1. The תנא דבי אליהו זוטא (Ch. 14) says that Klal Yisroel were redeemed only in the merit of the Torah. The midrash understands the possuk (6:5) ואזכר את בריתי to be a reference to Torah. Asks the midrash, we didn't have Torah yet? It answers עשו תורה כל ימיהם. What does the answer of the midrash mean? Rav Dovid Solevetchik explains based upon a letter of the Rambam to Rav Chasdai Halevi that the point of Torah is 'להתקין הנפש במדותיה ובאמוהת הבורא ית. Based upon this we can understand this existed even before the giving of the Torah, and that is the intent of the midrash. Interesting take from a Brisker, suggesting that the essence of Torah is a focus on one's character, not just an intellectual study.
2. The only מכה that's called 'יד ה is the plague of דבר. This is reflected in the haggadeh as well where we cite this verse as proof that יד חזקה refers to דבר. Why is it this plague that merits this title? The Briskor Rav explains that all the plagues were brought about by Moshe and Aharon doing an act with the staff etc. This plague however, came by itself as did the wild animals, therefore it says there (8:20) ויעש ה' כן. However, if that's the case why is דבר called the hand of God more than ערוב? Rav Eliyahu Baruch Finkel suggests a different approach. He says that this plague was the first one to be done by Hashem without a median, hence it's called the hand of God. It is interesting to note that it is the fifth plague corresponding to the five fingers of the hand.
3. Rav Dovid wonders why at the conclusion of some of the plagues we are told that Pharaoh asked Moshe to remove the plague, but some plagues we don't see this request? The Or Hachaim (8:4) already points this out and explains that Pharaoh asked the plague to be removed only when he thought there was a threat to his life (עיי"ש.) However, Rav Dovid touches on an interesting point. The Yalkut indicates that there was a pattern to every plague, the same length of time for the warning, the plague, and the removal. If that's the case what did the prayers of Moshe accomplish, it would've been removed anyway. The Or Hachaim (7:25) suggests that even though there was a set time for the makkos, prayer helped to get rid of the plague earlier than the scheduled time. It is intresting to note that despite the fact that the makkos would have gone away anyway, Moshe's had to pray in an intense, meaningful manner in order to expedite the remoal. Why was such intense besseching required just to hasten the process? See Sifsai Chayim.
4. The following point is stolen from the Divrei Chaim, from a piece entitled Brisker Rav on the dual purpose of the Makkos.
Rashi explains the pasuk "Re'eh nesaticha Elokim l'Pharoah" (7:1) to mean that Moshe was appointed as a dayan, a judge, over Pharoah. The Brisker Rav explains that the makkos were not just a means to force the Egyptians to free the Jewish people, but were necessary to fulfill the promise to Avraham of "V'gam es hagoy asher ya'avodu dan anochi", the promise to judge the nation who would enslave the Jewish people. Therefore, Moshe had to act as a judge to impose the necessary punishment on Pharoah, on his servants, and on the Egyptian nation, each according to what was deserved.I do not understand this insight of the Brisker Rav. The implication is that the judgment on Pharoah and Mitzrayim is a "chiddush din" which warranted the makkos even if the Jewish people could be freed in some other way. But what kind of new din is this? We know that there is a principle of schar v'onesh, reward and punishment, which means good people eventually reap their just rewards and evildoers get punished. If the punishment of the Egyptians was warranted under the principle of schar v'onesh, then why do we need a new pasuk of "v'gam es hagoy...dan anochi" to tell us that G-d will judge and punish them? And if the punishment of the Egyptians was not warranted under the normal rules of schar v'onesh, why did they deserve makkos at all? (See Ramban to Beraishis 15:14 who explains why the Egyptians deserved to be punished despite the fact that G-d had predestined the Jewish people for enslavement. Perhaps that is the chiddush here, but I am still not satisfied -- why would that necessitate the appointment of a judge as part of the process, a concept not implicitly part of the usual schar v'onesh pattern?)
It is noteworthy that the Brisker Rav assumes like the simple read of the possuk that the makkos were a punishment for the Egyptians as Rashi says in Lech Lecha and Yishayeh (23:5.) However, the Seforno in this week's parsha beginning of Ch. 7 says that the makkos were meant to cause the Egyptians to do teshuva. It could be that the possuk of ודן אנכי is only referring to בכורות, which the Seforno agrees in a punishment (see midrash 15:27) (there are many more מקורות בהענין, תן לחכם וכו.)
It is also noteworthy that part of the message of the מכות was that Klal Yisroel should see the greatness of Hashem (see the pessukim in the beginning of parshas Bo and Rashi in our parsha, (7:3.) Why must the makkos be a message to Klal Yisroel and not just a punishment? The Rebbe (Likutay Sichos volume 36) explains that everything that happens is for the sake of Klal Yisroel, so we must find in the makkos a lesson for Klal Yisroel.
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