ע"י תחבולת הבליעה של התנינים הזכיר ה' לפרעה את הפרות הבולעות של החלום המפורסם שפירש יוסף! 

מדוע שה' ישתמש במה שייראה לפרעה כמו קסם כשהוא מציג את עצמו בפני פרעה? ולמה טריק שבו מקל הליכה הופך למשהו אחר? ולמה דווקא תנין?

התורה מספרת לנו שהעבדות נבעה מפרעה ש"לא ידע את יוסף", ולכן הזכיר הקב"ה לפרעה את יוסף בתחבולת הבליעה של התנינים, שהזכירו את הפרות הבולעות של החלום המפורסם שפירש יוסף!

פרעה זה בז לא-ל שביקש לשחרר את עמו, הוא שאל מי זה האלוהים הזה שאקשיב לו? ולכן הזכיר הקב"ה לפרעה ש יוסף פירש החלום המפורסם בעזרת אותו אלוקים ששלח את משה ואהרון!

ולמה דווקא תנין? שהיו אחד מאלי מצרים!

Plague 1 of 10: "Blood":🩸 (In Hebrew: "Dumm"): 

(Dumm): Throwing the children into the Nile 🡪 The Nile water turned to blood;

דם: מימי היאור נהפכו לדם, עונש על שהמצרים השליכו את ילדי ישראל ליאור.  [חיים נהפכים למוות = מים הופכים לדם.  היאור היה  מקור החיים לכל מצרים.]

(Dumm): Throwing the children into the Nile 🡪 The Nile water turned to blood;

Note from Exodus 7:16,17,18,20 that it was the Nile which Moses & Aaron struck to turn Egypt's water to blood. The essential 'MkM' element was that the Nile was where the Egyptians had thrown the baby Jewish males, with their death symbolized by water turning to blood. 

I believe that this interpretation is so obvious it was meant to be transparent to those Egyptians with open minds. In addition I believe that the obviousness of the mkm aspect of this first plague was meant to help the Egyptians understand that like the foretold eventuality of the first-born plague (#10), the 8 other plagues which would follow would be midah-kneged-midah, meant to be interpreted as warning, and as an incentive to change their ways. 

(Note: Of course at first they didn't know there would be other plagues) 

And of course, the Nile was itself a god, and contained creatures which were venerated as gods, and so this was also a means of fulfiilling the purpose of the plagues as stated by God erlier to Moses: "and against all the gods of Egpyt will I make judgement".

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If we also want to learn to be able to interpret current events this way, perhaps it could help to delve further into the mindset of the Egyptians, what they were expected to iunderstand and see, and then to try to adapt this to our selves and our situaiotns.

The role of the Nile: Note that the plague was not really ‘blood’, ie not that the blood of the Egyptians boiled or bled out of their bodies or turned to water. The plague was about water, and about the Nile river - by hitting the Nile river water, Moses turned it to blood, and also all other water in Egypt with it. Indeed all fresh water in Egypt came from the Nile, so when the Nile turned to blood it was intended that all the water that had come from it also would turn to blood. 

This stress on the Nile - as that which is directly hit and affected, and as that which seemingly transmits the effect to all other water - is a clear reference to the role the Nile had played, and should have caused the Egyptians to wonder why the Nile was being targeted. 

In other words instead of focusing on 'blood' as the plague, they should focus on: "Our precious Nile: instead of giving life it represents death'. And then they would understand; seeing the water of the Nile - their source of life and wealth (and to some, their deity) - turned into blood by the representative of the Jews should surely have reminded the Egyptians of the Jewish babies they had drowned there, and led them to realize that it was because they threw the Jewish male children into the Nile.

 So it was a punishment as well as a warning: punishment for their past behavior, and a warning that if they do not free the Jews they would eventually die, or their prosperity would be destroyed.

[Note that the end of the ‘plagues’ was the drowning of the males of Egypt - the army -  in the reed sea, and so the beginning and end of the afflictions of Egypt is 'water turned into death' as retribution for throwing the Jewish males into the water.]

Just as the interpretation of the eventual plague of the firstborn as MkM was given first, as a key, so that it should not have been such a challenge to know how to seek to interpret the plagues, so too the first plague's interpretation as seen above is simple, and should have been understood by the Egyptians. The middle eight were more obscure, but the interpretation-key had been provided, and it was up to Pharaoh and the Egyptians to utilize it.

There is yet another level or aspect of MkM involved: When Moses first spoke to Pharaoh, it had disastrous consequences, the labour the Jews were required to perfom was made more difficult! (See Ex 5:4-18). And the Jewish People were upset and told Moses (5:21) "You have made us stink ("hiv'ashtem et reycheynu") to Pharaoh". And now God tells Moses to tell Pharaoh that the Nile's blood (instead of water) will cause the fish to die and stink, (Ex 7:18), using the same word! And indeed it happens, and is described using that word (Ex: 7:21), see below. 

כ וַיִּפְגְּעוּ אֶת-מֹשֶׁה וְאֶת-אַהֲרֹן, נִצָּבִים לִקְרָאתָם, בְּצֵאתָם, מֵאֵת פַּרְעֹה.  כאוַיֹּאמְרוּ אֲלֵהֶם, יֵרֶא ה עֲלֵיכֶם וְיִשְׁפֹּט:  אֲשֶׁר הִבְאַשְׁתֶּם אֶת-רֵיחֵנוּ, בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי עֲבָדָיו, לָתֶת-חֶרֶב בְּיָדָם, לְהָרְגֵנוּ.  ..; וְהַצֵּל לֹא-הִצַּלְתָּ, אֶת-עַמֶּךָ.

שָׁמַעְתִּי, אֶת-נַאֲקַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֲשֶׁר מִצְרַיִם, מַעֲבִדִים אֹתָם; וָאֶזְכֹּר, אֶת-בְּרִיתִיו…..ְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, מִקֹּצֶר רוּחַ, וּמֵעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה.  {פ}

 וְהַדָּגָה אֲשֶׁר-בַּיְאֹר מֵתָה, וַיִּבְאַשׁ הַיְאֹר, וְלֹא-יָכְלוּ מִצְרַיִם, לִשְׁתּוֹת מַיִם מִן-הַיְאֹר; וַיְהִי הַדָּם, בְּכָל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם…. שַׁלַּח אֶת-עַמִּי, וְיַעַבְדֻנִי.  כז וְאִם-מָאֵן אַתָּה, לְשַׁלֵּחַ:  הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי, נֹגֵף אֶת-כָּל-גְּבוּלְךָ--בַּצְפַרְדְּעִים.  כח וְשָׁרַץ הַיְאֹר, צְפַרְדְּעִים,…   רַק בַּיְאֹר, תִּשָּׁאַרְנָה…; וַיָּמֻתוּ, הַצְפַרְדְּעִים, מִן-הַבָּתִּים מִן-הַחֲצֵרֹת, וּמִן-הַשָּׂדֹת.  י וַיִּצְבְּרוּ אֹתָם, חֳמָרִם חֳמָרִם; וַתִּבְאַשׁ, הָאָרֶץ

We interpret this use by God of the same word in the Torah as a hint to us that this aspect of the plague was MkM for what the Egyptians caused - the resentment and disrespect towards Moses by the Jewish people. 

[Note: The MkM encoded in this would not necessarily have been understood by the Egyptians, so this aspect was more of a punishment than a warning.]

Note the similar term in Hebrew, recongnizable from the shapes of the letters even to those who do not read Hebrew:

The Jewish People were made by Pharaoh to resent Moshe Rabenu: 

כא  וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֲלֵהֶם, יֵרֶא ה עֲלֵיכֶם וְיִשְׁפֹּט:  אֲשֶׁר הִבְאַשְׁתֶּם אֶת-רֵיחֵנוּ, בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי עֲבָדָיו  5:21:  

הִבְאַשְׁתֶּם = בְאַשְׁ  you have caused us to be 

Therefore as a punishment (mida kneged midah):  Even if you can't read Hebrew you can spot the same word in 7:18 & 21:

   וְהַדָּגָה אֲשֶׁר-בַּיְאֹר מֵתָה, וַיִּבְאַשׁ הַיְאֹר,            and it (the Nile) wasבְאַשׁ s  =  וַיִּבְאַשׁ

The above is an example of how the plagues, as part of God's direct action in this world, can be better understand when it is seen how they follow the algorithm of "midah kneged midah" [MkM]. 

