Haggadah Tour
A Different Night
Classic Edition
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Short Reviews
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4
Children
Art
of 4 Children
Leader's
Guide
Plagues Bags
Plagues•
A
Pacifist Interprets the Midnight Plague • Egyptology
and the "gods" • The Little Finger
and the Itchy Lice • Games of the Ten Plagues
• The Ecology of Plagues • Recount
the Plagues • "Let My People Go"
• Black Moses • A Debate
— Should We Feel Joy at the Downfall of Our Enemies? — On the
One Hand: The Joys of Justice — On The Other Hand: Restraints on
Revenge • Bruria and the Hoodlums •
Reflections on Vengeance • So
Many Plagues • Wanted: Pharaoh's Heart
A
Pacifist Interprets the Midnight Plague
Rabbi
Aaron Samuel Tamares
(Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, early Zionist and pacifist, 1869-1931)
“For I
will go through the land of Egypt in that night” (Ex.
12:12) – “I and not an intermediary.”
Now obviously the Holy One, blessed be He, could have given the children
of Israel the power to avenge themselves upon the Egyptians, but He did
not want to sanction the use of their fists for self-defense even at that
time. At that moment they might merely have defended themselves against
evil-doers, but in the end defenders become aggressors.
“It came
to pass at midnight” (Ex. 12:29).
The Holy One, blessed be He, took great pains to remove Israel completely
from any participation in the vengeance upon the evil-doers, to such an
extent that they were not permitted even to see the events. For that reason
midnight, the darkest hour, was designated as the time for the
deeds of vengeance, and the children of Israel were warned not to step
outside their houses at that hour.
“...
None of you shall go out of the door of their house until the morning
... that there not be in your midst the plague of the destroyer”
(Ex. 12:22-23). The language itself is very precise. Your abstention
from any participation in the vengeance upon Egypt will prevent the plague
of vengeance from stirring the power of the destroyer which is
in you yourselves.
Egyptology and the “gods”. top
Egyptology
and the "gods"
"I will punish all the gods of Egypt, I am the Lord."
(Ex. 12:12)
By attacking the gods
of Egypt and disrupting the cosmic order established on earth by the god
Ra, the ten plagues delegitimized Pharaoh, who claimed to be the
divine king bearing the name “Son of Ra.” Pharaoh’s query
– “Who is the Lord, that I should heed his voice” (Ex.
5:2) – is answered pointedly by the “hand of God,”
an idiom meaning in ancient Egyptian, “a plague”.
Many
of the plagues strike at the domains particular to Egyptian deities. One
Rabbinic midrash exemplifies this idea: “Why did the first plague
turn the Nile into blood? For Pharaoh and the Egyptians worshipped the
Nile. So God said: Go and strike their god until he bleeds” (Tanchuma,
Shmot Rabbah 9). Hapi was the Egyptian god of the Nile.
The second plague struck at Heket the god who took the shape of
a frog. The fifth plague, cattle disease, attacked the gods Hathor
(cow) and Apis (bull). The ninth plague, darkness, triumphed over
the sun god Ra. Finally, the tenth showed the vulnerability of
Pharaoh himself, the son of the Sun god. The Torah can well pun on the
name of Egypt’s supreme god “Ra” and call him “ra’a,”
the source of evil (Ex. 10:10). top
The
Little Finger and the Itchy Lice
THE FINGER USED to remove the wine recalls the metaphor used by Pharaoh’s
magicians who could not rid themselves of the plague of lice. Unable to
alleviate the third plague with all their incantations, they acknowledged:
“This must
be the Finger of God” (Ex 8:15). top
Games
of the Ten Plagues
1.Pantomime
Prepare cards with
the name or picture of one of the ten plagues. Let ten participants at
the seder choose a card out of a hat and present a pantomime of the plague
while the others try to guess the name of the plague. (Try using its Hebrew
name). You may let the children do the pantomime and the adults guess.
