Most Responsible Frogs – Parshas Va’eira 5770
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Loading ...ושרץ היאור צפרדעים ועלו ובאו בביתך… (ז:כח).
“…the frogs will intrude your homes….” (7:28).
The second plague which Hashem smote the Egyptians with was frogs. Let us explore a fascinating observation which I believe you will find quite enlightening!
The Gemara Pesachim (53b) tells us that Chananya, Misha’el and Azaryah (in Bavel) refused to comply with the king’s decree of defiance towards Hashem. They deduced logically that they should allow themselves to be thrown into the furnace to stand up for Hashem’s honor. They said that, “the frogs in Egypt were not commanded to die for Kiddush Hashem, God’s sake, yet they chose to jump into the ovens of the Egyptians for the sake of Hashem, kal v’chomer, certainly, we who are commanded in Kiddush Hashem must do the same! With this, they fell into the furnace, only to be miraculously saved by Hashem.
The Shages Aryeh posed a bomb question on this famous Gemara. Our verse (Shemos 7:28) describes the plague of frogs and states explicitly that the frogs were commanded to jump into the ovens, thus indeed they had an order to do so, and the logic of the three sages is not understood!? How could they learn from the frogs based on the fact that the frogs “chose to die without a commandment”, when in fact they were clearly commanded to enter the stoves and die?!
The Vilna Goan (Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer [1720-97]), was seven years old at the time when this question was posed. He modestly approached the Shages Aryeh to offer his answer. The verse states that Hashem commanded the frogs to invade Egypt, they were to go everywhere. The list of targets included: houses, beds, mixing bowls and ovens. This being the case, each frog had a choice as to whether he should sacrifice his life or not. Many frogs just allowed their friends to go into the ovens while they simply infested a house or bed. Hence, only certain frogs took the responsibly upon themselves to give up their lives to fulfill Hashem’s command regarding the ovens. It was with this in mind that the three sages made their perfectly logical extension to themselves! Upon hearing this, the Shages Aryeh bent down and gave little Eliyahu a kiss on his cheek while exclaiming, “you will be a great sage of Israel one day!”
This is the perspective of our great men in Klal Yisrael. They see what has to be done and do not look around to see if anyone else is responding. Rather, they immediately take the job upon themselves and make sure that it gets done. They are proactive and extremely productive. They know what “responsibility” means. This is a true sign of greatness!