See Appendix 1 for more about how this was revealed.

Specifically, we'll attempt to understand how the plagues tie in to the pattern of Egyptian-Jewish interaction, being a sort of karmic boomerang resulting from the negative dynamic of the Egyptians towards the Jewish People, or to negative situations of the Jews which the Egyptians brought about.  

And we can see from the first example - and from the ones to follow - that to gain such an understanding one must go below the surface to a deeper level and identify the significant consequences of the plague for the Egyptians, not just the event of the plague itself, and match this as MkM to: 

a) what they did to the Jewish People, 

b) perceptions that arose in their minds about the Jewish People

c) in general what negative result occurred to the Jewish People as a result of their actions. 

And it demonstrates how as a key,we'll take as significant the language the Torah uses to describe the Jews or their actions and what they said,and our method will be to identify parallel keywords in the Biblical text itself - ie in order to match cause and effect, we'll assume that when the Torah uses parallel keywords when speaking of separate events, it is an indication of a relation between them. 

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דם: מימי היאור נהפכו לדם, עונש על שהמצרים השליכו את ילדי ישראל ליאור.  [חיים נהפכים למוות = מים הופכים לדם.  היאור היה  מקור החיים לכל מצרים.] 

1. Throwing the children into the Nile 🡪 The Nile water turned to blood. 

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We'll now see this method applied to the other plagues, and perhaps insight into this issue can help us as in interpreting events in our own lives, or in our own historical times....

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An attempted explanation of the rest of the 10 plagues according to "mida kneged midah"/divinely instituted Karma. 

Thematic & scriptural wording-parallels motivating the attribution of the plagues to "mida keneged midah": 

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The warning of Nile --> Blood was not understood and went unheeded, and so the Egyptians encountered Plague #:

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2/10. Frogs  🐸 (Tzfardea): When the Egyptians encountered this second plague (of frogs) as a result of not heeding the warning of the first (blood), they were meant to understand that this plague was similarly be interpreted as divine karmic warning, though they were being challenged by the plagues' interpretation not being quite so transparently obvious as was that of the first (Nile water turning to blood).

The Torah tells us that God tells Moses (Ex 7:28) that the frogs will enter their homes and eveninto their ovens! And they will fill the land, and so I believe this was the effect we need to focus on: in other words it wasn't necessarily the specific aspect of there being frogs that was important, but rather it was all to remind the Egyptians about something related to the frogs being everywhere ie to remind them that they had said "The Jews are multiplying, they're filling up the land".  

B) Another hint: re the passage "as they were inflicted so did they multiply" יב וְכַאֲשֶׁר יְעַנּוּ אֹתוֹ, כֵּן יִרְבֶּה וְכֵן יִפְרֹץ: [1:12] .

According to the midrash God sent one frog, and Egyptians hit it to chase it away, but it split each time it was hit. Either it was one huge frog coveribg all Egypt, which then split, or there was only one and it split and split until they filled the land.

The way that I understand this midrash is that it is meant (not literally of course but rather as) a key to the mida kneged midah aspect: the Torah says about the Jews when they were enslaved that “the more they were punished the more they multiplied”, and so I believe that the Rabbis taught this midrash as a subtle round-about way of pointing out that the plague of frogs was related to this punishment in a "mida kneged midah" way.

[Note also that this word 'punishment' is used in the prophecy to Abraham re the 400 years, and there is of course also the prophecy that his descendants would be so numerous, so perhaps the Torah is hinting that in a way this was a painful mechanism to bring about a desired result.]

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Technical point: The Torah sometimes reports events as they were seen & understood by the humans at the time [ "דברה תורה כלשון בני אדם [ ""בני האלהים"    אעשה שפטים]". And in the case of the Bnei Yisroel in Mitzrayim, the situation was described (to some degree) in terms of how the Egyptians viewed it - eg that "The Jews are everywhere, there's nowhere you can go without seeing one of them" even if this was not literally true, and so the Torah is not telling us that indeed the land was full of Jews but rather that this is what the Egyptians felt or claimed. 

Note the words:

 זו ּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, פָּרוּ וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ וַיִּרְבּוּ וַיַּעַצְמוּ--בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד; וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ, אֹתָם.  

So I am interpreting this as the anti-Jewish perception of the Egyptians, rather than as a matter of fact conveyed by the Torah; or it was an anti-Jewish attitude, a reaction to the fact that despite the slavery they were subjected to, the Jews were indeed multiplying so much (So the message to the Egyptians was: if you didn't like the Jewish people filling up your land, let them go free!).

Similarly in the rest of this commentary, various terms used in the chumash's description of the Jews in Egypt and of their situation there will be seen as a pejorative term used by the Egyptians, and therefore as a clue to what they will be punished for.

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(Tzfardea): The Torah tells us explicitly that the frogs were everywhere, using many words to make the point. This was in punishment for the negative perception of the Jews by the Egyptians, (as mentioned earlier) that “the land was full of them”.[1] {According to the midrash God sent one giant frog, and Egyptians hit it to chase it away, but it split each time it was hit until it filled the land: so too it says about the Jews when they were enslaved: “the more they were punished the more they multiplied” [1:12]}

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C) Furthermore, we again have the very same 'stink' effect of the plague that occured with the first plague (Nile to blood, causing the Nile to stink) - Pharaoh begged for the frog-plague to be rescinded, so Moses prayed to God, and God caused all the frogs to die, and this caused the whole land to stink! And the expression used , see (Ex 8:10), is exactly the one we encountered earlier, in the first plague.

(Then it was the effect of the plague, now it was the effect of the recinding of the plague!):

·      כח וְשָׁרַץ הַיְאֹר, צְפַרְדְּעִים,…   רַק בַּיְאֹר, תִּשָּׁאַרְנָה…; וַיָּמֻתוּ, הַצְפַרְדְּעִים, מִן-הַבָּתִּים מִן-הַחֲצֵרֹת, וּמִן-הַשָּׂדֹת.  י וַיִּצְבְּרוּ אֹתָם, חֳמָרִם חֳמָרִם; וַתִּבְאַשׁ, הָאָרֶץ

.כ וַיִּפְגְּעוּ אֶת-מֹשֶׁה וְאֶת-אַהֲרֹן, נִצָּבִים לִקְרָאתָם, בְּצֵאתָם, מֵאֵת פַּרְעֹה.  כאוַיֹּאמְרוּ אֲלֵהֶם, יֵרֶא ה עֲלֵיכֶם וְיִשְׁפֹּט:  אֲשֶׁר הִבְאַשְׁתֶּם אֶת-רֵיחֵנוּ, בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי עֲבָדָיו, לָתֶת-חֶרֶב בְּיָדָם, לְהָרְגֵנוּ.  ..; וְהַצֵּל לֹא-הִצַּלְתָּ, אֶת-עַמֶּךָ. …; וַיָּמֻתוּ, הַצְפַרְדְּעִים, מִן-הַבָּתִּים מִן-הַחֲצֵרֹת, וּמִן-הַשָּׂדֹת.  י וַיִּצְבְּרוּ אֹתָם, חֳמָרִם חֳמָרִם; וַתִּבְאַשׁ, הָאָרֶץ

MkM as both divine warning & punishment

Usually 'karma' is meant as a type of cause effect, where bad actions cause bad results and v.v., as a higher-level law of Nature. However we are referring here to Divine-instigated 'karmic' events:

1. As a warning lest one continue to do the bad, or as a sign of encouragement to again do the good (an אות etc).  

2. Punishment, meted out in severity according to what was done but also in the same vein ( מידה כנגד מידה mida keneged midah). Similarly regarding positive occurences following good actions.

