Monday, April 6, 2009

The Split Between the Plagues

Hello Everyone!

It is right before Pesach, and there is an unbelievable D'var Torah that Rabbi Yisroel Chesir, shlit"a, shared it with us in tenth grade, in the name of Rav Avraham Y. Bick, zt"l, who said it over in the year 1983. I have previously typed it up and sent it out, although I have made some minor changes. It is simply amazing and answers up many questions. It helps in understanding the entire story on a completely different level.
And please feel free to forward this to anyone you'd like.

First, I will pose some questions, and then offer his explanation, which is simply beautiful.

(1) In Parashat Va'era, the ten plagues begin. Hashem starts smiting the Egyptians for the cruelty they carried out against the Jewish people. One after another, plague after plague. However, the ten plagues don't end in Parashat Va'era. Va'era only contains seven plagues, whereas the final three are in next parasha, Parashat Bo. Why? Why were the Eser Makkot separated into two different parashiyot? Why not have one parasha covering the theme of the ten plagues? Is it just by chance that this is the way they were broken up, or is there a more fundamental reason? Perhaps the first seven occurred for one reason, and the final three came for other reasons? (Foreshadowing...)

(2) In his commentary regarding the ninth plague (i.e. darkness), Rashi (quoting a Midrash) asks, "Why did He bring darkness on [the Egyptians]?" What did they do to receive such a punishment? Two answers. One, there were evil people among the Jews in that generation who didn't want to leave Egypt, and they died out during those days of darkness so that the Egyptians will not see their demise. Had the Egyptians been around to see the death of so many Jews, they would have thought that Hashem was killing everyone: Jews and Egyptians alike. Imagine the chillul Hashem (desecration to Hashem's name). Therefore, Hashem brought the plague of darkness so that 80% of the Jewish population can pass away and have the burial processions, and the Egyptians would never even know about it. Second answer, it would be a way for the Jews to get rich. What do I mean? During the darkness, the Jews went into the Egyptian houses and searched to find out where they hide all of their riches. Then, when they were leaving Egypt, the Jews would go to the Egyptians and say, "Hey. What's up? Do you have anything expensive for me?" Egyptians would respond, "No, I'm sorry, we don't have anything." Jew - "Are you sure?" Egyptian - "Yeah, I'm so sorry that we can't help. But we'll miss you so so much. Please do come back!" Jew- "Oh, that's so sweet of you. I always had a dream that we would come back and have our kids play together in the town pyramidal parks. But before I go, are you sure you don't have a Rolex hidden between your two pillows, a 12-carrot diamond ring in the fourth drawer of your desk in the basement, and just a bar of gold sitting in the secret hiding spot behind the picture frame above your fireplace?" Egyptian - "Oooohhhhh! That's what you meant by riches. I thought you were talking about saddles for the camels, which I don't have. You should have been more specific! Gosh, of course I have those three things in those exact locations. I'll be back with them in a jiffy." Jew- "Oh yeah, give me your earrings, too. Thanks, love you!" And so it happened. The Jews became rich because when the Egyptians denied having anything expensive, the Jews told them that they knew exactly where the riches were, and so the Egyptians were forced to hand it over. (Note: Look at the beauty of the Jews. They could have just stolen everything. The Egyptians would not have been able to stop them, and they wouldn't even know who took it. But whether or not the Egyptians are watching, we understand that Hashem is watching, and we would never do something that is unjust.) In any event, what's the question that I have on this? Rashi asks on the ninth plague, "Why did He bring darkness on them?" Hello! Rashi, where were you for the first eight plagues? Why didn't you ask, "Why did he bring the plague of blood on them?...the plague of frogs?...lice?...wild animals?...etc..." Why wasn't Rashi bothered by any of the other plagues, but he is so curious as to why Hashem brought darkness on them?

(3) As a continuation to the last point, Rashi doesn't even answer the question! He asked, "Why did Hashem bring darkness on them - on the Egyptians? What did they do to receive such a punishment? What are the two answers? So that Jews can be buried, or so that Jews can get rich! That explains why the Jews had darkness. These two answers do not explain what the Egyptians did to receive darkness. What's going on here?

