Part I. Unnatural Mixtures
A Strange Name
One of the most extraordinary of all makkos was the plague of Arov, when a mixture of wild animals marauded through the Egyptian villages. Now, all of the makkos were unusual of course, each in its own way; but when it comes to Arov we note that even its name is unusual. Because all the makkos, the name tells you what it was. Dam was blood, Tzefardeia was frogs, Kinnim was lice, and so on. But Arov just means ‘Mixture’ – nothing is mentioned in the name about what the makkah was.
Again, I want you to understand the question: Blood is the plague. Frogs is the plague. But the plague of ‘Mixture’? Mixture of what? It could be a mixture of sugar and cocoa and flour. ר∆פ≈ּסַה ןƒמ ר≈סָח רָ ̃ƒעָה – the most important piece of information is missing. And that’s something that has to be studied.
Pedagogic Plagues
Now, don’t think it’s a waste of time to study these things. After all, that’s what the makkos were intended for – to be studied. We should never forget that Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu that the purpose of the makkos was עו¿„ָי¿ו– so that they should know (Shemos 7:5, 14:4, 14:18). It wasn’t only to punish the enemy and to set us free. They were intended as lessons in understanding the world; that the world has an Owner and that He reacts to what men do. ‘ה יƒנֲ‡ יƒ כ םƒיַר¿ˆƒמ עו¿„ָי¿ו – that’s the purpose!
And we understand of course that it wasn’t only for the benefit of Mitzrayim that these makkos were teaching emunah. Even more than them, it was given for the Bnei Yisroel to learn. Everybody is expected to benefit from what Hashem does in this world but of all the talmidim for whom the lessons are intended, the Am Yisroel is the most important. The lessons are for us. ‘ה יƒנֲ‡ יƒ כ םƒיַר¿ˆƒמ עו¿„ָי¿ו means ‘even’ Mitzrayim – even Mitzrayim should learn.
And so the Bnei Yisroel surely learned; it was an entire subject, a sugya. A whole mesichta it was – Mesichta Makkos. Every makkah was another perek in the mesichta. And our forefathers sat and studied that mesichta; they paid attention to details and talked them over. They spent a long time on it.
Ancient Current Events
It was a family affair; the father and the grandfather and the wives and the sons and daughters they were all in one little house crowded together – there were no Pesach hotels in Mitzrayim – and they were sitting and talking: What’s the news of the day? The current makkah; the makkah that’s right now in vogue.
To us it’s old news but to them it was happening right now and therefore, it was the rage of the moment. It was exciting and so they talked and talked and talked. And they went into all the details. And we’re expected to do the same – that’s why it’s in the Torah, so that we should study it like they did.
After all, Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn’t send events stam that are closed up, that are entirely mysterious. He puts into each event some kind of a clue to give us a hint as to why it came so that we should gain the full benefit.
And so, every makkah that came upon the Egyptians was planned with precision, so that its lessons would be understandable. What was the reason that this makkah came? And why did it come in such and such way?
Holy Homework
Now, you shouldn’t imagine that you’ll discover much by one second of thought or one minute. It’s too important for that. If a person, lehavdil, goes to school and he pays money for a course and the instructor gives a lecture, does he spend one minute trying to understand it? No! He goes home and he reads his notes because he wants to get his money’s worth. He’s not lazy; he tries to understand.
The Bnei Yisroel weren’t lazy about it. Every makkah that came, they studied what was happening and looked for its lessons. They didn’t say, “It’s a punishment, that’s all.” No, they weren’t like that. They understood that םƒיֹו‚ ר≈סֹיֲה – when Hakadosh Baruch Hu brings troubles upon the nations, ‡ֹלֲהַיחƒכֹיו – He’s showing something, ַ̇ﬠָ„ םָ„ָ‡ „≈ּמַל¿מַה – He’s teaching man knowledge (Tehillim 94:10). And they understood that Hashem has plans, and plans within plans, and that whatever efforts they put into trying to understand His lessons would be well worth it.