God's strategy

The God who made the plagues and split the sea also created the universe and made the land, and could have simply taken the Jews out on wings of Eagles, without plagues, without asking Pharaoh. God could also at the same time have punished Pharaoh if that was necessary. So the plagues were not to punish nor to enable the Jews to flee, they were instead meant in order to show God’s existence.

But wouldn't taking the Jews out on wings of eagles show God's existence?

No. It would be considered some type of magic. Instead, as we will see it was all done according to karma, cause-effect, to get the Egyptians to ‘wake-up’, and to bring them to the understanding that there is a God in charge of nature, and of humanity. 

Why would this be realized by the Egyptians?

Yitro tell Moshe Rabenu his son in law that he knew it was God acting because "badavar asher zadu" which Tradition tells us means "the Egyptians were punished mida kneged mida". This is meant to tell us that the notion existed in the greater culture of that region at that time, or that if Yitro could figure it out, so could Pharaoh, particularly after Moses told him specifically that the first-borns of Egypt would die as a result of his afflicting God's firstborn nation.

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A note about interpreting Midrash: Understanding what chazal actually meant (in the medrashim about the plagues): part of the secret is hidden/revealed by the Midrash

God gives us a key, but puts it under the front-door-mat, ie it is easy to find if looking for it, and if have understanding, wisdom and experience with midrash.

Understanding the medrash re the 2nd plague, tzfardea (frog): 

According to the literal reading of the Torah, of "vata'al Hatzfardea" (frog singular), there was only one frog at first, and it covered all Egypt.

So this taken at face value means one frog the size of Egypt!

This would however be an absurd interpretation - one huge frog, in other words it was hundreds of miles long and wide and thick. 

Surely this would have been mentioned prominently in the chumash, such an incredible miracle. And it would have killed many Egyptians as it hopped about, each webbed flat foot was let's say twenty miles by twenty miles with a crushing weight of hundreds of tons. 

And the medrash says the E(gyptian)s hit it and it divided, but surely one large frog is a greater punishent than two smaller ones, and surely chazal (the Rabbis) meant to imply that hitting it made matters worse! And then there would be 4 even smaller ones etc; and a plague of usual-sized frogs filling everything is still less punishment than one huge frog crushing everyone.

And taking it all very literally leads to logic issue: a million Egyptians hitting it in different parts of Egypt, so the first Egyptian to hit it in one place, it split into two, but where where each of the two? ie suddenly each Egyptian was faced with a different reality, where there were now two huge frogs each 1/2 the size of Egypt, and one was right in front if them, so the 8 legs of the two 1/2 sized frogs were now in different places than the 4 legs of the one larger frog, and so the legs suddenly appearing must have crushed thousands of those who were previously standing clear, and a split second later another Egyptian somewhere else hit the one near him and it split into two, causing disaster where the new 4 frogs were, and this happened millions of times in a few minutes as all Egyptians were hitting them - causing disaster everywhere!? Clearly it doesnt even make sense taking it literally, or trying to figure out what would have happened if it was literally true, as we just did now. 

So it is clear to me that chazal meant that we should not pay attention to that part of the medrash which is an absurdity, and that instead we should pay attention to the fact that the Egyptians were hitting it and it made things worse, and specifically that the 'worse' was that the frog(s) multiplied; and even more, that that their multiplying was seemingly in direct proportion to the amount of beating! 

In other words, by stating that the frog split and split again each time it was hit, chazal is pointing to the mkm for the plague as I pointed out; ie chazal meant to reference the words "kaasher inu osam ken yarbeh veken yifrotz",  etc. In other words the medrash means not that the Egyptians hit those frogs, nor that there was only one initially (they were all ordinary sized, why hit them, instead the Egyptians probably tried to kill them or chase them away), but rather chazal is telling us in this roundabout way that the key to understanding why frogs were sent altogether is to look at the earlier statement made by the Torah "kaasher inu otam ken yarbeh veken yifrotz".

This I believe is the deeper meaning of chazal in that medrash.

And this gives us a further key to interpreting the plagues: not just to add in separately that the plagues were MkM, but rather that it is a key to tying the various parts of the Torah's account together - we should look at the Torah text to see what the Egyptians did to the Jews, how the Chumash describes those actions and their effects, and then use THAT as a key to find the MkM of the plagues!!! 

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Note: Perhaps this type of interpretation of the intent of a midrash can also serve as a paradigm for how to interpret other midrashim.

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But this warning was not understood and went unheeded.

 And so as punishment and warning [karmic cause-effect MkM], they were afflicted by vermin (lice):

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Understanding the medrash re the 2nd plague, tzfardea (frog): chazal give us an absurd interprtation of "vata'al Hatzfardea" (frog singular), that it was one huge frog, in other words it was hundreds of miles long and wide and thick. It is absurd because surely this would have been mentioned in the chumash, such an incredible miracle, and it would have killed many Egyptians as it hopped about, each webbed flat foot was let's say twenty miles by twenty miles with a crushing weight of hundreds of tons. And the medrash says the E(gyptian)s hit it and it divided, but surely one large frog is a greater punishent than two smaller ones, and surely chazal meant to imply that hitting it made matters worse! And then there would be 4 even smaller ones etc.; and a plague of usual-sized frogs filling everyhitng is still less punishment than one huge frog crushing everyone,

And taking it all very literally leads to logic issue: a million E's hitting it in different parts of E, so the first E to hit it in one place, it split into two, but where where each of the two? ie suddenly each E'n was faced with a different reality, where there were now two huge frogs each 1/2 the size of E, and one was right in front if them, so the 8 legs of the two 1/2 sized frogs were now in different places than the 4 legs of the one larger frog, and so the legs suddenly appearing must have crushed thousands of those who were previously standing clear, and a split second later another E somewhere else hit the one near him and it split into two, causing disaster where the new 4 frogs were, and this happened millions of times in a few minutes as all E's were hitting them - causing disaster everywhere!? Clearly it doesnt even make sense taking it literally.

So it is clear to me that chazal meant that we should not pay attention to that part of the medrash which is an absurdity, and that instead we should pay attention to the fact that the E's were hitting it and it made things worse, and specifically that the 'worse' was that they multiplied, and even more, that that their multiplying was seemingly in directproportion to the amount of beating! In other words chazal is pointing to the mkm for the plague as I pointed out (ie chazal meant to reference the words "kaasher inu osam ken yarbeh veken yifrotz", etc.);[In other words the medrash means not that the E's hit those frogs, nor that there was only one initially (they were all ordinary sized, why hit them, instead the probably tried to kill them or chase them away)]

This I believe is the deeper meaning of chazal in that medrash.

And this gives us a further key: not just MkM, but that we should look to see what the Egyptians did to the Jews, how the Chumash describes those actions and their effects, and then use THAT as a key to find the MkM of the plagues!!!

Technical point: The Torah sometimes reports events as they were seen & understood by the humans at the time [ "דברה תורה כלשון בני אדם [ ""בני האלהים" אעשה שפטים]". And in the case of the Bnei Yisroel in Mitzrayim, the situation was described (to some degree) in terms of how the Egyptians viewed it - eg that "The Jews are everywhere, there's nowhere you can go without seeing one of them" even if this was not literally true, and so the Torah is not telling us that indeed the land was full of Jews but rather that this is what the Egyptians felt or claimed.

Note the words:

זו ּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, פָּרוּ וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ וַיִּרְבּוּ וַיַּעַצְמוּ--בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד; וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ, אֹתָם.

So I am interpreting this as the anti-Jewish perception of the Egyptians, rather than as a matter of fact conveyed by the Torah; or it was an anti-Jewish attitude, a reaction to the fact that despite the slavery they were subjected to, the Jews were indeed multiplying so much (So the message to the Egyptians was: if you didn't like the Jewish people filling up your land, let them go free!).

Similarly in the rest of this commentary, various terms used in the chumash's description of the Jews in Egypt and of their situation there will be seen as a pejorative term used by the Egyptians, and therefore as a clue to what they will be punished for.

