The final plague stands outside the order, for its purpose was to Bnei Yisrael out. Only then did Pharaoh consent to send them out. But the first nine plagues did not have the purpose of sending out Bnei Yisrael for Hakadosh Baruch Hu hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not agree to do so. Rather, their purpose was to make known to all the world that there is a G-d, and that He watches over the world, and that He possesses power like no other.
It follows, then, that for Bnei Yisrael there was only one plague – Makat Bechorot! And therefore, the Yerushalmi says that a person is obligated to mention in אֱמֶת וְיַצִיב and in אֱמֶת וֶאֱמוּנָה the plagues of Egypt and the splitting of Yam Suf. But why don't we also mention the other plagues at those junctures after Shema? It is very simple: because the other plagues were for the Egyptians!
The commentators – the Maharal and Rabbi Yaakov Sikili and others – make a comparison between the ten plagues, the ten commandments, the ten utterances (Ma’amarot) through which the world was created, and the ten trials through which Avraham Avinu was tested. They note a profound correspondence: the ten plagues mirror the ten utterances. The Maharal writes (Gevurot Hashem) that Hakadosh Baruch Hu struck Egypt in all parts of the world, corresponding to the ten parts of Creation. Although the makkot did not come in the same order as the utterances – because plagues ascending from below to above must increase in severity – they correspond exactly. The plagues come in reverse order: the first plague corresponds to the last utterance, the second to the ninth, and so on.
The first plague, blood, reverses the final utterance. Sustenance comes through blood becoming nourishment and flesh. Hakadosh Baruch Hu reversed this by turning all the Nile to blood. Just as their nourishment would be nullified without blood, so too an excess of blood is equally a loss and corruption – excess and deficiency are the same violation of the created order.
Frogs correspond to יִּשְׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם שֶׁרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה – Let the waters swarm with living creatures. The utterance was nullified for them through an excess of creatures in the waters. This is why the plague was frogs and not mice, for the utterance speaks of waters swarming, and mice are creatures of the land, not water.
Hail corresponds to יְהִי רָקִיעַ בְּתוֹךְ הַמָּיִם – Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. Hail came unnaturally from the firmament itself, changing the natural order.
Darkness is a plague against the utterance יְהִי אוֹר – Let there be light.
Makat Bechorot corresponds to the utterance בְּרֵאשִׁית – In the beginning, for the firstborn is the beginning of those who come after him. And it corresponds to the utterance בְּרֵאשִׁית which is also the beginning of Creation itself. Both are beginnings. Just as Makat Bechorot is weighed against all the plagues, so too the utterance בְּרֵאשִׁית is weighed against all the utterances, as it is stated in the Midrashim.
Therefore, Makat Bechorot parallels בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, which raises a question: Why did Hakadosh Baruch Hu bring the ten plagues to correspond to the ten utterances?
The answer is simple. None of us was present at the creation of the world. None of us saw how Hakadosh Baruch Hu created it in the six days of Creation. So Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: “I will show all of them the creation of the world anew.” Where and how? Through the plagues of Egypt! "Through the plagues of Egypt, I will show all of them that I am the One who created heaven and earth! I rule over the earth and the wind and the rain and the sun and the moon and the stars, over the trees and the plants, over the birds and the beasts – over all of Creation!"
Rashi writes on the first Pasuk of the Torah: בְּרֵאשִׁית – for the sake of the Torah, which is called "the beginning of His way," and for the sake of Israel, who are called "the first fruits of His harvest."
A question arises: Where exactly are they? The world existed for 2,448 years, and throughout that time there was no Israel and no Torah was given! Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world for the sake of the Torah and for the sake of Israel, yet they do not exist, while all seventy nations do!
Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: "I am now going to create the world anew." Bnei Yisrael are the first fruits of creation, while the nations of the world are the first fruits of emergence. That is, the nations of the world emerged first, but Yisrael was created first, and this is what is meant by: בְּרֵאשִׁית – for the sake of Yisrael and for the sake of the Torah, who are called the beginning! The meaning is: when Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world, His first thought was that all Creation would be for the sake of Yisrael and for the sake of the Torah.
