh.
3) Lice: Interesting points:
There was no prior warning
Even though Moses did not perform the miracle in their presence the magicians understood what was happening and tried to imitate it;
The magicians tried without success to duplicate the feat and concluded that this was “the finger of God” [8:15
]Pharaoh hardened his heart even though the magicians admitted that this was from God.
4) Wild Animals: God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh and warn him that wild animals will plague him if he doesn’t send out the Jews.
The wild animals come – God sends them rather than asking Moses to tell Ahron to summon them with his staff.
The magicians are not mentioned in this context.
Pharaoh agrees that he’ll let the Jews sacrifice to God, but he says that it will be in Egypt rather than allowing them to go out to the desert!
Moses then refers [8:22] to the fact that Egyptians would object since it was anathema to them (an interesting vignette on contemporary Egyptian beliefs) and so they must go to the desert.
Pharaoh agrees, but stipulates that they shouldn’t go far – probably implying that he was afraid they’d escape. He was still heartened by the fact that this God seemed to need his permission to get the Jews out, and also since he was able to fool the God into relenting before. Moses is less naïve, and warned Pharaoh that he shouldn’t play games anymore.
Then again we are told that Moses had to pray to God to cancel the plague! And that “God did as Moses requested” rather than simply going along with the agreed-upon plan.
The wild animals disappeared and with them Pharaoh’s willingness to send out the Jews.
5) Plague (hoof and mouth, not mad cow):
God sends Moses to warn Pharaoh that a biological warfare plague was to be sent which would wipe out all his livestock, but would not affect the animals of the Jews! And so it was.
The magicians are not mentioned in this context.
We are told that Pharaoh verified that although all his animals were dying, those of the Jews were not – and nevertheless the result of this was that he hardened his heart! Perhaps he interpreted as weakness God’s mercy in killing the animals rather than Pharaoh and his people, deciding that he could eventually prevail over a God who was not capable of the same ruthlessness (killing the Egyptians) that he himself was capable of (enslaving the Jews and killing the male children).
boils: And so God again sends a plague to the Egyptians without warning, this time a bio plague affecting humans rather than just animals – but not the Jews. The plague begins with ash floating in the air [9:11] [!]:
The magicians were also affected and so could not even attempt to replicate this feat.
For the first time we are told that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart [9:12] – as God had earlier told Moses he would do – and so the plague has no emotional effect on Pharaoh.
Note the progressions:
The Magicians:
The staff into snake miracle was duplicated by the magicians but Ahron’s staff swallowed theirs.
The blood and frogs plagues were duplicated by the magicians but they couldn’t cancel them.
The lice miracle was beyond the magicians’ powers;
The wild animals and animal plague miracle was not even attempted by the magicians;
Not only was the boils plague beyond them, but it actually affected the magicians themselves, incapacitated them!
Pharaoh’s Reactions:
The staff into snake miracle and the water into blood plague didn’t affect Pharaoh.
The frog miracle made Pharaoh agree to send out the Jews, but only after the plague would be cancelled.
The magicians tried without success to duplicate the lice plague and concluded that this was “the finger of God” [8:15]. Pharaoh hardened his heart and didn’t listen to them.
After the wild animals come, Pharaoh agrees that he’ll let the Jews sacrifice to God, but he says that it will be in Egypt rather than allowing them to go out to the desert!
Boils: For the first time we are told that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart
Pharaoh agrees (with some slippage, and always reneging) to allow the adults but not the children, then he agrees to allow all but not the cattle etc, and then finally agrees to allow all to go, but still only temporarily, for the alleged religious holiday.
Egyptians Learn the Fear of God
God tells Moses to warn Pharaoh and his people that hail was on its way and they could save their animals and crops by bringing all indoors (and save themselves by staying inside as well).
God speaks at length about the purpose of the plague – to make God’s power evident to all [9:16]. It is in order to be able to accomplish this that God had previously hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not give up before this plague was sent.
For the first time God has given a warning to the Egyptian people, meant to help those who believed to escape the wrath of God.
Why did God warn them now, giving them an opportunity to escape the effects of the plague for the first time?
Answer: Pharaoh’s refusal to send out the Jews after the previous plague was only due to the fact that God had previously hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and so for the first time the coming plague was not a deserved one – except to those who disregarded God’s warning. And indeed we are told that those Egyptians who feared God heeded the call and brought all indoors and did not suffer losses as the others did.
We can see that this is the beginning of the accomplishment of God’s earlier stated desire: to bring the Egyptians to the awareness of God.
Hail mixed with fire: The hail is accompanied by tremendously loud thunder-sounds, and destroys all that is outdoors – all over Egypt except in the Jewish-settled Land of Goshen.
Again the magicians are not involved.
This time God did not intervene in Pharaoh’s heart.
Pharaoh now sings a new tune: “I sinned this time, God is righteous and I and my people are wicked. Pray to God and let God’s loud noises cease and I will send you out”.
This time Moses says he will simply raise his palms to God (as soon as he is out of the city) and it will all stop. But Moses also tells Pharaoh that he knows that Pharaoh and his servants do not yet really fear God [9:30].
Moses raises his hands to God, and all stops, and Pharaoh reneges again – without God’s intervention: but this time his servants harden their hearts as well.
We can imagine that with each successful ploy Pharaoh’s belief increases that he can play this to a successful conclusion. And now some of the servants join in, hardening their hearts as well, probably because they see that:
Pharaoh can fool God over and over again, making and breaking treaties;
God doesn’t act unilaterally to take the Jews out himself;
God doesn’t seem to be able or willing to kill or expel Pharaoh or even punish him personally.
The (Awesome) Sound of One God Clapping
Pharaoh was so frightened that he says: “Pray to God and let God’s loud noises cease and I will send you out” [9:28]: the fire mixed with hail did not frighten him as much as these sounds;
Adam and Eve heard the sound of God and were afraid;
The Jewish People ‘saw the sounds’ at Sinai, and when they heard God’s voice speaking the first two commandments they were so frightened they begged God to stop and Moses to intermediate instead.
Sounds were used by God to chase away the enemies of the Jews before they came to do battle.
...
MR tells Pharaoh [11:8 ] God’s message, including the fact that soon his servants will beg that the Jews leave, and that it will only be then that he will in fact go. And God tells MR to prepare the people for a hasty departure [12:11, 17].
This implies that the departure from Egypt:
is imminent;
is no longer contingent on Pharaoh’s ‘permission’.
The Jews indeed waited until Pharaoh and the Egyptians pressed them to leave, but it was not anymore a matter of permission.
The Jews left during the course of one or possibly two simultaneous debilitating plagues: death everywhere, and possibly with the darkness still not lifted. As a result the Egyptians could not prevent the departure of the Jews even if they had wished to. Thus, this departure was not a result made possible only by the permission of the Egyptians, but would have taken place even in its absence.
As the passage implies, basically the Egyptians merely hurried them along on their way.
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