C) Furthermore, we again have the same effect of the plague - Pharaoh begged for the plague to be rescinded, so Moses prayedto God, and God caused all the frogs to die, and this caused the whole land to stink! And the expression used , see (Ex 8:10), is exactly the one we encountered earlier, in the first plague (then it was the effect of the plague, now it was the effect of the recinding of the plague!):

· כח וְשָׁרַץ הַיְאֹר, צְפַרְדְּעִים,… רַק בַּיְאֹר, תִּשָּׁאַרְנָה…; וַיָּמֻתוּ, הַצְפַרְדְּעִים, מִן-הַבָּתִּים מִן-הַחֲצֵרֹת, וּמִן-הַשָּׂדֹת. י וַיִּצְבְּרוּ אֹתָם, חֳמָרִם חֳמָרִם; וַתִּבְאַשׁ, הָאָרֶץ

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(Tzfardea): The Torah tells us explicitly that the frogs were everywhere, using many words to make the point. This was in punishment for the negative perception of the Jews by the Egyptians, (as mentioned earlier) that “the land was full of them”. {According to the midrash God sent one giant frog, and Egyptians hit it to chase it away, but it split each time it was hit until it filled the land: so too it says about the Jews when they were enslaved: “the more they were punished the more they multiplied” [1:12]}

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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)., יב).

Add re tzefardea: instead of just using chazal to support my idea, I can say it is the reason chazal said this, ie  mybe this is the reason that chazal said that about hitting the frog, they were making the point that the frog issue was meant by God as a reminder of what happened when they oppressed the Jews.

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2. Frogs

צפרדע:  : 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).

The Torah tells us explicitly that the frogs were everywhere, using many words to make the point, 

 וְסָרוּ הַצְפַרְדְּעִים, מִמְּךָ וּמִבָּתֶּיךָ, וּמֵעֲבָדֶיךָ, וּמֵעַמֶּךָ:  רַק בַּיְאֹר, תִּשָּׁאַרְנָה.

" And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.' And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.  י  וַיִּצְבְּרוּ אֹתָם, חֳמָרִם חֳמָרִם; וַתִּבְאַשׁ, הָאָרֶץ.   And they gathered them together in heaps; and the land stank. ט  וַיַּעַשׂ ה, כִּדְבַר מֹשֶׁה; וַיָּמֻתוּ, הַצְפַרְדְּעִים, מִן-הַבָּתִּים מִן-הַחֲצֵרֹת, וּמִן-הַשָּׂדֹת."

We are meant to understand something from all this: namely, that it was in punishment for the negative perception of the Jews by the Egyptians, that “the land was full of them”[1] . 

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3/10. Lice 🐛: The Torah describes the Jews multiplying in Egypt using the term 'vayishritzu' זו ּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, פָּרוּ וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ וַיִּרְבּוּ וַיַּעַצְמוּ--בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד [1:7,12], 

(Kinim): As we saw earlier the Egyptians viewed the Jews as insects {[1:7,12] “Vayishritzu” } so they were afflicted by lice;

Generally this term is used for lower forms of life (see the creation account in Genesis), and the root is the word "sheretz" meaning insect. My speculative intepretation is that perhaps the use of this term is meant to indicate that the Egyptians viewed the Jews as insects, and so the multiplication they complained about was described by the Torah using the terms and viewpoint of the Egyptians, not God's choice of words to describe the fruitfulness of the Jewish People. 

Also, the Torah tells us of the Egyptiain reaction to the Jewish People: "vayakutzu "= disgusted in the way one reacts to an insect, to lice or a person infested with lice:   יב וְכַאֲשֶׁר יְעַנּוּ אֹתוֹ, כֵּן יִרְבֶּה וְכֵן יִפְרֹץ; וַיָּקֻצוּ, מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.  יג 

So I speculatively interpret the plague as having a specific purpose: when the Egyptians suffered the plague of insects, lice, they were meant to understand that it was in retribution for viewing the Jews this way, and then to relent and let the Jews go free.  

.

Also: According to Tradition, the Jews stopping making babies due to the edict of killing their baby boys. So I propose that as midah kneged midah, Hashem made the Egyptians undesireable to each other (by having them all filled with lice) so while the Jews stopped reproducing, the Egyptians too didn't make babies.

In this inteprretation that I offer, the Egyptians were meant to think "wow look, we caused the Jews to stop having babues, ad now due to their God;s actions on their behalf we also have stopped - we really should let the Jews leave."

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3. (Kinim): כנים: lice 

עונש על כך שהמצרים ראו את ישראל כשרצים, כמו שנאמר "וישרצו" (א, ז)

3/10. Lice : The Torah describes the Jews multiplying in Egypt using the term 'vayishritzu' זו ּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, פָּרוּ וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ וַיִּרְבּוּ וַיַּעַצְמוּ--בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד [1:7,12],

Generally this term is used for lower forms of life (see the creation account in Genesis), and the root is the word "sheretz" meaning insect. My inteprretation is that perhaps the use of this term is meant to indicate that the Egyptians viewed the Jews as insects, leading the multiplication they complained about to be described by the Torah using their terms and viewpoint.

Also, the Torah tells us of the Egyptiain reaction to the Jewish People: "vayakutzu "= disgusted in the way one reacts to an insect, to lice or a person infested with lice.

So when the Egyptians suffered the plague of insects, lice, they were meant to understand that it was in retribution for viewing the Jews this way, and then to relent and let the Jews go free.

.

Also: According to Tradition, the Jews stopping making babies due to the edict of killing their baby boys. So I propose that as midah kneged midah, Hashem made the Egyptians undesireable to each other (by having them all filled with lice) so while the Jews stopped reproducing, the Egyptians too didn't make babies.

In this inteprretation that I offer, the Egyptians were meant to think "wow look, we caused the Jews to stop having babues, ad now due to their God;s actions on their behalf we also have stopped - we really should let the Jews leave."

But they didn;t wake up to the message, and so they received:

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כנים: עונש על כך שהמצרים ראו את ישראל כשרצים, כמו שנאמר "וישרצו" (א, ז).kinim, shchin: Hashem made the Egyptians undesireable to each other (by having them all filled with lice and boils) so they didn't make babies, as midah kneged midah for the Jews stopping to make babies due to gzera of killing baby boys.

 (Kinim): As we saw earlier the Egyptians viewed the Jews as insects {[1:7,12] “Vayishritzu” } so they were afflicted by lice;

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A plague-effect parallel to the Egyptian attitude to the Jews, not wanting to eat with them, now the fact that the Jews are ghettoed n Goshen backfires: 

 וַיָּשִׂימוּ לוֹ לְבַדּוֹ, וְלָהֶם לְבַדָּם; וְלַמִּצְרִים הָאֹכְלִים אִתּוֹ, לְבַדָּם--כִּי לֹא יוּכְלוּן הַמִּצְרִים לֶאֱכֹל אֶת-הָעִבְרִים לֶחֶם, כִּי-תוֹעֵבָה הִוא לְמִצְרָיִם. 

The plague was only in the Egyptian-settled areas:

, אֶת-הֶעָרֹב; וּמָלְאוּ בָּתֵּי מִצְרַיִם, אֶת-הֶעָרֹב, וְגַם הָאֲדָמָה, אֲשֶׁר-הֵם עָלֶיהָ.  יח וְהִפְלֵיתִי בַיּוֹם הַהוּא אֶת-אֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן, אֲשֶׁר עַמִּי עֹמֵד עָלֶיהָ, לְבִלְתִּי הֱיוֹת-שָׁם, עָרֹב…  וְשַׂמְתִּי פְדֻת, בֵּין עַמִּי וּבֵין עַמֶּךָ ...

4/10. 'Arov': Plague of wild (dangerous) creatures 🦁: 

What were these creatures? They came in a swarm, so some assume it means flies, however the Traditional interpretation is that the swarming was unnatural, part of the plague, and the creatures were large predators, 'wild animals', and possibly also dangerous creatures such as scorpions and poisonous snakes. 

Midrash Tehillim 78:7 https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tehillim.78.7?lang=bi   ישלח בהם ערוב. ר' יהודה אומר נשריתא. רבי נחמיה אומר ערוב מלמטן. דובין ואריות ונמרים מלמעלן. רבי נתן אומר מלמעלן ערוב נרגזין ראות ועורבין ועופות. מלמטן אריות ונמרים וזאבים. רבי חמא ור' יהושע שניהם אומרים מין חיה הוא ושמו פנחרין והביאו הקב"ה.

