Pesach - 5775

Pesach - 5775

Rabbi Hal Miller

Rabbi Yehuda gave to them abbreviations: De'tzach, A'dash, B'achav.

[Haggadah]

Every year we read about the plagues, both in weekly Torah readings and in the

Haggadah of the Seder night. We see this set of abbreviations each Pesach, but do

we actually think about what they mean? Why did Rabbi Yehuda give us these in

the first place? What is there about the plagues that his abbreviations are telling us?

Often we see in the Gemora this type of comment, where someone gives abbreviations

as a memory device. Since the Gemora was learned orally, students needed keys to

remind them of who held what position, and this kind of mnemonic was a common way

to accomplish this learning. Our first thought when seeing Rabbi Yehuda's statement

is that this is what his purpose might have been.

But what would his mnemonic be teaching us? We see in Tehillim [105:28-36] that David

lists the plagues of Egypt. He leaves out two, which some commentators believe is due

to the failure of the Egyptians to have put any fear in those two. David also lists them in

a different order, for a different purpose. Rabbi Yehuda here reminds us to read them at

the Seder in the order given in the Torah, not that of the Psalm.

But as Nechama Leibowitz writes, "Rabbi Yehuda's acronym is not just a mnemonic

device, but also a thematic grouping of the plagues that relates as well to the

purpose of the plagues." Numerous commentators point out that there are three

groupings of three each, followed by one final plague. How does this tie in?

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains, "The first three were performed by Aharon, the second

three by Moshe, and the third three by Moshe's 'stretching out his hand'. In each group,

the first was preceded by a warning 'in the morning', the second by a warning whose

time is not specified, and the third came without warning."

Abarbanel heard this same argument, but with a twist: "others are of the opinion that the

first repesents the plagues brought by Aharon, the second represents the plagues

brought by HKBH without Moshe or Aharon, and the third represents the plagues brought

on by Moshe." He goes on to disagree with this as an answer, and to present his own

view instead.

In other places, the Torah describes how punishment for violation of commandments

requires warning and witnesses. Here, the first two plagues were warned, but not the

third of each set. Malbim explains that the first two served as witnesses for the third, thus

the sets were separate from each other. Why were the first warnings at the Nile and

second warnings at the palace? Rabbeinu Bechaye answers that "those were the

symbols of Pharaoh's arrogance, thus the plagues were proof of Pharaoh's

powerlessness against Hashem."

These arguments help us understand the plagues themselves, but we still need to

find Rabbi Yehuda's reasoning for these abbreviations. Abarbanel ties the abbreviations

to the groupings, and adds the final plague to the last abbreviation since it is the

culmination of the entire series. His key to understanding is the reason for the groups

themselves.

Abarbanel says that "there were three groups of Egyptians:

- those who believed that there was no primary cause of existence;

- those who believed there was a primary cause of existence but He did not involve

Himself in the lowly material world; and

- those who believed that Hashem did intervene in this world but that His power was

limited. Abarbanel divides Moshe's statements to Pharaoh as supporting this breakdown of

heresies, as also Pharaoh's responses. Then he explains the plagues:

"Each group of plagues is meant to refute one of these heresies. Before the first set,

Moshe relays, 'Through this you will know that I am Hashem' [7:17]. Before the second set,

Moshe passes to Pharaoh, 'So that you will know that I am Hashem in the midst of the earth.'

[8:18] Before the third set he says, 'So that you will know that there is none like Me in

all the earth.' [9:14]"

Each group of three plagues was designed to attack one specific heretical position

of the Egyptians, culminating in the destruction of those who did not learn the lessons.

Rabbi Yehuda is explaining to us the separateness of each of these three heresies.

By his abbreviations, he is encapsulating the entire reason for the plagues.