Did the Plagues Affect the Jews?

Rabbi Reuven Mann, ZT”L

Edited by B. Silberstein

This week’s Parsha, VaEira, describes the plagues that Hashem rained down on Egypt because of their refusal to heed His word. Contrary to popular belief, Moshe did not order Pharaoh to terminate the enslavement of the Jews. That subject was not even broached in the extensive negotiations between the two sides.

What Was Pharaoh Really Asked to Do?

All that Moshe was requesting was that the Jews be allowed a brief furlough from their labors, to travel a short distance into the wilderness, and to offer sacrifices to Hashem; the implication being that afterward the slaves would return to Egypt and resume their servitude.

Yet even this modest request was deemed by Pharaoh to be too much to grant. One can see that the Egyptian king’s ego determined his attitude. He responded to Moshe in their initial conversation by saying,

“Who is Hashem that I should heed His voice to send out Israel?; I do not know Hashem, nor will I send out Israel!” (Shemot 5:2)

This is the attitude of the arrogant, who are overcome with their own inflated sense of greatness. A bit of humbleness on the king’s part could have saved him and the people he led from much suffering.

The Plagues as a Tool of Instruction

Now the objective of Moshe was to convince Pharaoh of the existence of the G-d he refused to acknowledge. The primary instrument for the instruction of Pharaoh was the plagues, which simultaneously served as indispensable components of Moshe’s negotiations with the Egyptian ruler.

The Makkot (Blows) were relatively mild at first, but became progressively more destructive due to Pharaoh’s recalcitrance. Even the fearsome plagues of Barad (Hail), Arbeh (Locusts), Arov (Wild Beasts), and Choshech (Darkness), which would have struck sanity into the hearts of most normal people, did not bring Pharaoh to his knees.

[Note: The first atom bomb which America dropped over Hiroshima did not bring that nation to its senses. It took the destruction of another Japanese city, Nagasaki, to awaken the Emperor to the realization that all was lost if he did not surrender immediately.]

Pharaoh was totally divorced from reality and unable to make rational decisions. Finally, the terror engendered by Makkat Bechorot (the Plague of the Firstborn) was too much to bear, and he urged the Jews to leave Egypt posthaste.

Were the Jews Affected by the Plagues?

In considering the phenomenon of the Makkot, we must ask: did they only apply to the Egyptians, or were the Jews affected by them as well?

In this regard, the Torah points out that Bnei Yisrael (Children of Israel) were spared from certain of the plagues. For example, in the case of Arov (Wild Beasts), which ravaged the Egyptians, the verse states,

“And on that day I shall set apart the land of Goshen upon which My people dwell, that there shall be no swarm there; so that you will know that I am Hashem in the midst of the land.” (Shemot 8:18)

The same is true regarding the plagues of Dever (Contagion), Barad (Hail), and Darkness. But what about the plagues in which no mention is made that the Jews were protected? Should we assume that these did not distinguish between Mitzri (Egyptian) and Yehudi (Jew)?

A Dispute Between the Ramban and Ibn Ezra

There is a dispute on this matter between two great commentators, the Ramban (Nachmanides) and Rabbeinu Avraham Ibn Ezra. Nachmanides holds that the Jews were shielded from the effects of all the punishing blows. The reason the Torah mentions that the Jews were spared only in certain cases is that, according to the laws of nature, those plagues should have spread to the Jews. According to the Ramban, it was an additional miracle that prevented that from happening.

However, he maintains that the Makkot were directed solely at the Mitzrim (Egyptians), because they refused to comply with Hashem’s command to let the Jews go and worship Him. The Jews, who were destined to receive the Torah on Mount Sinai, warranted being saved, and Divine Providence protected them from any harm.