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Rashbam: https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tehillim.78.7?lang=bi 

הערוב - אומר אני, כי מיני זאבים הם שנקראים ערוב, על שם שדרכם לטרוף בלילות, כדכתיב: (ירמיה ה, ו) זאב ערבות ישדדם וכתיב: (צפניהג, ג) זאבי ערב לא גרמו לבקר.

This is also a very strange plague, however we can find the reason for it using our key explored above:

As described in the Torah, Pharaoh ordered the Jewish midwives to kill the male children, and they refused. When they were confronted, to justify why the birth-mothers couldn't kill the newborn Jewish males, they gave the excuse that the Jewish women gave birth on their own, like wild creatures do! See Exodus [1:19] 'Chayos hena' :  כִּי-חָיוֹת הֵנָּה, בְּטֶרֶם תָּבוֹא אֲלֵהֶן הַמְיַלֶּדֶת וְיָלָדוּ

.

I speculate therefore that  the Egyptians were plagued by 'wild animals' for two reasons:

1. as punishment for forcing the Jewish women to give birth in secret sometimes, alone in the bushes like wild animals;

2. and as retribution for forcing the holy Jewish birth-mothers (midwives) into a situation where they had to compare the holy Jewish women to wild animals.

What were the Egyptians supposed to think?: How can we perhaps learn to recognize the meaning of strange events? Can we trace the process the Egyptians were meant to go through and learn from that? I speculate that seeing all the wild animals descend on them, Pharaoh and his servants were meant to think of this term 'wild animals', and then to remember when it was used recently, and remember the connection to the Jewish people, and to understand therefore this plague was meant to remind them of this term, and then that they were being punished by wild animals for forcing the Jews to hide their helping with the baby-births.

And not just remind, but also to serve as a warning - ie the Egyptians were meant to think "wow look, we caused their women to give birth like wild animals, and indeed their own midwives said that, and now their God is sending these wild animals against us - we really should let the Jews leave." 

.

And again we have the theme that they will fill the houses of the Egyptians (8:17,20), ie they will be everywhere, as the Egyptians perceived the Jews to be.מָלְאוּ בָּתֵּי מִצְרַיִם, אֶת-הֶעָרֹב

 …

And note there was a clear distinction between the effect on the Egyptians and on the Jews 8:19, so that it should have been clear that it was directed against the Egyptians, for the purpose of helping the Jewish People.

..

(Arov): Pharaoh ordered the Jewish midwives to kill the male children, and they refused, using the excuse that the Jewish women gave birth on their own, like wild animals ‘Chayos Hena’ [1:19]: as punishment for forcing the Jewish women to give birth in secret or alone like wild animals, or to force the comparison with wild animals, the Egyptians were plagued by wild animals;

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4. (Arov): wild animals

 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

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.

 (Arov): Pharaoh ordered the Jewish midwives to kill the male children, and they refused, using the excuse that the Jewish women gave birth on their own, like wild animals ‘Chayos Hena’ [1:19]: as punishment for forcing the Jewish women to give birth in secret or alone like wild animals, or as punishment for forcing   the holy midwives to compare the Jewish women to wild animals

, the Egyptians were plagued by wild animals;

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A note about interpreting Midrash: Understanding what chazal actually meant (in the medrashim about the plagues):

God gives us a key, but puts it under the front-door-mat, ie it is easy to find if looking for it, and if have understanding wisdom and experience with midrash.

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And this type of interpretation of the intent of a midrash can perhaps also serve as a paradigm for how to interpret other midrashim.

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Makos as MkM: Dever: animals died then h’ says strange thing, that "I could have killed all of you people also", maybe this trengthens th notion that it is bec of mishkav behema, that h could have made it contagious to the humans who consorted with them.

Typo in ‘dever’: third word: should be ‘me’hadever’ [ “hadever” instead of “badever”]

Shchin: quote pasuk which says chartumim had it too.

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5. Dever: Disease affecting domesticated animalsדבר: 

הבהמות מתו  בדבר, עונש על כך שהמצרים היו רובעים בהמות, שהרי תועבה זאת מכונה "מעשה ארץ מצרים" 

 (ויקרא יח, ב).[ כמו: "ועברתי בארץ מצרים בלילה הזה והכיתי כל בכור בארץ מצרים מאדם ועד בהמה ובכל אלהי מצרים אעשה שפטים "]

4/10. Plague of wild creatures :

Midrash Tehillim 78:7 https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tehillim.78.7?lang=bi ישלח בהם ערוב. ר' יהודה אומר נשריתא. רבי נחמיה אומר ערוב מלמטן. דובין ואריות ונמרים מלמעלן. רבי נתן אומר מלמעלן ערוב נרגזין ראות ועורבין ועופות. מלמטן אריות ונמרים וזאבים. רבי חמא ור' יהושע שניהם אומרים מין חיה הוא ושמו פנחרין והביאו הקב"ה.

...

Rashbam: https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tehillim.78.7?lang=bi

הערוב - אומר אני, כי מיני זאבים הם שנקראים ערוב, על שם שדרכם לטרוף בלילות, כדכתיב: (ירמיה ה, ו) זאב ערבות ישדדם וכתיב: (צפניהג, ג) זאבי ערב לא גרמו לבקר.

This is also a very strange plague, however we can find the reason for it using our key explored above:

As described in the Torah, Pharaoh ordered the Jewish midwives to kill the male children, and they refused. When they were confronted, to justify why the birth-mothers couldn't kill the newborn Jewish males, they gave the excuse that the Jewish women gave birth on their own, like wild creatures do! see Ex [1:19] 'Chayos hena' : כִּי-חָיוֹת הֵנָּה, בְּטֶרֶם תָּבוֹא אֲלֵהֶן הַמְיַלֶּדֶת וְיָלָדוּ

.

I speculate therefore that the Egyptians were plagued by wild animals (which inlcuded carnovires and poisonous insects (scorpions) and snakes for two reasons:

1. as punishment for forcing the Jewish women to give birth in secret sometimes, alone in the bushes like wild animals;

2. and as retribution for forcing the holy Jewish birth-mothers (midwives) into a situation where they had to compare the holy Jewish women to wild animals.

What were the Egyptians supposed to think?: How can we perhaps learn to recognize the meaning of strange events? Can we trace the process the Egyptians were meant to go through and learn from that? I speculate that seeing all the wild animals descend on them, Pharaoh and his servants were meant to think of this term 'wild animals', and then to remember when it was used recently, and remember the connection to the Jewish people, and to understand therefore this plague was meant to remind them of this term, and then that they were being punished by wild animals for forcing the Jews to hide their helping with the baby-births.

And not just remind, but also to serve as a warning - ie the Egyptians were meant to think "wow look, we caused their women to give birth like wild animals, and indeed their own midwives said that, and now their God is sending these wild animals against us - we really should let the Jews leave."

.

And again we have the theme that they will fill the houses of the Egyptians (8:17,20), ie they will be everywhere, as the Egyptians perceived the Jews to be.מָלְאוּ בָּתֵּי מִצְרַיִם, אֶת-הֶעָרֹב

…

And note there was a clear distinction between the effect on the Egyptians and on the Jews 8:19, so that it should have been clear that it was directed against the Egyptians, for the purpose of helping the Jewish People.

..

5. (Dever): Why were the animals stricken if it was their masters the Egyptians who were guilty? God warns the Jews after leaving Egypt not to be like the Egyptians: not to engage in bestiality; as a result of their perversion the animals were afflicted by a plague (virus?) [similar to the situation before the Flood];

5/10. 'Dever': The (virus?): A plague killing the Egyptians' domesticated animals:

And God writes in the Torah the word that is parallel to Pharaoh's word, 'davar' spelled the same as 'dever', the next-to-next plague, to describe the fact that the plague was only in the Egyptian-settled areas, not where the Jews where:

....