2. “The Yukkiest
Plague”
Divide the children
into three groups. Each group will be given as a theme either blood, frogs,
or wild animals (the first, second, and fourth plague). They have five
to ten minutes to prepare a short play. The adults may judge and award
an Oscar (or better a “Moses”) for the most vivid, original,
and devastating presentation. top
The
Ecology of Plagues
R. YEHUDA GALEVI, the 12th C. Spanish physician and poet, explained the
division of plagues into twos:
Two
plagues from the water (blood and frogs from the Nile);
Two
plagues from the earth (lice and wild animals);
Two
plagues from air-carried infections (plague and boils);
Two
plagues from air-carried damages (hailstorms and locusts);
Two
plagues from supernatural acts (darkness caused by an eclipse and the
plague of the first born). top
Recount
the Plagues
Recount the plagues that have struck this year and for each remove
a drop of wine from one’s cup of joy. Some families recount ecological
plagues at this point. top
"Let
My People Go"
An African-American Spiritual
Sing:
When Israel was in Egypt’s land,
“Let My people go” (Ex. 5:1).
Oppressed so hard they could not stand,
“Let My people go.”
Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land,
Tell old Pharaoh: “Let My people go.”
Thus said the Lord, bold Moses said,
“Let My people go.”
If not, I'll smite your first-born dead,
“Let My people go.”
Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land,
Tell old Pharaoh: “Let My people go.”
No more shall they in bondage toil,
“Let My people go. ”
Let them come out with Egypt’s spoil,
“Let My people go.”
Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land,
Tell old Pharaoh: “Let my people go.” top
"Black
Moses"
HARRIET TUBMANescaped
in 1849 from her plantation in Maryland with the help of the “Underground
Railroad.” Soon she became a major “conductor” bringing
more than 300 slaves to freedom. Despite the high price on her head, her
faith in God gave her the courage to persist and earn the nickname “Moses
of her people.” top
Should
We Feel Joy at the
Downfall of Our Enemies?
1. The
spilling of the sixteen drops has been understood traditionally in
opposite ways. 
Either
it signifies sympathy for the enemy Egyptians who suffered as a result
of the painful process of liberating the Jews from Egyptian tyranny; or
it reaffirms the righteous vengeance of God’s sword exercising judgment
against a relentless, cruel and stubborn oppressor.
2. We have arrayed
contrasting views: on the right, the joys of just punishment and on the
left, the need for restraint on vengeful feelings. You may wish to read
responsively the contrasting speeches of Shylock (5) and Yitzchak Rabin
(5).
3. Discuss
to what extent these statements reflect your feelings about Arab terrorists,
contemporary Egyptians, Nazis, or criminals in general. top
On
the One Hand:
The Joys of Justice
1.
“When the wicked perish,
There are shouts of joy!”
(Proverbs 11:10)
2. The Song of the Red Sea
“Israel saw
the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea ... Then Moshe and Israel sang
to the Lord: ... Your right hand, Lord, shatters the Foe.
The Foe said: ‘I
will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My desire shall
have its fill of them. I will bare my sword;’ ...
But You, God, made
your wind blow, the sea covered them.” (Ex. 14:31;
15:1,9-10)
3. President Abraham Lincoln
“If every drop
of blood drawn by the lash must be paid by one drawn by the sword, still
must it be said, ‘The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether.’” (Psalm. 19; Second Inaugural
Address, 1865)
Rabbi Jacob Halevi Moulin
(15th C., Germany, an era of pogroms and expulsions)
“The sixteen
drops refer to the sixteen facets of God’s avenging sword.”
4. Rabbi Shalom from Noitch
On the seventh day
of Pesach (the anniversary of the crossing of the Red Sea), one should
be sure to add the phrase “the day of our joy” (simchatenu)
to the Kiddush, for the Egyptians were drowned in the sea.
5. Shylock
“My Revenge! He hath disgraced me, and hind’red me half a million;
laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation,
thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies –
and what’s his reason? I am a Jew.
Hath not a Jew eyes?
Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?
fed with the same food,
hurt with the same weapons,
subject to the same diseases,
healed by the same means,
warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is?
If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die?
And if you wrong us,
shall we not revenge?
If we are like you in the rest,
we will resemble you in that.
If a Jew wrong a Christian,
what is his humility? Revenge.
If a Christian wrong a Jew, What should his sufferance be by Christian
example? Why, revenge!
The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will
better the instruction.
(William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”,
1597)
Restraints on Revenge
1. “If your enemy falls,
Do not celebrate.
If he trips,
Let not your heart rejoice.”