(4) I'm not sure where this is from, but if I'm not mistaken, there is a Midrash that explains that the ten plagues progressively became worse and harder to handle. The plague of blood was awful, but it got worse when the frogs came around. And even worse were the lice. And the wild animals were harsher. Pestilence - harder to deal with. You get the point. It all ultimately comes down to Makkat Bechorot, the plague of the firstborn, during which every household experienced death and mourning. That was the worst, beyond the shadow of a doubt. But let's go back to our ninth plague, darkness. Was it so bad? Does it deserve to be second to worst, falling short of first to the nation-wide mourning? If I had to pick one plague to experience, I would pick Darkness in a second. You don't even have to do anything! You just stay still for a week. They didn't even remember what happened! That can't be worse than not having any water to drink, or having boils on your skin, or having wild animals waiting outside your house to eat you for supper. In fact, it's a vacation. I think I can use a week off. Why not? It shouldn't be second to last! So why do we view it as such a harsh plague?

(5) In the beginning of Parashat Bo, when Pharaoh finally acquiesced to Moshe's request of letting the Jews go serve their G-d, there was a long dialogue between them. To simplify it, Pharaoh asked, "Who will be going to serve Hashem?" Moshe responded, "Everyone and everything. Men, women, boys, girls, grandpas, grandmas, sheep, cows. The whole mishpacha. We all need to go serve our G-d." Pharaoh responded, "Nope. Only the men are going. No one else. Just the MEN."
Question: What's this about? Was it just a mere negotiation? It was Moshe's job as the savior to take everyone and everything out of Egypt, and it was Pharaoh's job as the cruel adversary to hold on to as many slaves as he could? Or was there something deeper going on in this argument?

In summary:
(1) Why are the ten plagues split up into two parshiyot (seven and three)?
(2) Why does Rashi ask the reason for only one plague (i.e. Darkness)?
(3) Why does Rashi not answer the question he asked?
(4) Why was Darkness at the end if it wasn't even so bad?
(5) What's behind Moshe and Pharaoh's argument regarding who gets to leave Egypt?

All right. Here's the answer. Be'te'avon!