The word used for the plague is 'dever', and this word is used by Moses to Pharaoh in requesting that the Jews be allowed to leave, Moshe Rabenu had to make excuses for why they had to go, ie that their Gid would be angry at them if they did not and would afflict them with a plague or the sword , and saying this was a negative statement about God and the relationship to the Jewish People

: Ex 5:3: ג וַיֹּאמְרוּ, אֱ-י הָעִבְרִים נִקְרָא עָלֵינוּ; נֵלְכָה נָּא דֶּרֶךְ שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים בַּמִּדְבָּר, וְנִזְבְּחָה לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ--פֶּן-יִפְגָּעֵנוּ, בַּדֶּבֶר אוֹ בֶחָרֶב.  

As a result, the plague of 'dever': Even if you don;t read Hebrew you can spot the same letter-shapes of the key word:

כִּי עַתָּה שָׁלַחְתִּי אֶת-יָדִי, וָאַךְ אוֹתְךָ וְאֶת-עַמְּךָ בַּדָּבֶר; 

So I offer the speculation that this plague was partially as a result of this, a MkM punishment and warning to Pharaoh.

.........

ד וְהִפְלָה ה' בֵּין מִקְנֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּבֵין מִקְנֵה מִצְרָיִם; וְלֹא יָמוּת מִכָּל-לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, דָּבָר

using the same word that Pharaoh says (as we'll soon see) regarding the extra work he assigned:

..קְחוּ לָכֶם תֶּבֶן, מֵאֲשֶׁר, תִּמְצָאוּ:  כִּי אֵין נִגְרָע מֵעֲבֹדַתְכֶם, דָּבָר…

However, the Egyptians didn't wake up to the message, and so they received:

....

דבר: הבהמות מתו  בדבר, עונש על כך שהמצרים היו רובעים בהמות, שהרי תועבה זאת מכונה "מעשה ארץ מצרים"  God warns the Jews after leaving Egypt not to be like the Egyptians: not to engage in bestiality (ויקרא יח, ב).[ כמו: "ועברתי בארץ מצרים בלילה הזה והכיתי כל בכור בארץ מצרים מאדם ועד בהמה ובכל אלהי מצרים אעשה שפטים "]

(Dever): Why were the animals stricken if it was their masters the Egyptians who were guilty? God warns the Jews after leaving Egypt not to be like the Egyptians: not to engage in bestiality; as a result of their perversion the animals were afflicted by a plague (virus?) [similar to the situation before the Flood];

.....

And note there was a clear distinction between the effect on the Egyptians and on the Jews. See 9:4,6:

"behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the herds, and upon the flocks; there shall be a very grievous murrain. ד  וְהִפְלָה יְהוָה--בֵּין מִקְנֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּבֵין מִקְנֵה מִצְרָיִם; וְלֹא יָמוּת מִכָּל-לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, דָּבָר.   4 And the LORD shall make a division between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that belongeth to the children of Israel.'.  וַיָּמָת, כֹּל מִקְנֵה מִצְרָיִם; וּמִמִּקְנֵה בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, לֹא-מֵת אֶחָד. and all the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one."

So it was clear that it was directed against the Egyptians, for the purpose of helping the Jewish People. The earlier plagues were said by the Torah to have afflicted the Egyptians, seeming to imply that the Jews were immune, and God had said at the previous plague that the Jews would be spared, but maybe the Egyptians didn;t realize this; here however it was obvous to all the Egyptians that this was the case, and 9:7 tells us that Pharaoh explicitly verified this, and yet 'his heart was hardened'.

But why were the animals stricken if it was their masters the Egyptians who were guilty?y

I will speculate that this too is a form of MkM, ie that it is not a random fact that the animals were affected.

Of course the plagues were also directed against the Egyptians gods, many of whom were animals, but I propose that this aspect of the plague was also as a reaction to realities in Egypt, as follows:

1 We know from Joseph's warnings to his brothers when they moved with their families and flocks to Egypt that the Egyptians considered the Jews an abomination because they were sheep-herders etc ( and also the Egyptians somewhat worshipped their cows), and so they were punished by losing their own animals.

2. God warns the Jews after leaving Egypt not to be like the Egyptians: not to engage in bestiality ; as a result of their perversion the animals were afflicted by a plague (virus?) [similar to the situation before the Flood, where animlas were said by the Torah to have corrupted their ways and were annihilated as well as humans.] 

There is a Traditional source which states that it was only divine mercy which prevented the animal-plague from affecting the Egyptians themselves. We can understand that in the context of this interpretation. The underlying message was that the plague was punishment for contact between the Egyptians and their animals - indeed the Torah tells us later that that Egypt was cursed by God for engaging in bestiality (and that was one of the reasons God felt it was urgent to remove the Jews from Egypt lest they be influenced). So in this sense the plague was a form of MkM.

.

 וַיֹּאמְרוּ, אֱ' הָעִבְרִים נִקְרָא עָלֵינוּ; נֵלְכָה נָּא דֶּרֶךְ שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים בַּמִּדְבָּר, וְנִזְבְּחָה לַה' אֱ'נוּ--פֶּן-יִפְגָּעֵנוּ, בַּדֶּבֶר אוֹ בֶחָרֶב.  ד וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם, מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם, לָמָּה מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן, תַּפְרִיעוּ אֶת-הָעָם מִמַּעֲשָׂיו; לְכוּ, לְסִבְלֹתֵיכֶם. …

נִרְפִּים הֵם--עַל-כֵּן הֵם צֹעֲקִים לֵאמֹר, נֵלְכָה נִזְבְּחָה לֵאלֹקְינוּ. …..קְחוּ לָכֶם תֶּבֶן, מֵאֲשֶׁר, תִּמְצָאוּ:  כִּי אֵין נִגְרָע מֵעֲבֹדַתְכֶם, דָּבָר…

Note that Pharaoh spoke against God, or mocking the Jewish connection to God.

 Pharaoh mow says  

קְחוּ לָכֶם תֶּבֶן, מֵאֲשֶׁר, תִּמְצָאוּ

יב וַיָּפֶץ הָעָם, בְּכָל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם, לְקֹשֵׁשׁ קַשׁ, לַתֶּבֶן.  

So the Jews were totally demeaned and dehumanized having now to find straw, perhaps eve to fight the animals to take their food, ie the straw. 

Based on all the above including

פֶּן-יִפְגָּעֵנוּ, בַּדֶּבֶר

כִּי אֵין נִגְרָע מֵעֲבֹדַתְכֶם, דָּבָר.

the plague was to kill those animals (who maybe tried to prevent the Jews from taking straw), animals the Egyptians depended on for thor livelihood, with “dever”, and this was meant to remind the Egyptians of all the above.

....

5/10. 'Dever': The (virus?): A plague killing the Egyptians' domesticated animals:

"behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the herds, and upon the flocks; there shall be a very grievous murrain. ד וְהִפְלָה יְהוָה--בֵּין מִקְנֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּבֵין מִקְנֵה מִצְרָיִם; וְלֹא יָמוּת מִכָּל-לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, דָּבָר. 4 And the LORD shall make a division between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that belongeth to the children of Israel.'. וַיָּמָת, כֹּל מִקְנֵה מִצְרָיִם; וּמִמִּקְנֵה בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, לֹא-מֵת אֶחָד. and all the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one."

And note there was a clear distinction between the effect on the Egyptians and on the Jews 9:4,6, so that it was clear that it was directed against the Egyptians, for the purpose of helping the Jewish People. The earlier plagues were said by the Torah to have afflicted the Egyptians, seeming to imply that the Jews were immune, and God had said at the previous plague that the Jews would be spared, but maybe the Egyptians didn;t realize this; here however it was obvous to all the Egyptians that this was the case, and 9:7 tells us that Pharaoh explicitly verified this, and yet 'his heart was hardened'.

But why were the animals stricken if it was their masters the Egyptians who were guilty?y

1 We know from Joseph's warnings to his brothers when they moved with their families and flocks to Egypt that the Egyptians considered the Jews an abomination because they were sheep-herders etc ( and also the Egyptians somewhat worshipped their cows), and so they were punished by losing their own animals.

