BS”D
BLOOD’S BLIGHT: PARSHAT
VA’EIRAH
Shira Smiles shiur – 2021/5781
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
This adaptation is
being written l’iluy nishmat Harav Yehuda ben Dov Ber Kelemer zt”l
While
the introduction to the exodus and redemption of Bnei Yisroel from Egypt began
in Parshat Shemot, the actual process of redemption begins in Parshat Va'eirah
with the first seven of the ten plagues. Each of the plagues has tremendous
symbolic significance, for Hashem’s stated purpose is not only to redeem Bnei
Yisroel, but also teach both Mitzrayim and Bnei Yisroel to know Hashem, and in
the process to enrich Bnei Yisroel. This process begins with the very first
plague, Blood. When Aharon, in Moshe’s stead, hit the Nile with the staff, the
Nile and all the waters in all of Egypt were transformed into blood. Only the
waters of Bnei Yisroel remained water.
Why
was it necessary to begin this process by striking the Nile and, as an
important corollary, why transform the water specifically to blood? Further, we
can certainly understand that Hashem wanted Bnei Yisroel to know unequivocally
that Hashem was the One True God, but why do the Egyptians also need to be
taught this, especially since most will die either through the plagues or when
they drowned in the sea? And yet Pharaoh himself, instead of taking action,
goes into his house and doesn’t call on Moshe to remove the plague as he does
with the other plagues.
The
medrash paints an interesting picture for us concerning this plague. The
medrash tells us that if a Jew and an Egyptian were taking water from the same
bowl or even drinking water from the same cup, the Jew would get water while
the Egyptian would continue to get blood. Only by paying the Jew for water
would the Egyptian again gain access to water. And only when Hashem deemed that
the agreed upon price was sufficient to cover the suffering that particular
Egyptian caused would Hashem transform the blood to water. Thus Bnei Yisroel
got rich from the Egyptians.
In
order to accomplish Hashem’s stated goals, it was important to start by
destroying the belief in the primary god of Egypt, the Nile, notes Rabbi
Mintzberg in Ben Melech. Rabbi Kluger develops this idea more fully in Bni
Bechori Yisroel. The Nile, writes Rabbi Kluger, was the backbone of the
entire Egyptian culture. Since the Nile irrigated their land regularly, the
Egyptians felt themselves to be completely self sufficient. They had no need to
pray. They felt in total control of their destiny, and Pharaoh thought of
himself as the god who created the Nile.
Hashem
wants a connection with mankind. In fact, if we go back to the story of
creation, although plants were created in potential, they did not sprout and
grow until Adam was created and could pray to Hashem for rain. It is Hashem Who
brings abundance, whether through the Nile or through rain. When Moshe Rabbenu
was leading Bnei Yisroel to the Land, he told them that this land is not like
Mitzrayim. In Eretz Yisroel, you will need to rely on Hakodosh Boruch Hu and
pray to Him for sustenance. In this respect, the Nile represented the
antithesis of tefillah. Bnei Yisroel were so steeped in the culture of
Egypt that the message that they were not in control but that Hashem was had to
be taught to them. Each of the plagues was meant to drive this point home, as
Hashem said, “Bezot teidah/Through this you will know...”
The
plagues were meant to act both as a plague for the Egyptians/venogaf Hashem
bemitrayim nagof while still being a means of healing for Bnei Yisroel/verafo
(Isaiah 19:22), writes Rav Moshe Shapiro in Mima’amakim. Rav Shapiro
explains based on the mystical sources, that the ten plagues represented a
recreation of the world, each plague representing one of the utterances of
creation. Each plague, then, was meant to bring the Egyptians to a recognition
of the Creator represented by this particular utterance of creation. Since the
Egyptians refused to accept Hashem, the original utterances became plagues for
them.
In
contrast, continues Rav Shapiro, for Bnei Yisroel who were destined to accept
those other Ten Utterances of the Torah that also paralleled the creation and
reflected the recreation of the world under a new paradigm, these plagues would
become blessings from He Who created both plagues and blessings.
