Through this, you will know that I am Hashem. (Shemos 7:17)
The ten makos that Hashem brought on Egypt were not to take the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim. For that purpose, there was no need for so many makos. Hashem could have whopped them with one big makah and then taken His people out of Egypt.
The makos had a different purpose: before Yetzias Mitzrayim, Hashem delivered a “workshop” in Emunah and in understanding what forces control the world. This was the ten makos. Accordingly, R. Yehudah divided them into three sets:
דצ''ך, עד''ש, באחב.
The first makah in each of these sets was previously announced to Egypt, as a warning, and also as an elucidation of the point. The following makos in each set were delivered without further warning.
It all started out with the plague of blood, as we know. At this point, Hashem said:
בזאת תדע כי אני ה' – “Through this you will know that I am Hashem.”
This was followed by frogs and lice, in conjunction with which no particular message was stated. This was the first set. It taught that “I am Hashem.”
The second set began with the plague of arov, wild animals. At this point the pasuk says:
למען תדע כי אני ה' בקרב הארץ – “In order for you to know that I am Hashem in the midst of the earth.”
This was followed by the plagues of pestilence and boils, in conjunction with which no particular message was stated. This was the second set. It taught that “I am Hashem in the midst of the earth.”
Then came the plague of hail, which commenced the third set. Here it says:
בעבור תדע כי אין כמוני בכל הארץ – “So that you will know that there is none like Me in all the earth.”
This was followed by the plagues of locusts, darkness and the smiting of the firstborn, regarding which no particular message was stated. This was the third and last set. It taught that “There is none like Me in all the earth.”
This formed a ladder of three ascending rungs. Alluding to this, we have the three matzos that we eat on Seder night. The first corresponds to chochmah, to knowing that Hashem exists. The second corresponds to binah, which signifies understanding the significance of the matter. And the third corresponds to daas, which signifies internalizing the message and incorporating it into the course of life.
A Lesson in Three Masechtos
Hashem brought ten plagues on Egypt. If we look at the pesukim we will see that the purpose was not to take the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim. Because Hashem could have taken them out right away, after one big makah, or even without any makos at all. That was not the purpose.
The makos were a “public lecture series,” a shiur klali if you will, to teach us about Emunah and other basics of Jewish outlook.
This is a deep subject that we need to learn. We need to get the message that the Eser Makos communicate.
First we need to know a general rule. When you want to learn something, even if the teacher really knows the subject and is a great communicator, you still can’t grasp everything in proper depth at one sitting. You need to study it two or three times, make a “chazakah” in it, and then you will understand.
Hashem wants to teach us something by bringing makos on the Egyptians. There are three “masechos” to learn – the Bava Kama, Bava Metzia and Bava Basra of the Exodus from Egypt.
R. Yehudah would give signs for the Ten Plagues:
דצ''ך עד''ש באח''ב.
We see from the pesukim that the first three makos comprised one subject, the second three makos comprised another subject, and the last three makos comprised a third subject. After that came Makas Bechoros, which is something else altogether.
Hashem didn’t really need to state the explanation of the makos more than once, but since His goal was to implant the message in people’s hearts, He repeated it again and again.
So before the first, fourth and seventh makah, there are pesukim that teach us what we are to learn from the three coming makos.
Before the first makah it says:
בזאת תדע כי אני ה' – “Through this you will know that I am Hashem.”
This was said to Pharaoh, who had previously declared לא ידעתי את ה' – “I don’t know Hashem.”
So Pharaoh was taught, through the makos, Who Hashem is. It’s not clear whether Pharaoh actually got the message, but what’s more important is that we should get it. We are supposed to learn from this an important principle in Emunah.
Before the fourth makah there was an introduction to the three coming makos:
למען תדע כי אני ה' בקרב הארץ – “In order for you to know that I am Hashem in the midst of the earth.”
This is a message on a higher level.
And later on, before the seventh makah, Pharaoh was warned:
בעבור תדע כי אין כמוני בכל הארץ – “So that you will know that there is none like Me in all the earth.”
Thus, there are three subjects: “I am Hashem,” “I am Hashem in the midst of the earth,” and “There is none like Me in all the earth.” As we said before, Makas Bechoros is a whole separate subject on its own.
That’s the general structure of the makos. Now we need to know what’s the content of these three “masechtos,” the Bava Kama, Bava Metzia and Bava Basra of Yetzias Mitzrayim.
Know What World You Live In
The Bava Kama is all about: בזאת תדע כי אני ה' – “Through this you will know that I am Hashem.” There is a natural order in the world, and there is Hashem Who made it.
The Bava Metzia is all about: למען תדע כי אני ה' בקרב הארץ – “In order for you to know that I am Hashem in the midst of the earth.” What is in the midst of the earth? Hashem. Nature is nothing but the ways of Hashem.
The Bava Basra is all about: תדע כי אין כמוני בכל הארץ – “So that you will know that there is none like Me in all the earth.” There is no natural order and no nature. That’s all a mistaken perception. That’s darkness. Besides Hashem, there is nothing at all.
Now we will explain. Let’s say a person is afraid because he needs to pay a large debt and he doesn’t have the wherewithal. This is indeed a tough problem. What to do?
Bava Kama says: If you daven well, Hashem will help you pay the debt. Bava Metzia says: The debt itself comes from Hashem. Bava Basra says: You are not in trouble at all. The whole problem doesn’t exist. As Chazal say, “It’s not the snake that kills; it’s the sin that kills.”
Here’s another example of the three outlooks. We can learn it from the well-known story about Nachum Ish Gamzu. He was sent by the Jewish community to the king, and he brought along a chest full of rare gems. When he got there, he discovered that someone had robbed his chest and replaced the gems with mere dirt. Now he was in big trouble, because he needed to present a gift from the Jews to the king.
