In Parshas Va’era, the geulas Mitzaryim (Egyptian redemption), begins to unfold. Beginning with the arbah lashonos geula - and I will take you out, and I will rescue you, and I will redeem you, and I will take you to Me as a people (Shemos 6:67) — and culminating with the first seven makkos - blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, pestilence, boils and hail - Hashem brings ruination upon Pharaoh, his countrymen and his land.
The second of the makkos is tzefardei’ah, generally translated as frogs. To effect the plague of frogs, the pasuk tells us:
מִצְרָֽיִם אֶת־אֶ֥רֶץ וַתְּכַ֖ס הַצְּפַרְדֵּ֔עַ וַתַּ֙עַל֙ מִצְרָ֑יִם מֵימֵ֣י עַ֖ל אֶת־יָד֔וֹ אַהֲרֹן֙ וַיֵּ֤ט - And Aharon stretched forth his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt (Shemos 8:2).
Noting that the literal translation of the word הַצְּפַרְדֵּ֔עַ in this verse is “and the frog” - in the singular - the Sages, as is their way, wonder why the Torah uses this word. Would it not be more appropriate for the pasuk to say that the frogs (plural) came up and covered the land of Egypt?
Rashi provides two answers. The second is that since it was a swarm - or mass - of frogs, the verse is referring to this large mass/swarm in the singular.
The first explanation of Rashi, however, contains a profound and important lesson in human behavior, tikkun ha’middos (character rectification), and relationships.
Rashi - quoting the Gemara - teaches that: אוֹתָהּ מַכִּין וְהָיוּ הָיְתָה אַחַת צְפַרֵדַּע .הַצּפַרְדֵּעַ וַתַּעַל נְחִילִים נְחִילִים מַתֶּזֶת וְהִיא - and the frog arose: it was actually one frog that emerged from the river. But they (the Egyptians) kept hitting it, and each time they hit it, the frog spit out swarms and swarms of little frogs.
Fascinatingly, Chazal are teaching us that the frogs that inundated Egypt - from house to bed, from servants to king, from oven to kneading bowls (7:28) - could have been entirely prevented had the Egyptians shown restraint when the single large frog emerged from the Nile. It was only their hitting of the large frog that caused it to spit out swarms of frogs, which ultimately spread throughout the land of Egypt.
In a very famous mussar teaching, the Steipler Gaon zt’l (Rav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, 1899-1985), teaches that from here we learn the danger of middas ka’as, the character trait of anger. When one loses himself to anger, he begins to act in the most irrational manner, which brings damage upon others and ultimately, upon his own self.
The Gemara tells us: וּבְכַעְסוֹ וּבְכִיסוֹ ,בְּכוֹסוֹ :נִיכָּר אָדָם דְּבָרִים בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה ,אִילְעַאי רַבִּי אָמַר - a person is recognized by three things: by his cup (how he holds his wine and behaves with wine), by his pocket (his attitude and behavior towards, and with, money), and by his anger (Eruvin 65b).
Furthermore, the Ramban exhorts his son to character improvement by reminding him, in his famous Igeres Ha’Ramban, that “kol ha’ko’es, kol minei gehenom sholtim bo - all who anger, all kinds of Gehenom rule over him.”
Though there are certainly times in life when we may feel angry - at others, at the world, or at ourselves - we must remember that ka’as is self-destructive, and anger ruins lives, relationships, families and communities, may Hashem save us.
The following story, about Rabbi Mordechai of Neshchiz of Poland, is told: Reb Mordechai longed for a pair of tzitzis made from the wool of sheep that ate from the grass of Eretz Yisrael. However, in the 1700s, this was almost impossible. Being that he was very determined, he finally managed to procure a woolen garment from Eretz Yisrael.
Reb Mordechai gave the garment to a devoted disciple, with instructions to make the garment into tzitzis. The talmid was honored and proceeded as per his rebbe’s request, when he realized the he had mistakenly cut the fabric incorrectly, and ended up with two openings for the head in the tzitzis, instead of one. The precious woolen fabric, painstakingly obtained from the Holy Land, was now ruined.
“He hesitantly brought the cloth to Reb Mordechai, expecting to receive an earful for his negligence. At first, when Reb Mordechai saw that his precious woolen tzitzis were ruined, he turned beet red, his face reflecting anger and anguish. Then, after a few tense moments, he smiled and said, ‘This pair of tzitzis was indeed supposed to have two openings.’ The talmid, not quite sure what his rebbe meant, whispered, ‘Two openings?’ Reb Mordechai explained, ‘One opening for putting my head through, and one opening to test me whether I could control myself, or if I would fly into a rage! I will keep this pair of tzitzis to remind me every morning when I put them on not to get angry at anybody throughout the day” (Portraits of Prayer, v.1, by Rabbi Eliezer L. Abish, p.47).
Perhaps the croaking of the frogs throughout the land, and even from within the innards of the Egyptians, is a warning signal to us to control our anger. “Look what happens,” the frogs are crying out, “if you do not heed our warning and learn the lesson of self-control.”
Maran Sar HaTorah, Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt’l (son of the Steipler zt’l, quoted above), “was asked for advice regarding anger and stubbornness. He replied, ‘Study mussar.’ Someone came to him complaining that he had no peace of mind. Said Rav Chaim, ‘Learn Torah and you will have peace of mind” (Orchos Yosher, Artscroll Mesorah, 2018, p.242).
May our study of Torah, the holy teachings of the Sages, and divrei mussar shape us into the people that Hashem knows we can be, who strive to be mekadesh shem Shomayim b’chol ma’aseh yadeinu. May our thoughts, actions, speech and behaviors always be pleasing to Hashem and pleasing with fellow man.
שלום ושבת טוב חודש בברכת