Activated Animals
And therefore when they saw troops of wild animals descending upon the towns and villages it was something remarkable to them. After all, ordinarily an animal is shy; it’s afraid of humans. If he’s hungry sometimes he’ll come close to where humans live but otherwise he keeps away. But now, from the forests, the desert, all the animals came out; they were activated. They lost their shyness and they made their way into the villages and cities and attacked humans. It was something never seen before.
But besides that, there was something even more bizarre; it was a mixture, an arov. A very queer thing, that the animals that usually avoid each other – they travel either alone or they travel in packs of their own kind – now they came together in troops. A motley troop of animals, mingling with each other in ways that was the opposite of their natures.
You know, among the notable phenomena is the fact of the segregation of the species. It's the yad Hashem that has put an instinct into every min, every kind; whether it's insects or birds or mammals, reptiles or fish, that they remain separate from each other. I’m not even talking now about propagation. That, of course; but even to mix, to join forces, is unusual.
Now, it’s true that you’ll find some exceptions to this but it’s only in situations where there is some mutual benefit. In some ant colonies there are beetles that live together with the ants in harmony because these beetles are being used by the ants. The ants stroke them to produce honey from the beetles; they milk them. Or sometimes it's the other way around – the beetles are using the ants.
Egyptian Exceptions
Even in Mitzrayim, before Makkas Arov, there were such things. If you go to the Nile you’ll find there the Egyptian crocodile. It’s a fierce animal; it can snap a person’s head off with ease. Now there’s another animal, a bird, that also makes it home near the Nile. It’s a certain wading bird; the plover I think. So this plover makes its way over to the crocodile, the crocodile opens its mouth and the plover picks food from the teeth of the crocodile. It gets some of its nutrition from the scraps in the teeth of the crocodile; and the crocodile allows it. Instead of eating the plover for a snack it lets the plover do its thing because it keeps the crocodile’s teeth clean and healthy. A crocodile needs good teeth after all.
But those are exceptions; those are cases where Hashem from the beginning established that symbiotic relationship. Otherwise, there’s no such thing. Our backyards are full of cats. The alleys are full of dogs. They never attempt anything except to fight, to destroy each other. Very rarely will they cooperate even to attack a human.
But now, something different happened. Now there was a mixture. In huge numbers! And the Bnei Yisroel were amazed. But not amazed like we are when we see something out of the ordinary – you’ll go to a circus and you’ll see a monkey balancing a ball on his nose. And he’s riding a bicycle too; so you’re amazed. It means your nerves are tickled. But the Bnei Yisroel didn’t have ticklish minds like we do. They had very big minds.
And so when the Yisroel looked through his windows and saw these animals trooping by in mingled packs, packs that had never traveled together before, he was thinking, “What kind of business is this?” He never saw such a thing before – a wolf and a bear mingling together? What’s that about?
It’s For You!
Now, he knew of course that it was intended as a punishment for Mitzrim – sometimes the Egyptian masters would sic an animal on a Jew and now they were getting it back – but he knew it was more than that. If that was all, let the Egyptian be attacked by a wolf and finished. But here my Egyptian neighbor is being attacked by a wolf and a bear together. A queer thing that never happened before! Where a wolf is, a bear isn’t, and where a bear is, a wolf isn’t. And here both together were attacking one Egyptian! Hakadosh Baruch Hu is causing the animals to come in a confusion, an unnatural way. It needs an explanation.
Now in those good days we had leaders. Not like today when the rabbis are afraid of their congregants - they might lose them to the rabbi down the block. In those days they had leaders who told them the way it is. Moshe Rabbeinu spoke to them; the ziknei hador spoke too. You know what they said? “It’s a message for you! You’re the ones being criticized here. The arov is an unnatural mixture because here also, among us, an unnatural mixture took place.”
