Chochmas Nashaim: Bo: Sweet Revenge

CHOCHMAS NASHIM: REVENGE IS SWEET

By: Suri Davis

This week had us commemorating the 75^th liberation of Auschwitz, many heads of states came to Israel and the event was lauded. I cant help but be a bit skeptical. It has been 75 since the liberation, 72 years since the birth of the State of Israel. If these states were put to the test today with regard to a homeland for the Jews, would they support the vote. They can commemorate death, can be supportive of our lives? Israel comes to the aid of all nations in trouble, how many came to Israel’s aid as rockets pour in from Gaza. Do they band together at the United Nations permitting and passing more anti-Israel, anti-semitic resolutions. How many are banning BDS in their countries.

We say never again, but we know that until Moshiach comes, it will occur again and again, as we know from our Passover song of V’he Sheamdah, that in every generation there are those who rise up to destroy us, but G-d saves us. Maybe this is so, so we don’t fee to comfortable in exile and we retain our strong desire for redemption.

The anti-semitism begins with our slavery in Egypt. Have you ever wondered why G-d chose these specific plagues with which to smite the Egyptians? Did you ever wonder why there was no mention of Jews daily lives for 200!!!! Years in Egypt. We get introduced to the Egyptian slavery as they are about to be redeemed by G-d through Moses. We don’t really know about how they Jewish slaves were treated…unless you read the commentary by the Yalkut Meam Loez, which I bring to you summarized.

The ten plagues:

Blood: The Egyptians didn’t permit the Jewis women to Tovel/immerse themselves ritually from their menstrual blood, which prevented them from having relations with their husbands and fulfill the commandment of pru urvu/be fruitful and multiply.
Pharaoh killed 300 Jewish children to bathe in their blood.
The fish in the Nile died to avenge the male infants where were killed from Pharaoh’s decree that all male babies be thrown into the Nile. Those infants were eaten by the fish, and the fish died in this plague.
Frog: A. Pharaoh thought the Nile was a G-d. G-d avenged the Nile by controlling it and filling it with frogs, which hurt the Nile itself.
Egyptians caused the Jews to collect bugs and insects by hand, which caused them great suffering, as the bugs are a source of tumah, impurity.
It is a great mitzvah to daven/pray at dawn, because that is when the angels sing. Pharaoh prevented the Jews from joining the song of angels, so G-d caused frogs to infest the land and the frogs’ voices were incessant.
Rachel cried bitterly for the loss of her children in exile, and so in every exile, the frogs cry incessantly in sympathy.
Because of Pharaohs decree to throw male babies into the Nile, the women in labor had to contain their screams, which added to their suffering. The frogs incessant voices avenge this added pain.
Lice: A. Egyptians forced the Jews to sweep the dusty streets, which was a useless hard task. When the lice came, sweeping the streets would have worsened the lice infestation, so the Egyptians asked them to stop sweeping when the lice came. This gave the sweepers respite.
When the Jews made the bricks for the pyramids, the dust got into their every body orifice and they were prevented from washing themselves clean. The lice entered the Egyptians orifice in revenge.

Wild Beasts: The Egyptians force the Jews into the desert and forests to hunt wild beasts for them. This plague is revenge.
Livestock diseases that killed cattle: A. The Egyptians forced the Jews to shepherd their cattle in the mountains away from their wives, to interrupt marital relations.
The Egyptians used Jews as animals, to plow their fields, while their own animals rested.
The Egyptians stole Jewish cattle.

Boils: A. The Egyptians forced the Jews to bathe them. When they were smitten with the boils, it was too painful to bathe, Jews had respite.
The Egyptians worked the Jews so hard, that they were too tired to have relations with their wives. When the Egyptians were smitten with boils, they did not want to have relations with their wives.
Hail: A. The Egyptians forced the Jews to plant their fields, the hail ruined these fields.
The Egyptians stoned the Jews, the hail pelted the Egyptians.

Locusts: A. The Egyptians forced Jews to harvest the fields, the locusts harvested the fields instead.
The Egyptians fought with the Jews about land borders, the locusts clearly delineated which were Egyptian and which were Jewish-owned, in that the Egyptian land was destroyed, while the Jewish land remained unscathed.

Darkness: A. For all the pain and suffering caused by the Egyptians, they were smitten with the darkness of hell which was palpable.
G-d informed the Jews that they were to leave Egypt so they could be servants of G-d. There were those who did not want to leave Egypt and did not want to serve G-d. G-d caused the darkness so he could kill these Jews without desecrating G-d’s name.

Killing of the firstborn: A. Pharaoh bathed in the blood of the firstborn Jewish males, this plague avenged.
Firstborn of maidservants died as well, because they mistreated the Jews as well.
The eldest of the animals, because the Egyptians idolized them.

Curious all this torture of the Jews in Egypt, and it is not the focus of the story.

Every day in our prayers, we mention redemption from Egypt.

Why no mention of the slavery itself, of the torture?

If we understand that our trials and tribulations are meant as lessons to force us to grow spiritually, then it is analogous to a doctor breaking a bone in surgery to heal a patient. We don’t discuss the cutting and the breaking of the doctor, we discuss the healing of the doctor.

We discuss redemption, because this is what our takeaway focus should be. Yes, we all have our peckel/challenges, some really difficult peckels, our focus needs to be redemption.

As Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau, former chief Rabbi of Israel, said in his speech to the heads of state gathered in Israel to commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz, the name of Israel’s national anthem is HATIKVAH/The hope. We as Jews who are tortured and killed in every generation, have in our pockets hope, hope for immediate redemption, for the coming of the Messiah, speedily in our days.

Shabbat shalom.

Suri