The Ba'al HaTurim writes on the Pasuk describing Yaako’vs emergence holding onto Eisav’s heal – עֲקֵב: the numerical value of the letter ayin is seventy, which represents the seventy nations, excluding Yaakov. This means that only after the seventy nations came out did Yaakov Avinu emerge!
If so, how does Hakadosh Baruch Hu say בְּנִי בְכֹרִי יִשְׂרָאֵל – My son, my firstborn, Israel when the seventy nations were here first?! The answer is simple. We do not follow who came out first in action, but who came first in creation – what existed first in thought!
Therefore, when Hakadosh Baruch Hu brought Makat Bechorot, He struck the Egyptians, called רֵאשִׁית לְכָל אוֹנָם – the first of all their strength (Tehillim 105:36). He said to them: "Until now you were first in coming forth into action. Now I will bring forth into reality those who were first in creation – Bnei Yisrael!"
If this is so, we can see something very beautiful. We asked: Why did Hakadosh Baruch Hu not teach the ministering angels how to distinguish between firstborns and non-firstborns? Why specifically did He need to directly deal with Egypt through Makat Bechorot?
Chazal say in Bereishit Rabbah (1:3):
הַכֹּל מוֹדִים שֶׁלֹא נִבְרָא בְּיוֹם רִאשׁוֹן כְּלוּם, שֶׁלֹא יֹאמְרוּ מִיכָאֵל הָיָה מוֹתֵחַ בִּדְרוֹמוֹ שֶׁל רָקִיעַ, וְגַבְרִיאֵל בִּצְפוֹנוֹ, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְמַדֵּד בְּאֶמְצָעוֹ, אֶל אָנֹכִי ה' עֹשֶׂה כֹּל נֹטֶה שָׁמַיִם לְבַדִּי וגו' מֵאִתִּי, מִי אִתִּי כְּתִיב, מִי הָיָה שֻׁתָּף עִמִּי בִּבְרִיָתוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם.
All agree that nothing was created on the first day, so that people should not say that Michael was stretching [the firmament] in the south, and Gavriel in the north, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu was measuring in the middle. Rather: 'I am the Lord who makes all, who stretches out the heavens alone, etc. from Me' - it is written 'who was with Me' - who was a partner with Me in the creation of the world?
"בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ" לא היה אף –לכן כמו שְ במכת בכורות, מלאך, אלא רק הקב"ה בכבודו ובעצמו, כך גם במצרים – שהקב"ה עושה בריאת עולם מחודשת, אף א' לא בא איתו אלא רק הוא אֲנִי הוּא וְלֹא אַחֵר" – –"אֲנִי וְלֹא שָׂרָף ... אֲנִי וְלֹא שָׁלִיחַ. אֲנִי ה' –לבדו! למה??? "כי אני הולך לעשות בריאה מחודשת של העולם!"
Therefore, just as at the time of Creation there was not even one angel involved, only Hakadosh Baruch Hu in His glory and essence, so too in Egypt. During Makat Bechorot, when Hakadosh Baruch Hu makes a renewed creation of the world, not one came with Him but only He alone!
Therefore, when we make Kiddush every Friday night, we mention both things – both זֵכֶר לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְּרֵאשִׁית, a remembrance of the work of Creation that occurred 5783 years ago, and also זֵכֶר לִיצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם, a remembrance of the exodus from Egypt where there was a renewed creation of the world in the year 2448 from the original Creation.