Rabbeinu Avraham Ibn Ezra, however, asserts that in the cases where the Torah does not specify that the Jews were spared, we must assume that they too suffered from the blows. Thus, he maintained that the plagues of Blood and Frogs, for example, did affect the Jews. In elucidating his position, he divides the plagues into two categories: those that were relatively mild, and those that involved heavy damage, such as Hail and Wild Beasts.

But the question we must ask of this sage is: why didn’t Hashem spare the Jews from all the Makkot, since their primary cause was the obstinacy of Pharaoh?

In my opinion, while it is true that the plagues came about because of the sinfulness of the Egyptians, the Jews did not necessarily merit being spared from their effects. The Rabbis say,

“Once permission is granted to the destroyer to destroy, it does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked” (Bava Kama 60a).

For example, Hashem might decree a forest fire in the environs of an especially wicked nation. However, if a good person happens to be in that vicinity, he may not merit a special miracle to protect him from its effects. The same can apply to the Jews in Egypt. Once the plague took hold, it would naturally affect the Jews who happened to be in the wrong vicinity. In order to be spared, they would require a special protective Divine Providence.

Rabbeinu Avraham Ibn Ezra holds that the severe Makkot would have seriously harmed Bnei Yisrael and interfered with their mission of exiting Mitzrayim (Egypt) and receiving the Torah. Therefore, Hashem protected them from those. But the minor ones were basically temporary annoyances which left no permanent scars, and if the Jews had been on a high enough spiritual level, they would have been spared from them as well. But were they?

One can argue that the Jews at that time were not on a high enough spiritual level to warrant protection from the effects of the “lesser” plagues. Our Sages maintain that in Egypt the Jews had descended to a very low level, which they characterize as the forty-ninth rung of “impurity.”

They had abandoned the religious approach of the Avot (Forefathers) and emulated the idolatrous practices of Egyptian paganism. The Rambam (Maimonides) states:

“The great principle of the Yichud Hashem (Unity of God), which had been established by Avraham, was on the verge of being completely abandoned” (Hilchot Avodah Zarah 1:3).

Thus, to a serious degree, the Jews had partaken of the corruption of their host country, and a certain amount of punishment was appropriate in order for them to expunge the sinfulness from their hearts.

There might be another factor to take into consideration as well. Hashem instructed the Jews to place the blood of the Passover sacrifice on their doorposts and not to venture outdoors on the night that Egypt was smitten with the Plague of the Firstborn. It was very important that the Jews not exult over the destruction of their enemy. Under no circumstances was it permitted for them to feel any innate superiority over their stricken neighbors. Instead, they were to feel sadness that these people had strayed so far from proper obedience to Hashem that they warranted such punishment. Why, then, did Hashem pass over their houses?

The verse (Shemot 12:13) states,

“The blood shall be a sign for you upon the houses where you are; I shall see the blood and I shall pass over you, and there shall not be a plague of destruction upon you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

Yet does Hashem require a visible sign to recognize the habitations of the Hebrews? Of course not!

Rashi addresses this and says,

“Everything is revealed before Him. Rather, Hashem said, ‘I will direct My attention to see that you are preoccupied with My Mitzvot, and I will pass over you.’”

In my opinion, this means that the Jews should obtain no false sense of superiority because Hashem spared them from this plague. Instead, they should realize that it is only because they keep the system of commandments revealed by Hashem that He relates to and protects them.

Suffering, Humility, and Moral Responsibility

This concept enables us to better understand the position of Rabbeinu Avraham Ibn Ezra that Bnei Yisrael also suffered from some of the plagues. The purpose of this was to alert them to the fact that it was not only the Egyptians who deserved punishment due to their transgressions. The Jews had their own share of trespasses as well.

When we witness the sufferings of others, even seemingly rotten people, we should still retain a measure of compassion. We should certainly not luxuriate in any feelings of superiority. Rather, we should look within and see if there are any areas of our spiritual life that need mending. Compassion, humbleness, and self-awareness are the cornerstones of an elevated moral existence.

May Hashem help us to attain it.

Shabbat Shalom.