Operation Exodus - Pesach 5769
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Loading ...וידעתם כי אני ה’ אלקיכם המוציא אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים (ו:ז).
“…you shall know that I am Hashem your God who took you out from the oppression of Egypt” (6:7).
There are amazing lessons to be learned from the Ten Plagues. I would like to note some fascinating points regarding them. One can learn how calculated and intricate all the actions of Hashem are.
A: War Tactic: Chazal (Tanchuma Bo [4]) tell us that the plagues were a deep pattern of military brilliance working to undermine Egypt’s resistance and pride.
B: Punishment: Additionally, the Makos were punishments brought upon the Egyptians as exact retribution for their equivalent abuses which they inflicted upon the Jews (Tanna D’Bey Eliyahu Rabbah [8]).
C: Delivery: Also, each plague came from specific elements and was carried out by a specific personality as part of the ultimate plan (Shemos Rabbah 12:4).
D: Damage: There are various opinions regarding the extent of each plague’s damage, whether it caused death, injury or only monetary loss. Here are some starting ideas for each of these.
1 -דם Blood:
A: First Hashem warned Egypt that He would wage war against them if they did not heed to His request to free the Jews. Hashem began His attack with the first stage of warfare. He cut off the water supply from the city.
B: The Egyptians realized that the Jews utilized the water as a Mikvah for the women and men. They wanted to prevent the sanctity and procreation of the nation and thus stopped them from doing this. So Hashem smote their water source as punishment. Throughout history, the gentile nations have sought to infiltrate the Jewish structure of purity. Indeed, this is one of the strong points of Klal Yisrael that keeps them holy; a breach in this holiness would be the start of their assimilation.
C: The first three Makos were brought through the conduit of Aharon as they emanated from the water and ground. Moshe had been saved by both of them and thus could not hit them to bring the Makos.
D: The Ohr HaChaim (Shemos 8:4) says that no one died during this plague. The Egyptians were able to buy drinking water from the Jews and were able to dig to find fresh water.
2 -צפרדע Frogs:
A: Next, Hashem brought loud and frightening noises into city to show the Egyptians that if they did not surrender and let the Jews free, much damage awaited them. This is the depth of what Chazal say that the croaking of the frogs was more painful than their actual presence. This shows that their main objective was to instill fear in the hearts of the Egyptians.
B: The Egyptians tortured the Jews by forcing them to catch small rodents for their entertainment purposes and thus as punishment Hashem sent frogs to torment them.
C: This was brought by Aharon (as explained above).
D: Most commentators say that this plague brought death as the frogs entered into their bodies. However, this was not its primary goal. The goal was to instill great fear in the hearts of the Egyptians.
3 -כינים Lice:
A: The enemy did not heed to the warning, therefore, the artillerymen were brought in and “arrows” were shot at Egypt.
B: The Jews were forces to be dust sweepers throughout the land. They had to repeatedly clean houses and streets to remove the unending supply of dirt. The Egyptians never let them stop. It was a cruel and impossible job. So Hashem sent little lice and used all of the dirt of Egypt to create them and now they tormented the Egyptians.
C: This was brought by Aharon (as explained above).
D: Death was not inflicted by this plague, though much discomfort was present. It was only after this plague that the magicians confessed that Hashem was behind these great attacks as they were unable to duplicate this one.
4 -ערוב Mixed Beasts:
A: The war escalated and the first battalion of front line fighters penetrated the city.
B: The Egyptians enjoyed animal fighting sports and forced the Jews to catch all types of animals for them. It was a difficult and dangerous job. Correspondingly, Hashem brought animals to pain the Egyptians.
C: This was brought by Hashem.
D: The animals inflicted maiming and mortal wounds upon the people.
5 -דבר Pestilence:
A: Next, a plague was sent to infest their animals and weaken their army strength.
B: The Egyptians would force the Jews to shepherd their sheep far away from their homes and would keep them away from going home and building a family for as long as possible. Thus, Hashem killed every animal that a Jew had ever been forced to watch in order that the Egyptians would not have any animals left to force the Jews to care for (Those that heeded Moshe’s warning and brought their animals inside were spared from this loss.).