The sefer Zera Kodesh containing the teaching of Rav Naftali Zvi Horowitz of Ropshitz provides a most wonderful idea. The Gemara says (Sanhedrin 38b):
Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: When Hakadosh Baruch Hu sought to create man, He first created one group of ministering angels and said to them: Is it your will that we make man in our image? They said before Him: Master of the Universe, what will be his deeds? He told them: Thus and thus will be his deeds. They said before Him: Master of the Universe (Tehillim 8:5) What is man that You remember him, and the son of man that You take note of him? Hakadosh Baruch Hu extended His little finger among them and burned them. The same happened with a second group of angels. When He created a third group of angels and consulted with them, they said before Him: Master of the Universe, what did it benefit the first angels who expressed their opinion before You? The entire world is Yours; whatever You wish to do in Your world, do! When it came to the people of the generation of the flood and the people of the generation of dispersion, whose deeds were corrupt, the angels said before Him: Master of the Universe, didn't the first angels speak well before You – weren't they right in their claim that man is not worthy to be created? He said to them: (Yeshayahu 46:4) Even to old age I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry, etc.
The Midrash further states (Bereishit Rabbah, 8:5):
אָמַר רַבִּי סִימוֹן, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לִבְרֹאת אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, נַעֲשׂוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת כִּתִּים כִּתִּים, וַחֲבוּרוֹת חֲבוּרוֹת, מֵהֶם אוֹמְרִים אַל יִבָּרֵא, וּמֵהֶם אוֹמְרִים יִבָּרֵא, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (תהלים פה, יא): חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת נִפְגָשׁוּ צֶדֶק וְשָׁלוֹם נָשָׁקוּ. חֶסֶד אוֹמֵר יִבָּרֵא, שֶׁהוּא גּוֹמֵל חֲסָדִים. וֶאֱמֶת אוֹמֵר אַל יִבָּרֵא, שֶׁכֻּלּוֹ שְׁקָרִים. צֶדֶק אוֹמֵר יִבָּרֵא, שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֶׂה צְדָקוֹת. שָׁלוֹם אוֹמֵר אַל יִבָּרֵא, דְּכוּלֵיהּ קְטָטָה. מֶה עָשָׂה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, נָטַל אֱמֶת וְהִשְׁלִיכוֹ לָאָרֶץ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (דניאל ח, יב): וְתַשְׁלֵךְ אֱמֶת אַרְצָה, אָמְרוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, רִבּוֹן הָעוֹלָמִים מָה אַתָּה מְבַזֶּה תַּכְסִיס אַלְטִיכְסְיָה חותמת שֶׁלָךְ, תַּעֲלֶה אֱמֶת מִן הָאָרֶץ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (תהלים פה, יב): אֱמֶת מֵאֶרֶץ תִּצְמָח.
Rabbi Simon said: When Hakadosh Baruch Hu came to create Adam HaRishon, the ministering angels formed themselves into groups and parties, some saying he should not be created, and some saying he should be created. This is what is written (Tehillim 85:11): Kindness and Truth met, Righteousness and Peace kissed. Kindness said he should be created, for he performs acts of kindness. Truth said he should not be created, for he is entirely falsehood. Righteousness said he should be created, for he performs righteous deeds. Peace said he should not be created, for he is entirely strife. What did Hakadosh Baruch Hu do? He took Truth and cast it to the earth, as it is written (Daniel 8:12): And He cast truth to the ground. The ministering angels said before Hakadosh Baruch Hu, 'Master of the Universe, why are You degrading Your seal, the ornament of Your craft? Let truth rise up from the earth!' This is what is written (Tehillim 85:12): 'Truth shall spring forth from the earth.'
It emerges that the angels lodged accusations, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu did not accept their accusations and created Adam HaRishon!
The Zera Kodesh says: At Makat Bechorot, there was a renewal of Creation – just as Hakadosh Baruch Hu created Adam HaRishon then, now He creates the people of Bnei Yisrael! And just as the angels came then and tried to accuse, so too here they came and again tried to accuse: “How can You take them out of Egypt? These are idolaters and these are idolaters – הַלָּלוּ עוֹבְדֵי ע"ז וְהַלָּלוּ עוֹבְדֵי ע"ז.”
If our words are true, B'ezrat Hashem, we can understand something wondrous here. We said that at Makat Bechorot there were cries throughout Egypt that were heard throughout the world; and we asked why these cries were necessary.