Therefore,
it was necessary to strike first at the god of Egypt, the Nile, and at the
super god, Pharaoh, who fashioned himself as the creator of the Nile, writes
Rabbi Mordechai Druck. Hashem proved to Pharaoh that he controlled nothing,
although, because his palace was unaffected by the plague, he felt he was still
in charge of his home. Therefore, when Pharaoh turned and entered his house, he
felt no compassion for his suffering countrymen and refused to pray for
them.
Pharaoh
refused to recognize God even earlier, continues the Dorash Mordechai.
Pharaoh had trained animals to attack anyone who approached him in the palace,
yet they did not attack Moshe and Aharon as they approached the throne. Even
after six plagues, when Moshe and Aharon warned the Egyptians about the coming
hail, those who “feared God” brought their livestock into the shelter of their
homes, a precaution Pharaoh refused to take. Pharaoh witnesses the evidence of
Hashem’s existence and immanence in the world, but he refuses to see.
This
self inflicted blindness is not limited to ancient times, continues Rabbi
Druck. In the last Arab uprising against Israel over 800 rockets were launched
against the State of Israel. Miraculously, no Israelis were killed. Those who
“feared Hashem” recognized Hashem’s hand in guiding the rockets toward open
fields or empty playgrounds; those who refused to recognized Hashem attributed
the failure of these rockets to human error in their launching or just plain
luck. Do we see God’s hand directing events both big and small? Do we turn to
Him in prayer, or do we turn to the false security of our homes, government, or
jobs? Do you believe in the “nature” of the universe and its cycles? If we do
not turn to Hashem, are we any better than Pharaoh?
We
look at things from a human perspective, writes Rabbi Scheinerman in Ohel
Moshe. In the world as we perceive it, it is impossible for two
contradictory items to exist in the same reality. Nature does not permit blood
and water to coexist in the same container. Yet both can exist together in the
supernatural reality of the Creator. In God’s reality both coexist, both the
human perspective sees only his personal reality. The Egyptian saw blood; the
Jew saw water. Hashem created not only the one unified world, but an
individual, unique world for each of us. If we both see the sun, it is because
it is shining in both our worlds. The same sea can drown the Egyptians while
transporting Bnei Yisroel across. While in man’s reality, two opposites cannot
exist simultaneously, in God’s world, they can and do. That they cannot is a
product of the western mentality. Therefore, God can give His personal
oversight/hashgacha pratis to each of us in individual worlds that
overlap, for Hashem is Hashem Elokhecha/your (singular) personal God,
adds Rabbi Wolbe.
Rabbi
Wolbe uses examples from nature to show us how different realities can coexist
in one world. Within the same tree, birds build their nests in the top
branches, foxes dig out dens in the trunk, and insects bore for sap. Just as
the needs of each were met within the same entity, so could a Jew and an
Egyptian obtain different liquids from the same bowl, for Hashem created the
world for each individual. When we recognize Hashem’s personal involvement in
each of my needs, that Hashem created [my] world specifically for me, we begin
to feel tremendous gratitude to our Creator.
Our
first belief must be in the existence of Hashem. But we must also believe that
Hashem is our personal God. This thought leads us to realize that indeed the
world was created for me, that Hashem gave me my unique combination of
strengths and weaknesses so that I can impact the world, that I have a mission
only I can accomplish. I must believe in myself as well as in Hakodosh Boruch
Hu, albeit in different ways, writes Reb Tzadok. We must realize our own
importance. As Rabbi Leibowitz explains Hashgacha Protis/Hashem’s
involvement in our personal lives gives meaning to our lives and provides a
path to introspection and spiritual growth, as everything that happens to us,
both big and small, has been orchestrated specifically for our personal
benefit.