Taking the Hint
What was it? It says that the Bnei Yisroel so multiplied that, ı∆רָ‡ָה ‡≈לָּמƒ ַ̇ו םָ ֹ̇‡ – the land became full of them (Shemos 1:7). ‘The land’ means that the land where they weren’t supposed to be, outside of Goshen; Jews moved in right next to the Mitzrim. And what happens when you live among them? You begin to act like them. The Yalkut Shimoni (162:11) says that ı∆רָ‡ָה ‡≈לָּמƒ ַ̇ו םָ ֹ̇‡ means ם∆ה≈מ ֹ̇ו‡יƒס¿ ַ̃ר¿ ̃ י≈ ָ̇בּו ֹ̇ו‡יƒט¿ רָט י≈ ָּ̇בּו‡¿ּלַמ¿ ̇ƒּנ∆ׁ ̆ – that eventually some of the Bnei Yisroel even began to join the Egyptians in their public amusements.
What happened? The worst thing that could happen to a Jew: בו¿רָﬠ¿ ̇ƒּיַו ם∆יה≈ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַמּו„¿מ¿לƒּיַו םƒיֹו‚ַב – When the Bnei Yisroel, some of them, began to mingle with the gentiles they learned their ways (Tehillim 106:35). That’s the meaning of the possuk: םƒיֹו‚ַב בו¿רָﬠ¿ ̇ƒּיַו – they began to mingle with the nations and the next thing is, it’s automatic, ם∆יה≈ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַמּו„¿מ¿לƒּיַו – they learned from them.
And now, Hakadosh Baruch Hu was showing them by this sign from heaven – they looked outside the window and they saw a very unnatural thing – and they were being reminded that they too were acting in an unnatural way. That’s even more unnatural than what the animals are doing – it’s more unnatural for Bnei Yisroel to mingle with non-Jews than if wolves and bears would mingle.
And now it hit them like a ton of bricks: Arov! Such a curious name Hashem gave to this makkah. Mixture?! But now they understood. Because that was the most important purpose here, that lesson of the danger of mixture. The Am Yisroel is ןֹכ¿ׁ ̆ƒי „ָ„ָב¿ל םַﬠ ן∆ה; it’s a separate kind of people. They don’t have anything to do with other nations, the styles of other nations, the modes of living, the way of thinking of other nations – it’s not for the Am Yisroel. And we needed to learn that lesson.
Part II. Forced Mixtures
The Misplaced Makkah
So you’ll ask, why should the Mitzrim suffer from the makkah? It’s a good question lichorah. After all, it was the Bnei Yisroel who were mixing in where they didn’t belong so why didn’t the makkah of mixed animals come upon the Bnei Yisroel?
So you’ll tell me that the Mitzrim deserved it too? OK, that’s true – so it should have come on both of them. The Mitzrim would get what they deserve and the Bnei Yisroel too would be taught a lesson.
But actually, even before the makkah came Hakadosh Baruch Hu already told the Bnei Yisroel the answer to this question: ֻ̇„¿פ יƒ ̇¿מַׂ ̆¿ו – I’m going to make a redemption, ך∆ּמַﬠ ין≈בּו יƒּמַﬠ ין≈ב – between my people and the Egyptians (Shemos 8:19).
The Sages (Shemos Rabbah 11:2 ) tell us that the word pedus, redemption, indicates that the Bnei Yisroel were actually in real danger – only that they were redeemed. הָּכַּמַה ֹזו¿ּב ֹ̇ו ̃¿לƒל יןƒיּו‡¿ר ל≈‡ָר¿ׂ ̆ƒיּיוָה∆ׁ ̆ „≈ּמַל¿מ – The plague of arov was actually destined to come upon the Bnei Yisroel, םָנֹיו¿„ƒּפ ‡ּהו¿ךּרוָּב ׁ ֹ̆ו„ָּ ַ̃ה ןַ ָ̇נ¿ויםƒר¿ˆƒּמַה – only that Hashem redeemed them by punishing the Mitzrim instead. It means that this makkah, more than all the others, was intended originally for the Bnei Yisroel; only that an exchange was made and the Egyptians became victims instead.