2. God warns the Jews after leaving Egypt not to be like the Egyptians: not to engage in bestiality ; as a result of their perversion the animals were afflicted by a plague (virus?) [similar to the situation before the Flood, where animlas were said by the Torah to have corrupted their ways and were annihilated as well as humans.]

It was only divine mercy which prevented the animal-plague from affecting the Egyptians themselves. The underlying message was that the plague was punishment for contact between the Egyptians and their animals - indeed the Torah tells us later that that Egypt was cursed by God for engaging in bestiality (and that was one of the reasons God felt it was urgent to remove the Jews from Egypt lest they be influenced).

Furthermore: the word used for the plague is 'dever', and this word is used by Moses to Pharaoh in requesting that the Jews be allowed to leave:

See comparison of relevant passages below:

Moshe Rabenu had to make excuses for requesting to be freed: Ex 5:3:

ג וַיֹּאמְרוּ, אֱ-י הָעִבְרִים נִקְרָא עָלֵינוּ; נֵלְכָה נָּא דֶּרֶךְ שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים בַּמִּדְבָּר, וְנִזְבְּחָה לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ--פֶּן-יִפְגָּעֵנוּ, בַּדֶּבֶר אוֹ בֶחָרֶב.

As a result, the plague of 'dever':

כִּי עַתָּה שָׁלַחְתִּי אֶת-יָדִי, וָאַךְ אוֹתְךָ וְאֶת-עַמְּךָ בַּדָּבֶר;

.

...

 (Dever): Why were the animals stricken if it was their masters the Egyptians who were guilty? God warns the Jews after leaving Egypt not to be like the Egyptians: not to engage in bestiality[2]; as a result of their perversion the animals were afflicted by a plague (virus?) [similar to the situation before the Flood];

....

"Boils" שחין: (Shchin):   : 😷  The magicians attempted to show Pharaoh that he need not listen to God’s command since they could duplicate the miracles and plagues. In fact they attempted duplication on their own initiative (see passages quoted above), therefore as a result a plague of boils was sent to afflict everyone, and the Torah specifically mentions that it was so intense that the magicians themselves succumbed [9:11].

This plague also increased the distaste of the Egyptians for other Egyptians. Formerly, Egyptians would not even eat bread with Jews (or any 'ivrim'), as we see even from the time of Joseph, but now for the first time the Jews were not distasteful compared to Egyptians, since they had no lice and boils.  

Note: Shchin

 ; וַיָּקֻצוּ, מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

…......

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) ולא יכלו החרטמים לעמד לפני משה מפני השחין כי היה השחין בחרטמם ובכל מצרים.

 (Shchin): The magicians attempted to show Pharaoh that he need not listen to God’s command since they could duplicate the miracles and plagues. In fact they attempted duplication on their own initiative (see passages quoted above), therefore as a result a plague of boils was sent to afflict everyone, and the Torah specifically mentions that it was so intense that the magicians themselves succumbed [9:11];

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1. [Indeed, since the Nile was the source of Egypt's agriculture and therefore its life, perhaps even earlier some Egyptians had wondered what would be the effect on the river water of all these dead children in it.]

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Note the words:

 זו ּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, פָּרוּ וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ וַיִּרְבּוּ וַיַּעַצְמוּ--בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד; וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ, אֹתָם.  

כ וַיֵּיטֶב אֱלֹהִים, לַמְיַלְּדֹת; וַיִּרֶב הָעָם וַיַּעַצְמוּ, מְאֹד.  כא וַיְהִי, כִּי-יָרְאוּ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶת-הָאֱלֹהִים; וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם, בָּתִּים.

.  יב וְכַאֲשֶׁר יְעַנּוּ אֹתוֹ, כֵּן יִרְבֶּה וְכֵן יִפְרֹץ; 

4. "God hardened Pharaoh's heart": 

1. How was this accomplished?

2. Was this not taking away bchirah chofshis (free choice)? 

3. What was gained via this hardening of  Pharaoh's heart and going through all the plagues?

Answers:

Ramban: God hardened Pharoah's heart in order to give Pharoah free will, not to take it away - to give courage to Pharaoh to overcome the fear caused by the plagues, so that he could freely choose instead of being cowed into submission. 

Abarbanel: The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was not the result of Hashem’s action but rather his own reaction to the plagues. When he saw that the plagues were only temporary phenomena, the text tells us that Pharaoh hardened his heart.

So I would say that God deliberately brought about a situaiton which would enable Pharaoh to delude himself, in other words God crafted a scenario which would lead Pharaoh to the option of laughing off the divine aspect, and in this way we can say that "God hardened his heart".

How? 

a. By sending in an old man with a speech impediment as the representative of the Jews;

b. By having this representative ASK Pharoah to let the Jews go, instead of threatening (ie making it seem that God required Pharaoh's permission,)

The inerpretation I offer: After each plague was introduced by Moses, Pharaoh managed to get rid of it via beseeching Mose, promising to release the Jews, and then when the plague was gone, he would again refuse to release them. He fooled himself to believe he could twist God around his finger - that is, by giving in each time, God allowed Pharaoh to fool himself. This was deliberate, and so in this sense God was 'hardening Pharoah's heart', however, it was done in a way that did not remove Pharaoh's free will.   

..

Hardening of the Arteries

We are told that God ‘hardened Pharaoh’s heart’. This however does not mean that Pharaoh’s freedom of will was impaired, as explained below. 

• By creating the conditions for Pharaoh to conclude that he was ultimately in control, God was allowing Pharaoh to delude himself - this is the meaning of “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart”.

• God initially tells MR that he will kill the firstborns of the Egyptians [4:22]: this may have been part of the initial message delivered to Pharaoh. If so it’s possible that when this did not immediately materialize (it turned out to be the LAST plague), Pharaoh ‘hardened his heart’, that is, he decided it wouldn’t ever happen, taking this as a proof of the non-existence of God. So, by giving this message initially, God allows Pharaoh to fall into his own trap of disbelief; this then constitutes another means by which God ‘hardened Pharaoh’s heart’.

Why Pharaoh Had the Confidence to Confront God

After Ahron performed the snake miracle, Pharaoh had his magicians do the same. After seeing their success, Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Was he wrong to do so? After all, his magicians had the same power, and so it would seem that he legitimately did not recognize Moses and Ahron’s power as coming from God! 

However the crucial point is that Ahron’s staff/snake swallowed their snakes: this was a clear symbol of his superior power, and should have convinced Pharaoh, yet despite this Pharaoh hardened his heart. 

Perhaps we can nevertheless understand why Pharaoh was prepared to take the chance of opposing this power:  Pharaoh reasoned that:

• If God needed Pharaoh’s permission to get the Jews out, God could not be too powerful;

• Since the magicians could accomplish at least part of God’s miracle, it would seen that the power of God was not overly much beyond that of the Egyptian magicians, and therefore perhaps God’s power was not fatally dangerous to Pharaoh;

• Moses’s earliest message to Pharaoh was that God would kill his firstborns [4:22-23], but this had not occurred, and so Pharaoh assumed that God’s power was limited.

However all this is psychological justification rather than moral justification. On the moral plane of course he was unjustified in enslaving the Jews to begin with, and should have immediately released them when Moses came to present his message, even without signs, and even if he didn’t believe in Moses’s God.

Our hearts are hardened by our deceiving ourselves

 "ויחזק לב פרעה ולא שמע אליהם" (ז, יג)

מפסוק זה נראה שפרעה חיזק את לבו מעצמו, מתוך שיקולים הגיוניים, בלי שה' הביא לכך (רק אחר כך כתוב "ויחזק ה' את לב פרעה" - ט, יב). אם כן, נשאלת השאלה, מדוע סירב פרעה לבקשת משה, וכי לא חשש לנזק העצום שהוא מביא בכך על ארצו?

אפשר לומר, שפרעה סירב מפני חשב שה' אינו כל יכול, ח"ו, וזאת מתוך כמה אינדיקציות:

(א) משה ביקש מפרעה, בשם ה', לשלוח את היהודים: "שלח את עמי" (ה, א). פרעה פירש דבר זה כחולשה, כאילו ה' אינו יכול להוציא את בני ישראל ממצרים ללא רשותו של פרעה.

