In the Parsha VaEira
Plants Places Animals
Compiled from: http://bible.ort.org/ The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
Flies ערב
Rabbi Nechemia identifies the orov of the 4th plague with flies (see Exodus 8:17). Rabbi Yehudah, however, states that the term orov refers to mixture of wild animals. Sefer Yashar says it was a mixture of various insects, snakes or beetles. Other sources identify as an invasion of a specific kind of animal, wolves (Rashbam), panthers or eagles (Medrosh), or even a giant squid.
Flies are one of the main transmitters of diseases. They are regarded as belonging to the non-kosher group of animals.
Diet: Liquids
Habitat: Worldwide
Frogs צפרדעים
The frog is mentioned in Exodus 7:27 as one of the plagues which God sent against the Egyptians. It is a non-kosher metamorphic amphibian.
Diet: Omnivorous
Habitat: Worldwide
Voice: Distinctive croak.
Spelt כסמת
Spelt is mentioned in Exodus 9:32 as one of the few plants or crops that had not succumbed to the ravages of the seventh plague.
Spelt is a hard-grained desert wheat.
Habitat: Egypt.