Learning From Others
And so when the wolf and the bear were chomping on a wicked Mitzri, the Bnei Yisroel were quaking; they were shaking in their sandals because they were told beforehand, ‘This makkah is really intended for you; take note of that!’
You have to know, these ideas weren’t invented by the Sages of the Medrash; they’re traditions from the Bnei Yisroel who sat there in their homes and observed what was taking place. The Bnei Yisroel of those days heard this peirush from Moshe Rabbeinu and the Zekeinim of that dor. It was explained to them: “What’s going to happen next week is really intended for us. We were the ones who are supposed to learn from the lesson.”
Now, the truth is that the lesson is much more effective if a ben Yisroel would be attacked by a wolf and a bear at the same time; a lesson like that is much harder to ignore. But Hakadosh Baruch Hu said the following possuk: םƒיַר¿ˆƒמָך¿ר¿פָכ יƒ ַ̇ ָ̇נ – I am making Mitzrayim your atonement; they’ll atone for you, ‡ָב¿סּו ׁ ּ̆וּכ – Kush and S’va, those are provinces of Egypt, ָיך∆ּ ̇¿חַּ ̇ – they’ll be instead of you (Yeshaya 43:3). It means they’ll be your redemption; instead of you, Egypt will have to suffer from the arov (Shemos Rabbah ibid.).
Shifting the Blame
Now, there’s a good reason for that. Don’t think it’s arbitrary or unjust. Because Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, “Who are their teachers in wickedness? Who introduced wickedness to the Bnei Yisroel? Only the Mitzrim. And so, if it’s the fault of Mitzrayim that they’re learning wickedness, ָך¿ר¿פָכ יƒ ַ̇ ָ̇נ םƒיַר¿ˆƒמ – I’ll give Mitzrayim as your redemption. Let Mitzrayim have the visitation of that makkah and you should learn your lesson by watching and thinking.”
That’s an important principle. The gentiles are to blame for the sins of the Jewish people! If you see a Jewish boy who is a hippie or is part hippie or on the way to becoming a hippie, he didn’t learn that in the beis medrash. If you see a Jew lying in the gutter – physically or mentally – it’s not because he learned it from Jews.
You know, Jews never invented an idol. Study Jewish history; you’ll never find it. There’s no Jewish idol in the whole Tanach. Did Jews sometimes sin and worship idols? Yes; but never was it a Jewish idol. All idolatry that we find in our history was something that seeped in from our neighbors. It was always imitations of the idols of the gentiles.
All the trouble, all the sins, the immorality, that you find by the Jewish nation, they come from imitating the gentiles. If you see divorce and rebellious youth and immorality proliferating among the Jews, it’s not our invention. All the wickedness, atheism and evolution and materialism and everything else, it’s not a Jewish product; it comes from the examples given by the general gentile community. If you study what’s really doing, you see that our big problems aren’t Jewish problems; they’re gentile problems.
Shikkur Shkutzim
I’ll describe a scene I saw with my own eyes. I used to walk in East Flatbush Shabbos morning. It was a gentile neighborhood, a white gentile neighborhood in those days. On Saturday mornings I used to see a nice gentleman, well-dressed, seven o'clock in the morning lying fast asleep on the sidewalk. Fast asleep! He was dead drunk. I'm sure he got up later and boasted, “Ooh last night I really had a night!” He was so proud of himself; he was really drunk last night.
I saw that again and again. Gentiles wobbling out of bars. Gentiles passed out on the sidewalk. Drunk gentiles fighting. But I never saw a single Jew. Even the mechallel Shabbos Jews; they wouldn’t stoop so low. Because even the worst ones among us understood, at least to some extent, that ןֹכ¿ׁ ̆ƒי „ָ„ָב¿ל םָﬠ ן∆ה – we are a nation that dwells alone, ‡ֹל םƒיֹו‚ַבּו בָּׁ ַ̆ח¿ ̇ƒי – we aren’t counted among the umos ha’olam. We are different, entirely different.