(ב) בקשת משה הייתה לשלוח את העם לשלושה ימים בלבד ולא שישלחם לחופשי. פרעה הבין זאת כאילו ה' אינו מעז לבקש יותר.

(ג) פרעה ראה שהוא מצליח לשטות במשה שוב ושוב. בכל פעם הוא מבטיח שישלח את העם לאחר שתיפסק המכה, וכשהמכה פוסקת הוא אינו מקיים את הבטחתו וכך מצליח להעביר את הרעה.

(ד) בתחילה משה איים על פרעה: "הנה אנכי הֹרג את בנך בכֹרך" (ד, כג). אבל פרעה ראה שבמכות הראשונות לא מתו בכורות כמו שאיים ה', והוא הסיק מכך שה' איננו יכול לבצע את הבטחתו.

ייתכן שלכך התכוון ה' באומרו למשה: "ואני אחזק את לִבו" (ד, כא). זה התקיים כפשוטו בשלב המאוחר, שפרעה לא העיז לסרב מעצמו אלא "ויחזק ה' את לב פרעה" (ט, יב); אבל אפשר שזה מתייחס גם לשלב המוקדם, במובן זה שה' פעל בצורה שאפשרה לפרעה ללכת אחרי נטיית ליבו (בדרך שאדם רוצה לילך - מוליכין אותו), ולהגיע למסקנה שה' אינו כל יכול, כדי שה' יוכל לעשות נפלאות במצרים כדי שהעולם ידע אותו.

....

Hardening Heart

FB post 2023:    Pharaoh's self-deception path to self-destruction

In some sense there really was only one plague, the last one, the slaying of the first-born, where we can see the earlier ones as being meant to wake up Pharaoh, to bring him to relent and let the Jewish People free, and in that way he could have avoided that one terrible plague, which caused the irreversible - death - as opposed to the earlier ones which were economic damage and temporary health issues etc.

This week's portion has the conclusion of the plague-saga - the last three, locusts, darkness, first-born. Even before the darkness was dispelled, the next and last and most terrible plague was initiated, unfortunately the Jews were not freed even after all the 9 warning-plagues, and so the real plague descended on Egypt.

[Note how 11:1-3 seem out of place (especially 2,3), but the explanation is that these words were a communication-prophecy to Moses given while he was speaking to Pharaoh!]

During the plague of Darkness, when Pharaoh tells Moses he doesn't want to ever see his face again, God then warns Pharaoh via Moses of the plague of the firstborn.

However, actually this plague had been long foretold.

After the burning bush encounter, Moses sets out to Egypt, and already then, before even arriving in Egypt, God tells Moses the initial message to be given to Pharaoh, and not only is it premature, but it is a warning to Pharaoh about the very last of the plagues, much later - the plague of the first-born! So this is why I say that really there was only this one plague and the rest were to wake him up, in order to prevent the need for this plague.

[As I mentioned in last week's message, each of the plagues was 'mida kneged mida' divinely-meted out karma, see the commentary last week.]

So why didn't Pharaoh give in to these warnings? Pharaoh did not initially listen to the request to free the Jews, and didn't heed the first plague, and only after that God "hardened his heart".

Some questions arise:

1. How was this accomplished?

2. Was this not taking away bchirah chofshis (free choice)?

3. What was gained via this hardening of Pharaoh's heart and going through all the plagues?

Answers:

Ramban: God hardened Pharoah's heart in order to give Pharoah free will, not to take it away - to give courage to Pharaoh to overcome the fear caused by the plagues, so that he could freely choose instead of being cowed into submission.

Abarbanel: The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was not the result of Hashem’s action but rather his own reaction to the plagues. When he saw that the plagues were only temporary phenomena, the text tells us that Pharaoh hardened his heart.So I would say that God deliberately brought about a situaiton which would enable Pharaoh to delude himself, in other words God crafted a scenario which would lead Pharaoh to the option of laughing off the divine aspect, and in this way we can say that "God hardened his heart".

My interpretation is: God acted in ways which allowed Pharaoh to fool himself.

Specifically:

a. by deliberately sending an old man with a speech impediment on this mission as the representative of the Jews and of God,;

b) by making Pharaoh feel that this God was so weak that Pharaoh's permission was required in order to get the Jews to leave even for a few days, instead of threateningc.

c) After each plague was introduced by Moses, Pharaoh managed to get rid of it via beseeching Moses, promising to release the Jews, and then when the plague was gone, he would again refuse to release them. Thjs allowed Pharaoh to feel he tricked Moses/God into taking away the plague, and then going back on his word, again and again, as the Torah describes in detail, so Pharaoh fooled himself to believe he could twist God around his finger -

This was the sense in which God was 'hardening Pharoah's heart',and so it was done in a way that did not remove Pharaoh's free will.

Note: The Torah says "God hardened Pharaoh's heart": as God says "in order to show the divine might" : Pharaoh's obdurate refusal led to as God says the opportunity to show the mighty Egyptian corrupt slave-civilization "the divine might" (perhaps partially as I pointed out, in order to cause change in overall behavior, eg hoping to prevent final plague)

What was the end result of all his? Why this was done?

My interpretation: So that Pharoah would be led to his own destruction, to go into sea as it split to save the Jews from HIM! This would be a supremely insane act, however he was confident he could manipulate God in that situation too.In this way, since it was his choice to enter the sea, his destruction was not technically a punishment but rather cause-effect due his own undertaking.

May we be blessed to use our free will to choose positive directions in our life, not the self-destruction that Pharaoh chose! And when things go well for us despite wrong choices, let us not be misled to think that we will always get away with it - hopefully we can choose right and avoid 'the last plague' and avoid a Pharaonic temptation to spite God by 'entering the split sea' !

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https://www.facebook.com/avi.rabinowitz/posts/10158303001705892

Jan 29 2021

From this week's torah portion        

 What we can learn from how Pharaoh ends up drowning himself:

(God gives him strength to withstand the plagues and make his own free choices. He chooses to not let the Jews go and each time succeeds in 'fooling god', so when the sea splits he thinks this time he'll manage as well, but....);

So too, we should not fool ourselves when we 'get away with' some in correct action ... and end up drowning - instead let us be like Joseph - see below.

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"God hardened Pharaoh's heart": 1. How was this accomplished?2. Was this not taking away bchirah chofshis (free choice)? 3. What was gained via this hardening of  Pharaoh's heart and going through all the plagues?

Answers:Ramban: God hardened Pharoah's heart in order to give Pharoah free will, not to take it away - to give courage to Pharaoh to overcome the fear caused by the plagues, so that he could freely choose instead of being cowed into submission.

Abarbanel: The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was not the result of Hashem’s action but rather his own reaction to the plagues. When he saw that the plagues were only temporary phenomena, the text tells us that Pharaoh hardened his heart.So I would say that God deliberately brought about a situaiton which would enable Pharaoh to delude himself, in other words God crafted a scenario which would lead Pharaoh to the option of laughing off the divine aspect, and in this way we can say that "God hardened his heart".

How? a. By sending in an old man with a speech impediment as the representative of the Jews;b. By having this representative ASK Pharoah to let the Jews go, instead of threatening (ie making it seem that God required Pharaoh's permission,)c. After each plague was introduced by Moses, Pharaoh managed to get rid of it via beseeching Mose, promising to release the Jews, and then when the plague was gone, he would again refuse to release them. He fooled himself to believe he could twist God around his finger - that is, by giving in each time, God allowed Pharaoh to fool himself. This was deliberate, and so in this sense God was 'hardening Pharoah's heart', However, it was done in a way that did not remove Pharaoh's free will. What was the end result of this? Why this was done? So that Pharoah would be led to his own destruction, to go into sea as it split to save the Jews from HIM! This would be a supremely insane act, however he was confident he could manipulate God in that situation too.In this way, since it was his choice to enter the sea, his destruction was not technically a punishment but rather cause-effect due his own undertaking.