וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה אֱמֹ֣ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֡ן קַ֣ח מַטְּךָ֣ וּנְטֵֽה־יָדְךָ֩ עַל־מֵימֵ֨י מִצְרַ֜יִם עַֽל־נַהֲרֹתָ֣ם ׀ עַל־יְאֹרֵיהֶ֣ם וְעַל־אַגְמֵיהֶ֗ם וְעַ֛ל כָּל־מִקְוֵ֥ה מֵימֵיהֶ֖ם וְיִֽהְיוּ־דָ֑ם וְהָ֤יָה דָם֙ בְּכָל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם וּבָעֵצִ֖ים וּבָאֲבָנִֽים׃
“And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Take your rod and hold out your arm over the waters of Egypt—its rivers, its canals, its ponds, all its bodies of water—that they may turn to blood; there shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.” 8:5
Why would Aaron start מכת דם and not Moshe if Hashem commanded Moshe to be the leader for the Jews? Rashi says the reason why Aaron started מכת דם is because the Nile protected Moshe when he was in the תבה so therefore he did not start this plague.
What are other reasons for why Moshe did not start מכת דם ? Are there any other מכות that Moshe did not do for a certain reason? Why did Hashem choose מכת דם as the first Plague? According to Rashi, Moshe did not start מכת דם because the Nile protected him which shows מידה כנגד מידה״” Where else does ״מידה כנגד מידה״ come up in the Torah and how is it significant?
Why did moshe need the staff he could have done it on his own? Rav Dovid Feinstein writes that on the staff it had all of the makkot written on it so it was used for created the makkot. Also Moshe Ben- Chaim writes on why he uses the staff ( http://www.mesora.org/mosesstaff.htm) is that Moshe’s speech impediment would show the Egyptians that its hard for him to be creating all the makkot alone so they would know its Hashem but since Moshe wasn’t doing all plagues and Aaron did a lot of them he spoke clearly and calmly that it would take away a little from Hashem and seem that Aaron was creating the makkot. So we needed the staff to emphasize that Hashem was creating the plagues.
ReplyDeleteWhy do the מכות start with מכת דם? Rashi (with further explanation from Rabbi Moshe Shaman) gives two two explanations. One is that Hashem wanted to weaken the Egyptians and so by attacking and destroying their main source of sustenance, Hashem was able to weaken the Egyptians. Secondly, whenever Hashem attacks/punishes, He will usually start by attacking the other people’s god. How does Hashem do that here? Well the Egyptians looked at the Nile like it was one of their gods, and so when Hashem attacks/punishes the Nile by turning it into blood, he is too attacking one of the Egyptians god.
ReplyDeleteI liked this answer a lot because it shows that every little thing and detail that Hashem does is for a reason. Something as small as the order of the מכות is still significant in the eyes of Hashem. Another reason I liked this answer is because it shows that Hashem is always the superior god and it gives reassurance to the Jews that even though they are going through all of these hardships, Hashem will always be on top and even the Egyptian gods will not stop him.
According to the Mishnah Tanchuma, the plagues were in a order that mimicked war tactics. First a king will cut off the water supply. If the people will not surrender, the king will create thunderous noise. That is the frogs. Hence, the bloody water was the first Makkah. I love this midrash. We always learnt this midrash in Haggadah and it's interesting to actually read it with more knowledge of history.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.8.13 lang=bi&with=Midrash%20Tanchuma&lang2=en&p3=Midrash_Tanchuma%2C_Bo.4.1&lang3=bi
Are there any other מכות that Moshe did not do for a certain reason?
ReplyDeleteAccording to rashi Moshe didn’t do מכה כינים because the sand helped hide the the Mitzri when Moshe killed him and therefor he couldn’t harm the sand so for that reason Aaron did this מכה.
I like this reason because similarly to rashi’s other reason for why Moshe couldn’t do the first Makkah it shows that Moshe really is great full to people or things that helped him in the pass. And that it shows how Moshe wasn’t able to harm things that did a chessed for him.
Where else does ״מידה כנגד מידה״ come up in the Torah and how is it significant?
ReplyDeleteAlthough מידה כנגד מידה is often a punishment, it can also be used as a reward. For example, in class we recently learned a source from ויקרא רבה that explains why בתיה was given her name. It says that because משה wasn’t really her son but she took him as a son ה׳ would take her as a daughter (בת קה). This also shows the importance of הכרת הטוב as even ה׳ recognizes what an Egyptian did for someone.