Shikkur Jews
So how is it that you find such things today? Today, you could find Jews who are also dead drunk on the sidewalk. You’ll find worse. After generations of living among gentiles, of cozying up to gentile attitudes, finally they succeeded in becoming like goyim; and today we’ve reached that great moment in our history when all of their problems have become ours. Today the Jew is beset with gentile problems because he mingled with the gentile world.
Take an American Jewish boy. He hasn’t the slightest idea that all the things that are bothering him, all the troubles and tests, they’re all gentile influences. The problem is that he never understood himself as disassociated from the gentiles; he doesn’t understand that he is not one with them and therefore all the tzaros, all the troubles that the gentiles are suffering, he has accepted upon himself. He feels that he is one with them and so their problems become his problems too. He’s bothered, he’s excited, about whatever bothers them.
Minding Our Own Business
But take a Jew who has no bridge with the gentiles. So their problems have nothing to do with him! What’s his business if the gentile youth are running wild? They want to jump off the roofs? They want to shoot up with dope? He’s not interested at all. It’s like people on a different planet are doing crazy things. The troubles of the gentile world are not his troubles!
Those Jews who are living a Jewish life, who turned their backs on mingling, on acclimating themselves to the gentile environment, don’t have gentile problems. That’s why when you go let’s say to the synagogues in Williamsburg you’re not going to hear any lectures on the drug problem. You’ll listen for months and months; years you’ll listen – never once will you hear it. When you go into the Flatbush synagogues, however, the rabbis have one burning subject: The drinking problem among the youth, the drug problem.
Over and over again they’re talking about gentile problems. At the conventions of the Union Orthodox Jewish Congregations, it’s a favorite theme. Young Israel too; it’s a favorite theme in their magazines and in their lectures. Here’s a series of lectures for Jews. Are they talking about teshuva, about emunah? No; the drug problem!
“Is that our problem?”
“Yes,” they say, “it’s our problem.”
You know why it’s your problem? Because you are part of the gentile world. And so even if it’s not your problem, you think it is. And sooner or later, because you’re mingling, it actually becomes your problem. So now you have Jewish drunks and Jewish dope addicts. Even Jewish murderers we were zocheh too.
You Get What You Ask For
When you bring the gentile into your home so he comes along with all of his baggage. You think that you’re just turning on the television; it’s an innocent thing. Absolutely not! When you turn on the television and you let a gentile climb in through that window right into your dining room, so he brings with him all of his problems too, all of his corruption. It means you’re murdering your family.
Suppose a gentile climbed in through your window; he stuck his mug in your window and started talking. You’d put your foot into his face and shove him out. At least you’d call the police. But now, because he’s coming in through a wire, so it’s ok. You’ll even accept what he’s telling you and showing you. And it’s not one goy – if you turn the knob so another goy sticks his face in through your window; you turn again so it’s a different goy. And you sit there with your wife and your children and you’re listening to him; with respect you listen!
So how can you expect anything different? If you live together with the gentile world so their faults become yours, their problems become yours. Divorce becomes a Jewish problem. The desire for luxuries becomes a Jewish problem. Immorality becomes a Jewish problem. Youth in rebellion becomes a Jewish problem. All the gentile problems become ours.
Stop Mixing
And therefore the biggest problem facing the Jews today – Brooklyn Jews, Yerushalayim Jews, Williamsburg Jews, Lakewood Jews, Manhattan Jews surely, Jews everywhere – our biggest problem is how to be patur, how to free ourselves, from the influence of the environment. Even the best ones; even if we don’t watch their television and we don’t read their newspapers and we don’t go to their schools but the atmosphere is saturated with their shtus and their lies. And you can’t help yourself because, naturally, the majority surrounding you will have an unfavorable influence on your mind.
And so if we can divest ourselves, if we can rid ourselves of the influence of the nations of the world, that’s the number one solution to all of our problems. To degentilize ourselves; to get rid of the influence of the