What
is our mission? Since no two people are alike, neither with identical looks nor
talents, each of us must work with what Hashem has given us to perfect our
world. As Rav Naftali Horowitz writes in You, by making us each
different, Hashem created a world where we learn to live with others, to be
patient and compassionate, and perfect a world Hashem has purposely left
incomplete so that we could experience the joy of accomplishment. [As we say
the verse in Kiddush, “Hashem rested from all the work Elokhim created la’asot/to
[continue] working.” CKS]
Now
we understand Hashem’s afflicting the Nile as the first plague, but why use the
medium of blood? The Hegyonah shel Torah, Rav Benzion Peror, approaches
this discussion on two levels, First, Hashem was repaying the Egyptians measure
for measure for treating Jewish blood lightly, for “blood is the life source.”
The medrash relates that Pharaoh himself bathed in Jewish blood. But damim
translates not just as bloods, but also as money. So, in order to avenge the spilled
Jewish dam/blood, the Egyptians had to pay damim/money to atone
for the blood. Therefore, every Egyptian forced to pay for his water according
to how much blood he extracted from the Jews, adds Rabbi Schwadron.
Since
there is a relationship between money and blood, and since Hashem is extremely
exacting in His interactions with humans, Pharaoh was not punished with blood
in his own house, writes Rabbi Druck citing the Meshech Chochmah. After
all, Pharaoh must have incurred some expenses while Moshe was being raised in
the palace. By not having to pay to exchange the dam/blood to water with
damim/money, Pharaoh was now being repaid for those expenditures.
Although
blood is the highlight of the first plague, blood is still significant in the
final plague, the Death of the Firstborn, writes Rabbi Kluger. As we read every
year in the Haggadah, “Bedomayich chayi, bedomayich chayi/Through your
blood you shall live, through your blood you shall live.” We were saved from
death in that plague through the merit of our observance of two “bloods,” the
most obvious one being the blood of the sheep we painted on our doorposts
signaling Hashem to pass over our homes, and also the blood of circumcision to
ratify our covenant and connection with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Both of these
mitzvoth involve self sacrifice, a willingness to subsume our passions and
desires, our life force, to His will.
Rabbi
Kluger continues and explains that the blood of the Pesach sacrifice on our
doorposts symbolized our intellectual faith, while the blood of circumcision
symbolized our desire to elevate our physical and emotional capacities o
Hashem’s service.
The
Tolna Rebbe adds yet another dimension to the plague of blood. The Torah tells
us that the fish in the Nile died and created a stench in all of Egypt. Why was
this significant? Because fish represent unlimited copulation, unbridled sexual
passion. Having been steeped in the depraved culture of Mitzrayim for so many
years, Bnei Yisroel was drawn to this behavior, but the death of the fish
signified the death, or at least the major weakening, of this particular
depravity, one they later cited in the desert as having missed: “We remember
the fish we freely ate in Mitzrayim, [unencumbered by the Torah laws of sexual
purity].”
We
see that this first plague represented all three major transgression; idol
worship, murder, and sexual immorality. With this first plague, continues the
Tolna Rebbe, the Egyptians would begin their transition to a belief in God and
Bnei Yisroel would sever their connection to the culture of the Egyptians. Bnei
Yisroel were already drinking the water of kindness rather than cruelty and
were separated from the immoral culture and bloodthirstiness of Egypt. It is
for this reason, that our redemption began with blood, that only at the Pesach
Seder is there an emphasis on the wine being red wine for all the rituals of
the Seder.
What
a contrast between a Jewish leader and the Egyptian leader [and so many leaders
who base their leadership on flexing and retaining power]. Pharaoh goes into
his private home, sees he has water, and turns a blind eye to the suffering of
his citizens. In contrast, Moshe goes out specifically to experience and help
in the pain of his brethren, points out Rav Yisroel Meir Druck. This is an
underlying theme not only of the plagues but of all Jewish history: A Jew feels
the pain of his fellow Jew as if it is his own pain. [In this we emulate Hashem
Who is with us in our pain and hardship. CKS]
This
first plague, while bringing knowledge of and faith in Hashem to the forefront,
also teaches us that each of us has a personal relationship with Hashem that
attests to the value of every individual while still infusing us with care and
love for each other. It incorporates Creation with Recreation at Sinai, and
with the final Recreation, may it be soon in our day.