(Proverbs 24:17)
2. Rabbi Yochanan
“God is not happy at the downfall of the wicked. ... When the angels tried to sing songs of praise to God at the Red Sea, God silenced them: ‘My handiwork, my human creatures, are drowning in the sea and you want to sing a song of praise?’” (T.B. Megillah 10b)
3. Don Isaac Abrabanel
(refugee of the Expulsion from Spain, 1492)
“By spilling a drop of wine, from the Pesach cup for each plague, we acknowledge that our own joy is lessened and incomplete. For our redemption had to come by means of the punishment of other human beings. Even though these are just punishments for evil acts, it says ‘Do not rejoice at the fall of your enemy.’” (Proverbs 24:17)
4. Rabbi Simcha Cohen from Divinsk (Lithuanian Talmudist)
“The Torah never mentions ‘joy’ in relation to the holiday of Pesach as it does for Shavuot and Sukkot. On Pesach – unlike the other pilgrimage holidays – we do not recite all the Psalms of Hallel (except the first day) because as Shmuel quotes from Proverbs: In the downfall of your enemy, do not rejoice. We celebrate the Exodus from Egypt, not the downfall of the Egyptians.”
5. Chief of Staff, General Yitzhak Rabin,
Six Day War, June 1967
(later Prime Minister of the State of Israel –
1974-1975, 1992-1995)
“War is harsh and cruel, filled with blood and tears. While the joy of victory seized the whole people, among the community of fighters themselves there is a strange phenomenon: they cannot celebrate whole-heartedly. There is a large measure of sadness, of shock, mixed into their festivities. Some fighters cannot celebrate at all. The frontline soldiers saw with their own eyes – not only the glory of victory, but also its price – their fellow fighters fell at their sides in pools of blood. I know that the price paid by the enemy also touched a deep place in the hearts of many. Perhaps the Jewish people has never been educated and never become accustomed to the joy of the conqueror. Therefore, our victory is received with mixed feelings.” top
Bruria
and the Hoodlums
A gang of hoodlums
lived in Rabbi Meir’s neighborhood and they used to torment him endlessly.
Rabbi Meir prayed for their death. His wife Bruria said to him: “How
did you reach such a decision?” He replied: “The Bible says,
‘Let sins be obliterated from the earth.’ “
(Psalms 104:35) She answered: “Is it written ‘sinners?’
The verse says ‘sins.' Look further to the end of the verse:
‘….And the wicked will be no more.’ (Psalms
104:35) Since all sins will be obliterated, then of course
‘the wicked will be no more.’ Therefore, pray that these
hoodlums repent and then they will not be ‘wicked’ anymore.”
Rabbi Meir prayed
for them and they indeed mended their ways.
(2nd C. Eretz Yisrael, Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 10a) top
Reflections
on Vengeance
“You shall not
take vengeance nor bear a grudge against your people. Rather you shall
love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord.” (Leviticus
19:18-19)
“Whoever takes
vengeance destroys his own house.” (R. Papa, T.B.
Sanhedrin 102 b)
“Don’t say,
since I have been humiliated; let my neighbor be humiliated also. Know!
It is the image of God, you would be humiliating in your neighbor.”
(Ben Azzai, Tanhima Gen. R. 24:7)
“This shall be
our revenge! We shall revive what they kill, and raise what they topple...This
is the banner of our vengeance and its name is Jerusalem.” (Peretz
Smolenskin, Zionist, 1882) top
So
Many Plagues?
SINCE GOD could have removed Israel from Egypt in one swift act of liberation,
what was the point of prolonging the process – ten plagues and then
trapping the Egyptians in the Red Sea?
God answers this query
in the Torah. “I could have stretched forth My hand and stricken
you (Pharaoh) and your people ... and you would have been effaced from
the earth. Nevertheless, I have spared you for this purpose.” (Ex.
9:15-16) “I will multiply My signs and marvels in the
land of Egypt ... and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”
(Ex. 7:3,5) God’s goal is not merely
the physical liberation of slaves, but the spiritual liberation of Pharaoh
from his illusions of total power. To know deep down that Egypt has
no right to enslave others means to dispel the religious foundation of
Pharaoh’s idolatrous self-deification. God’s battle for recognition
in the eyes of ancient Egyptian civilization is achievable only by a long
series of blows to its self-esteem that gradually chip away at their self-evident
preeminence as one of the longest lasting empires in human history. top
Wanted:
Pharaoh's Heart
SEFORNO (Italian Renaissance, 16th C.)
explains that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he wouldn’t
submit simply out of a pragmatic desire to end the pain of the plagues.
The plagues were a call to a “change of heart,” not only of
policy. God was anxious to accept true repentance.