C: This plague was brought by Hashem.
D: Death hit their property and caused great monetary loss, but did not kill any of the people.
6 -שחין Boils:
A: After the Egyptians refused to surrender, Hashem intensified His tactic and burning tar was poured upon them to get them to give up.
B: The Egyptians abused the Jews by forcing them to constantly heat up water for their usage and to fetch cold water at any time that they desired it. Thus, Hashem brought boils upon them that were ultra sensitive to the touch of water, thereby preventing the Egyptians from demanding this service from the Jews.
C: This plague was unique in that it was the only one that was begun by Moshe, Aharon and Hashem together.
D: Most commentators explain that this was a terribly painful punishment but did not cause much actual death.
7 -ברד Hail:
A: Next, ballistic missiles were fired upon the city.
B: The Jews were forced to work in the orchards far away from their cities, planting large trees. The Egyptians forced them to stay there for unreasonably extended hours so that they would not be able to procreate at home. Hence, Hashem now destroyed every tree that a Jew was ever forced to plant.
C: This was brought by Moshe (who controlled the air).
D: There is a dispute in the commentators if only terrible pain or death as well was present here.
8 -ארבה Locust:
A: The ground troops invaded the entire country.
B: The Jews were forced to stay away from their homes all day tending to all of the agriculture which Egypt produced. Hashem thereby came and destroyed any product that the Egyptians had benefited from Jewish subservience, leaving the entire land, with the exclusion of the Jewish quarter of Goshen, desolate.
C: This was brought by Moshe.
D: Pharaoh himself described that his people were ’scared to death’ over this attack, but it does not seem that any lives were lost here.
9 -חושך Darkness:
A: The King placed the rebels in jail.
B: After all of the miracles, there were Jews themselves who denied Hashem’s ability to extradite them. Anyone who at this point did not believe, lacked the merit to go out and thus perished. Hashem did not want the Egyptians to point to the event and claim that the plagues effected the Jews as well, so He left them in the dark from the entire occurrence. Chazal tell us that only one fifth of Klal Yisrael left Egypt. That means that at least (and probably significantly more) 2.4 million Jewish people died and were buried during this plague! How could the Egyptians not have notice that four fifths of the Jewish Nation were now missing? The answer is that the Egyptians were so shook up and oblivious to reality in their religious steadfastness to not give in, that they saw nothing around them!
C: This was brought by Moshe.
D: In the last three days of intense darkness in which they could not move at all, it is reasonable to assume that many starved to death, a very painful and helpless way to perish.
10 -מכת בכורות Death of the Firstborns:
A: The last and final tactic would prevail. All of the leaders of the rebellion were executed and the Jews were finally freed.
B: Death was brought upon thousands of Egyptians as retribution for all of the Jews whom they had collectively murdered.
C: This plague was carried out by Hashem Himself.
D: This final blow left the city with thousands dead. Every household lost at least the oldest member and many lost their entire family, including boys and girls. Any first born from either the mother or father, which was very common because of the Egyptian’s promiscuous acts, died. More so, the firstborns themselves waged a civil war against the rest of Egypt demanding that the Jews be freed so that they should not die in the plague, and they killed many. Thus, the entire Egypt became a graveyard. Finally after all of this, the Egyptians chased the Jews to the Yam Suf and lost all of their strong men there. The ten Makos brought a country which had been the world power to its knees. They never recovered from the blows and were forgotten from the international community of the time as they were conquered shortly after by another powerful country.
Indeed, the Jews watched every single plague and saw how precisely and appropriately Hashem had paid the Egyptians back for their abuse of His Chosen Nation. The experience was very inspirational and instrumental in forging the foundation of the great Jewish Nation. May we all find inspiration as well through contemplating the great miracles which Hashem performed openly for us in Egypt and continues to do for us until this very day. May we achieve new insight and appreciation of Hashem’s constant kindness and love for us.
