Shabbos Parashas Vaeira - 5779

Shabbos Parashas Vaeira - 5779

Rabbi Hal Miller

And now send forth, gather in your livestock and everything you have in the field, all the people

and animals that are found in the field and will not be brought into the house, the hail shall descend

upon them and they shall die. [Shemos 9:19]

Numerous plagues in Egypt resulted in death to animals. Fish died in the blood of the Nile,

frogs died after having accomplished their purpose, livestock were killed in 9:6 and again in

our verse. Lice and wild animals may have also died, but the Torah was not so specific with

them. What did the animals do to warrant this kind of result?

In [9:3] God tells Moshe to explain to Pharaoh that "the hand of God is on your livestock that

are in the field." In [9:6], "God carried out this word the next day and all the livestock of Egypt

died." Rashi and others read [9:6] to refer to only the Egyptian livestock that were left in the

fields. Thus, when the Torah gets to our verse, rather than wonder where the Egyptians got

more animals, we understand it to be those animals that had not been left in the fields in the

earlier plague. But once again, the verse condemns animals that will be left out in the field

during the plague of hail, but gives Egyptian animal owners yet another chance to save their

cattle.

Ramban asks that since the Egyptians kept their animals in the fields with the Israelite animals,

how was it that only Egyptian animals died? Wouldn't the Egyptians be justified in thinking that

either Jewish animals would also die, or that their own animals were safe? He answers that this

was to prove to the Egyptians the level of control that God has in the world. Nachshoni expands

on this and tells us that this was God proving His complete mastery of the world and nature.

The plagues to this point showed that nature was no barrier to God, that what Moshe said was

going to come about did, regardless of how strange it may have seemed to the Egyptians. At

this point, it should have been clear to them that they had no chance to win the competition,

and in fact many did recognize this. The precise wording of the plague announcements brought

this home to at least many of the Egyptians: do what you are told and you will be okay, fail and

you will pay. Those who brought their animals in, had animals in the end, and survived as well.

Those who listened to Pharaoh instead, did not.

But still, why did the animals pay?

We know that animals were put here in the world to serve man. If they are properly treated and

utilized, they serve with distinction. If they are improperly treated and used, they lose their

value. This applies to any property--if it is sanctified or used appropriately, then we are given

the benefit. If misused, we are denied the benefit.

The Egyptians abused their animals, through mistreatment, through sexual licentiousness,

and worst of all, through idolatry. Through the plagues, God gave each individual Egyptian

the opportunity to do teshuvah, to correct the misuse, and to keep the animals. When the

people failed to do so, He took them away. We cannot fall into the trap of attributing separate

entitlement and purpose for the animals, rather they are here to perform the service that God

designated them to do on our behalf, but only if we warrant them.