R' Avraham Zvi Kluger in his sefer Bni Bechori Yisrael writes: After it became clear that the night of Pesach is the time of the birth of the soul of Bnei Yisrael, it is understood that on that night there was "a great cry," for an inseparable part of every birth is "the seventy voices." And as the Erev Nachal writes – it is known that even though the seventy souls had already emerged from the klipot (shells) of all the nations, nevertheless they were still in Egypt in the aspect of a fetus in its mother's womb, and Yetziat Mitzrayim was like a birth. Therefore, all those plagues were in Egypt, for they had birth pangs like a woman when the fetus emerges from her, and just as she has pangs and her cry is heard, so too was there a great cry heard from Egypt.
We can add something even more wonderful to this. After it became clear that on the night of the Seder the בְּכוֹרָה – the firstborn status – was transferred from Egypt (which had the בְּכוֹר of the act of Creation) to the holiness of Bnei Yisrael, through Hakadosh Baruch Hu's calling them בְּנִי בְכוֹרִי יִשְׂרָאֵל. It becomes clear that the root of this lay in the moment when Yaakov Avinu received the blessings on the night of the Seder from Yitzchak Avinu, in place of Eisav. In this, there was also a completion of the acquisition of the birthright, for when Yitzchak said גַם בָּרוּךְ יִהְיֶה – He shall also be blessed, the transfer of the birthright was completed. בָּרוּךְ, the word for blessing, is spelled from the letters of בְּכוֹר.
And now how these matters shine! For immediately after Yitzchak Avinu said גַם בָּרוּךְ יִהְיֶה, it is written: When Eisav heard his father's words, he cried out with a great and bitter cry. And these words – צְעָקָה גְדוֹלָה – are found in the Torah in only these two places: in the matter of the transfer of the firstborn from Eisav to Yaakov on the night of Pesach, and in the transfer of the firstborn from Egypt to the souls of Bnei Yisrael on the night of Pesach. And we can say that in these places all honor and glory pass from the hands of the Sitra Achra – the side of evil and impurity, to the power of holiness, and therefore the Sitra Achra cries out with a great and bitter cry!
And also concerning these cries, Chazal said that the makkot were נָגוּף וְרָפוּא – plague and healing; plague for Egypt and healing for Bnei Yisrael. Egypt cried out over the greatness of their breaking and suffering, while for Bnei Yisrael it was part of the birth of their soul and their exodus from the slavery of Egypt to eternal freedom. Thus, it emerges that just as the process was with Eisav – i.e., the birthright was taken from him and he cried out with a great cry – so too in Egypt: where their firstborn died and they cried out with a great cry!
Rabbeinu Bachya points out that Hakadosh Baruch Hu said שְׁלַח אֶת בְּנִי וְיַעַבְדֵנִי – Send out My son so he may serve Me, rather than saying שְׁלַח בְּכוֹרִי – Send out My firstborn. The reason for this is that while they were in exile, He called Bnei Yisrael “My sons”, for how could He call them “My firstborn” when the firstborn status was absent, and they were slaves under their masters' authority in great servitude.
It is written in Chazal that reading the Parsha awakens time – that is, when one reads a certain Parsha, it awakens the matters written in that Parsha. If in our Parsha we read about Yetziat Mitzrayim, it is written in Sefarim HaKedoshim that the intention is not specifically the land of Egypt, but Egypt from the word מֵיצַר – dire straits. Every Jew has his own adversity and distress – his own dire straits. For one it is in finding a shidduch, for another it is related to health, and for the next in involves their livelihood, and so on. May it be the will of Hakadosh Baruch Hu that the words of the Navi be fulfilled in each of us: כִּימֵי צֵאתְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם אַרְאֶנּוּ נִפְלָאוֹת – I will show him wondrous deeds as in the days when You sallied forth from the land of Egypt (Micha 7:15), and may we merit the complete redemption, speedily in our days, Amen v’Amen!
