The sefer Darash Mordechai asks, why did Moshe need to cry out to Hashem to remove the frogs (Shemos 8:8)? Pharaoh deserved every plague he received. He deserved the full duration of Hashem’s intended punishment. It seems that here Moshe intervened. He left the palace and cried out to Hashem to remove the frogs that He had placed upon Pharaoh. Why not let Pharaoh suffer a little longer? Why did Moshe seemingly preemptively stop this plague?
The Darash Mordechai offers several answers to this question. First, he cites an answer in the name of the Imrei Emes (Rav Avraham Mordechai Alter, the fourth Gerer Rebbe). We see that Hashem was very particular about kavod malchus (preserving the honor of the monarchy). Despite the fact that Pharaoh was wicked, he was a king. There is a concept that a king must be given honor. In order to display kavod malchus, Moshe Rabbeinu acquiesced to Pharaoh’s request that the frogs be removed.
The Darash Mordechai then quotes an answer from the Rebbe, Rav Bunim of P’Shische. He says the purpose of the plagues was to establish Emunah (Belief in G-d) in the world. The Ramban speaks about this. After the Exodus, no one could doubt that there was a Ribono shel Olam who controls the world. Part of Emunah is that there is a thing called koach hatefillah. A person needs to believe in the power of prayer. Moshe wanted to demonstrate that prayer has the power even – as it were – to override a decree of the Almighty. Therefore, that is why Moshe prayed for the maka to cease, and that is why the plague of frogs was truncated, so to speak.
Finally, the Darash Mordechai cites an answer from the Chiddushei HaRim (Rav Yitzchak Meir Alter, the first Gerer Rebbe). Moshe Rabbeinu did not merely daven over here. The Torah has many words to express prayer. Here the Torah uses the words “VaYitz’ak Moshe el Hashem” (Moshe cried out to Hashem), which indicates one of the highest and most intense forms of Tefilla. In fact, the pasuk in Parshas Shemos says “Behold the tzeaka (crying out) of Bnei Yisrael has reached Me...” (Shemos 3:9). The Zohar says that tzeaka goes straight to the Ribono shel Olam, bypassing any intermediaries. Sometimes someone needs a malach to boost his prayers and to take them in to the Ribono shel Olam, so to speak. Tzeaka literally is a primal scream. That scream is so powerful that it goes straight to the Ribono shel Olam.
This really intensifies the question. It does not say “Vayispalel Moshe el Hashem” (which would indicate a more conventional word for prayer) but “Va’Yitzak“. Moshe was so concerned that the frogs should cease that he resorted to the most powerful form of Tefilla that exists – namely, Tze’aka! Why?
In Tefilas Geshem (recited on Shemini Atzeres to pray for rain of blessing for the coming winter season) we invoke the merit of Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, and then Moshe. The paragraph regarding Moshe mentions how he provided water for the people. We conclude with the words “Upon the Rock he struck and waters came forth.” Many commentaries ask, this would seem like an inappropriate time to bring up “Al ha’Selah hach, va’yetzoo mayim“? The hitting of the Rock is what caused Moshe Rabbeinu to not be able to go into Eretz Yisrael. So why bring that up? We talk about the merits of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. It would seem that we should mention Moshe’s merits as well, and steer clear of his actions that may have been problematic.
The Chiddushei HaRim makes a magnificent observation. Moshe Rabbeinu knew what he was doing when he hit the rock. It was not a mistake. Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to save Klal Yisrael from Divine criticism. He reasoned: Here I talk to them repeatedly and still they do not do the right thing. If I go to a stone and say to the stone “Give forth your water” and just like that, it gives forth its water, how would that reflect on the Jewish people? Moshe could talk until he was blue in the face to the Jewish people, who benefited from G-d’s kindness, and they might not listen. And yet the stone obeys instantly! What a poor reflection that would be on Klal Yisrael!
Therefore, Moshe decided he would not speak to the rock. He would instead hit the rock, thereby lessening the implicit criticism of Klal Yisrael. It is for such self-sacrifice and concern for the welfare of the Jewish people that Moshe is praised in Tefilas Geshem.
The Chiddushei HaRim applies the same line of reasoning with regard to the frogs: Moshe Rabbeinu had commanded the frogs to ascend from the Nile. The frogs obeyed the command of Hashem. They ascended from their comfortable home in the Nile. They went into the ovens of the Egyptians and died there. They were killed Al Kiddush Hashem. The frogs reflected poorly on the Jewish people. Hashem gave them an order and they followed it to martyrdom, while the Jews had sunk spiritually to the 49th level of spiritual impurity. “These are idolaters and these are also idolaters.”
As long as the frogs were present and jumping into the Egyptian ovens, every minute was another indictment of Klal Yisrael. Therefore, when Moshe had the opportunity to get rid of the frogs, he did so with intensity: Va’Yitzak! “I want to stop them in their tracks and immediately halt this embarrassing comparison between their actions and that of the Jewish people.” He therefore used the highest form of Tefilla.