In Parashat Shemot (4:22-23), toward the end, Hashem tells Moshe to tell Pharaoh the following: "This is what Hashem said, 'Yisrael is My son, My firstborn. And I have said to you, send out My son and let him serve Me. If you refuse to send him (My nation), I will slay your firstborn son.'" Basically, Hashem says that as a punishment for enslaving the Jews, He will kill the firstborn of Pharaoh, and of all the Egyptians, as well. That's it. No Eser Makkot. No songs. No stories on Pesach night. Just one plague: Makkat Bechorot. So where do the other nine plagues come in? What is the reason for them? What did the Egyptians do to deserve the other nine?
When Moshe says this whole message to Pharaoh (first time he's seeing his grandpa), Pharaoh responds (5:2), "Who is this Hashem, that I should obey His voice, to let Yisrael go? I don't know Him. Furthermore, I will not let the Jews go." There are two things that Pharaoh says here, both of which are bad. First, he disgraces Hashem. He made it seem as though he had never even heard of Hashem. He took out his gods-encyclopedia and didn't find Hashem listed in it. Google search came back with nothing. He said that Hashem is not really a god and can't do anything. Second, he disgraced the Jews. It would be one thing if he said, "I don't know Hashem. Therefore, I will not send the Jews." But that's not what he said. He said, "Ve'gam - Furthermore, I will not send the Jews free," because they are a worthless people, and they deserve to be nothing more than slaves. They aren't a special nation, and therefore, even if I knew Who their G-d was, I still wouldn't let them go, because they're nothing special.
Whoa! He just shamed Hashem and His people. So he'll get what he deserves. The plague of the firstborn is a punishment for enslaving the Jews. Now, Hashem will punish Pharaoh for disgracing Him and His people. And all that begins in Parashat Va'era. Hashem starts by punishing him for saying, "I don't know of this Hashem you speak of." He starts with the plague of blood. Pharaoh doesn't apologize. Fine. Smite him with frogs. Still no apology. Next, lice. And so on, and so forth. After plague number seven - hail (9:27), Pharaoh calls to Moshe and Aharon and says, "I have sinned. Hashem is the righteous One. I and my people are the sinners." And there it is. Pharaoh, the very person who said he doesn't know Hashem, is now acknowledging Hashem's existence, and His superiority. Perfect. That's the end of that. END OF THE PARASHA! That's the end of Parashat Va'era. Parashat Va'era was speaking about the plagues Pharaoh received for not acknowledging Hashem's existence. Hashem performed miracle after miracle until he had no choice. And when that happened, the parasha is over. (If you are interested in the specificities of what each plague was corresponding to, many commentaries offer various explanations as to what the message was behind each and every plague. But overall, the main point was to make the Egyptians realize, "Who is this Hashem, that I should obey His voice, to let Yisrael go?") (Answer 1)
Although Pharaoh apologized about disgracing Hashem Himself, he's still guilty of shaming the Jews and not apologizing for it. He still feels that the Jews are worthless, and even though Hashem is Awesome, the Jews don't deserve to leave. And this entire idea manifests itself in the dialogue between Moshe and Pharaoh. The Jews are going to serve Hashem. And Pharaoh understands that. But who does the services? Who brings the sacrifices? Who takes care of the korbanot? Who is in charge of the prayers? Is it the children? Is it the elderly? Is it the women? Is it the cows or sheep? Of course not! It's just the men. And so Pharaoh realizes that they have to leave to serve this All-Powerful G-d of theirs, but only the men have to go. They alone will take care of the services, and then return. However, Moshe was trying to explain something deeper to Pharaoh. In Judaism, it's not just about who offers the cow as a korban, or who prayers for the congregation. Serving Hashem isn't bound to a couple minutes a day. OUR LIVES ARE FILLED WITH SERVING HASHEM. When the Egyptians eat, they eat to fill their stomachs. But when Jews it, it's not just something we do because we are hungry. We do it so that we will be fully nourished so that we will have the strength to serve Hashem. Eating food isn't about us. It's about Him. We need food to serve Him, so we eat. This is with everything. Egyptians exercise so that they will be strong so that they can make bigger buildings, or to impress each other. But Jews exercise to stay healthy to live longer, in order to serve Hashem longer. They sleep because they are tired. We sleep to get energy, in order to serve Him. Considering all this, are the services limited to the men? Of course not! The women are half the population. They are doing 50% of the services to Hashem. They eat, sleep, and exercise as well. They are serving Hashem the entire day long. How can the B'nei Yisrael leave without the women? Or the kids? They serve Hashem too! Or the elderly? Or the animals? We use the animals to travel or to eat, both of which we do for one reason...and I'm sure you can guess it - to serve Hashem! HOWEVER, Pharaoh couldn't understand this. He thought, "C'mon. The Jews stink. Whom are you kidding? They are worthless. They don't know how to serve anything. Send your men, let them do what they gotta do, and get back to work." (Answer 5)
And so the plagues begin again. In Parashat Bo, we have the eighth plague, locust. And after the eighth plague (10:16), Pharaoh says, "I have sinned to Hashem and to you (ve'lachem)." And there it is. He apologized to the Jews for shaming them. Now, he has a clean slate. He apologized for shaming Hashem. He apologized for shaming the Jews. The only punishment left is for enslaving the Jews, and that is Makkat Bechorot. But hold on a second. If Pharaoh apologized after the eighth plague, and the plague of the firstborns was the tenth plague, what is the ninth one (Darkness) for? Seemingly, it's extra! Where is it coming from? What did the Egyptians do to deserve this one? This explains why Rashi was only puzzled by this plague. This plague, and no other plague. Because this plague seems to have no reason behind it. (Answer 2)
So what is the answer? What did the Egyptians do to deserve Darkness? It wasn't for enslaving the Jews, nor was it for shaming Hashem or the Jews. So what's it for? What did Rashi say? Two answers: So that the Jews can bury their dead without causing a chillul Hashem or so that the Jews can get rich. What's the real answer? It's not a punishment! Darkness was not a punishment at all. It was a favor for the Jews. They were about to leave Egypt, and they had to prepare. Rashi's answer is saying that Hashem didn't really bring it as a punishment on the Egyptians. Instead, it is just a favor for the Jews. (Answer 3)
And this also explains our fourth question: All of the plagues would progressively get worse as they went along, but darkness wasn't a plague. Therefore, even though it was second to last, it wasn't that bad because it wasn't meant to be bad. (Answer 4)

And so there it is. There is a whole different perspective on the reason for majority of the plagues. Unbelievable, no? Sorry if I didn't present it as eloquently as it deserves to be presented, and I appreciate it that you even got up to here. This is probably the longest email that I have ever written, ever. And so I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what you think about it.
Take care!

Truly Yours,
Avraham Adam Sabzevari
Chag Kasher Ve'Sameach!

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