Community Magazine April 2019

56 Community Magazine Examining the First of the Ten Plagues Yehoshua ben Yosef O ne of the best-known portions of the Pesach seder is the list of the ten plagues, the catastrophes that Gd brought upon Egypt to punish the nation for its ruthless oppression of the Hebrews whom they held as slaves. The names of the plagues are usually recited rapidly, without delving into the details about these miracles. But in the spirit of the Haggadah’s teaching, “Vechol hamarbeh…hareh zeh meshubah” – that it is admirable to elaborate in our discussion of the miracles of the Exodus – let us take a closer look at the first of the ten plagues, and try to understand what exactly happened and how it affected the Egyptians. The Torah states that Moshe approached Pharaoh and gave him the following warning: “So said Gd: ‘Through this you will know that I am Hashem!’ I will strike the water of the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will change into blood. The fish in the waters will die, and the Nile will reek. The Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the Nile.” (Shemot 7:17 – 7:18) This description of the plague of blood gives rise to several questions: 1. Why did the fish die? 2. What caused the Nile to emit such a strong stench? 3. Was the blood real – or was it just a blood-colored liquid? 4. Why was specifically blood the liquid chosen by Gd to pollute the Nile? 5. Is this plague documented in Egyptian historical records? The Bloody Nile Did You Know? The plague of blood began on a Thursday. Fish were created on the 5th day of creation – Thursday – and they died on the 5th day when Gd turned the water in the Nile into blood.