april color-page124

20 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE both the Egyptians and the Jews, and he did not look upon it as a plague brought by Gd as punishment for his enslavement of Benei Yisrael . Naturally, then, Pharaoh did not bother to summon Moshe and Aharon to eliminate the lice. Thinking that the plague struck both the Egyptians and the Jews, Pharaoh was entirely unaware that it had been sent by Gd, and thus had no means of bringing it to its conclusion. Wild Beasts In issuing the warning about the wild beasts, Moshe declares to Pharaoh in the name of Gd, “The houses of Egypt will be filled with wild beasts – and also the ground upon which they stand” (Shemot 8:17). The Maharil Diskin (Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin, 1818-1898) explained this to mean that during this plague Gd transformed the entire landscape of Egypt. Every spe- cies of animal is accustomed to living in a certain ecological environment; it is dependent upon the particular proper- ties – such as smell and air quality – that characterize its natural habitat. Therefore, when Gd sent the wild beasts into Egypt, He also had to bring “the ground upon which they stand” – part of the ground from their natural habitats. This plague thus not only terrorized the Egyptians, but also caused a fundamental change in the entire landscape of the country. Others, however, explain this verse differently: that in addition to the people suffering harm, the ground also incurred significant damage. The wild beasts attacked people but also destroyed prop- erty, such that many roads, bridges and other structures in Egypt were left in ruins by the end of this plague. Pestilence Our tradition teaches that each of the first nine plagues spanned a period of seven days. But at first glance, it seems difficult to understand how the fifth plague, the plague of pestilence, could have occurred over such an extended period. After all, this plague involved the sudden death of all the Egyptians’ cattle; in but an instant, all their herds and flocks perished. How do we explain the tradition that this plague struck over the course of an entire week? Before the pestilence struck, Moshe informed Pharaoh that not a single ani- mal among the Jews’ herds would perish during the plague. Pharaoh, however, sought to refute Moshe’s prediction and show that the plague affected even Benei Yisrael ’s cattle. He therefore ordered a precise accounting of all Benei Yisrael ’s animals before and after the pestilence struck. For seven days after the Egyptians’ cattle died, Pharaoh’s men were busy care- fully examining the Jews’ herds and reviewing all the information in a futile attempt to disprove Moshe’s prediction. Ultimately, of course, he was forced to concede that the plague had no effect on Benei Yisrael ’s animals. Once again, Pharaoh’s obstinacy and arrogance worked against him. He could have easily activated his government’s propaganda machine and ordered the “media outlets” to falsely report the death of Benei Yisrael ’s animals. Few, if any, Egyptians would have any reason or basis on which to doubt these reports. But Pharaoh stub- bornly insisted on disproving Moshe, and these efforts led him to the humiliation of having to acknowledge Gd’s superiority. In memory of Mrs. Rae Semah v"g  Enchanted Faucet. F I X T U R E S • F A U C E T S • H A R D W A R E • T I L E S • A C C E S S O R I E S 1663 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230 (718) 787-1000 • Hours: M– Th. 9– 5:30, Sun. 10–4 Valet Parking • Appointments Welcome • www.homeandstone.com Ganz/Gross Adv. – NY Series2_CommunityMagHalfPg.indd 2 8/3/07 6:02:16 PM