What’s he going to do? Give the king a chest full of dirt? That’s not going to be very good for the Jews!
Bava Kama says: Turn to Hashem. Pray to Him and say: Ribono Shel Olam, look what’s happening here. Please, please, help me!
Bava Metzia says: The fact that the chest is full of dirt is from Hashem.
Bava Basra says: This, too, is for the good. Everything is just fine, but you don’t see it because the world is full of darkness so you don’t perceive the tremendous good that a chest full of dirt represents.
In banks, there is a screen on which are displayed tables of stock market trading. People sit and watch the screen anxiously to see if their stocks are going up or down, whether they are gaining or losing.
Bava Kama says: Come on, why are you just sitting there, staring at the screen? Is that going to change the stocks? Go say some Tehillim with kavanah. That will help more than anything.
Bava Metzia says: Whether the stocks go up or down is all from Hashem.
Bava Basra says: The whole thing is nonsense in the first place. Every penny a person has in his pocket doesn’t come because of stocks going up or down. That is a total mistake. Blindness. Hashem Himself puts the money in a person’s pocket according to what he deserves to have. This whole world is full of darkness. The truth is hidden. There is really nothing at all beside Hashem.
Let’s say a person falls ill. The doctor tells him that he got sick because he did not take care of his health in some way or another. Or let’s say someone opened a store and lost all his money. His friend says to him, “You don’t know what you’re doing. That’s not how to run a business.”
All this is a mistake. It’s not true. Hashem alone is true, and “There is none like Me in all the earth.” All these other things are not like Hashem. They are one big falsehood.
These are the three lessons that Hashem sought to teach Pharaoh through the Eser Makos. It’s not just a matter of how we look at the world. It’s more than that. We need to know what world we are living in.
Turn Only to Hashem
A person opens his eyes and sees a world in front of him. In this world, all sorts of forces are at work, and a person needs to deal with quite an assortment of difficult problems. Health, poverty, other dangers to one’s well-being that exist in the world. Ninety-nine percent of what a person (a non-Jewish one) deals with during the course of the day is protection and escaping the forces of nature. He eats in order to be healthy; he works because he doesn’t want to be poor.
There are things you can escape from and there are things you can’t. No one can escape death. But not everyone suffers from sickness, and not everyone is poor.
Pharaoh made himself into a god. He made as if he can handle all problems, he can successfully manage things as regards the forces of nature.
Hashem came and told him: You need to know that in this world, which is called the “natural” world, also I have a say. “I am Hashem.” You need to know that I am stronger than all the forces you can muster.
This is why Moshe Rabbeinu battled with the chartumim, the Egyptian sorcerers, in the first three makos. He played their game, so to speak. He turned his staff into a serpent, and they turned their staffs into serpents. He turned water to blood, and they turned water to blood. He brought frogs up from the Nile, and they brought frogs up from the Nile.
But when it came to the plague of lice, it suddenly became clear that they can’t do everything. They are not in control of lice.
Now, Pharaoh, you need to admit the truth. The world has a Creator!
This was the Bava Kama. The first lesson for Pharaoh and for us. “Through this you will know that I am Hashem.” In other words, there is a world, there are sicknesses, troubles, but there is also Hashem, Who is stronger than all that. He created it all. So we should turn only to Him.
Let’s say a person doesn’t feel well. What does he do? He goes to the doctor, and anxiously asks to be sent for an X-ray. This is a mistake. He should first turn to Hashem, and say: Ribono Shel Olam, I ask of You to please heal me! I don’t want to be sick.
Pharaoh didn’t know this. So Hashem taught it to him and to us.
Nature is Hashem
The second set of makos – wild animals, pestilence and boils – taught us a completely different lesson.
In makas arov, the plague of wild animals, the jungle opened its gates and the animals went out and came to Egypt. This was a supernatural event. And in fact, who says that these animals need to be only in the jungle? Why don’t they go out and come to places where people live all the time? Because Hashem doesn’t let them. But now, Hashem gave them His permission to go out. The gates of the jungle opened up, and all the animals came to Egypt.
This teaches us that nature itself is Hashem.
Then came the plague of dever, pestilence. The wild and domesticated animals died. This teaches us that a person may think that he is alive, but the truth is that he is not alive. Nothing just is, because nature is Hashem.
And so with the plague of boils. A person sees in front of himself a healthy hand without any wounds or lesions. He thinks to himself: And why shouldn’t it be that way? Why should a person suddenly have all sorts of lesions on his skin?
This is a mistake. There is no nature at all. Without Hashem, Who is the “Healer of all flesh,” there are boils on a person’s skin. Without the “Source of life,” there is pestilence and the animals die. Without protection from Hashem, there is an invasion of wild jungle animals.
This is the nature of the world. Nature is Hashem. This was the Bava Metzia. And here, the chartumim didn’t even show their faces, because life and death are not in their hands, and neither is health. This is not their field, because here we are not talking about nature.
Phenomena Absent from Nature
Now came the third set of makos. Hail, locusts and darkness. This was a new lesson, totally different from the previous ones.
The plagues that came before, from dam through to shechin, were indeed miracles, but they confined themselves to nature. Not so with these three plagues that came at this point. Hail fell from the sky in giant chunks of fire and water combined together. This is a phenomenon that does not exist at all in the natural world.
The plague of locusts emphasized the point even more. The special point of makas arbeh was the fact that לפניו לא היה כן ארבה כמוהו ואחריו לא יהיה כן – “Before this, there was never locusts like this, and after this, there will never be.” This was something absolutely novel. There is no natural event like this.
This was surely true with the plague of darkness, which, as we know, was a supernatural kind of darkness. It was so thick that they couldn’t even move from their place. That is not a natural phenomenon at all.
