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January 7, 2022 (5 Shevat 5782) The Whimsy of the Midrash Dear Friends, I hope this correspondence finds you well and in good health. We hope you will be able to join us for our hybrid services, this Shabbat morning at 10:30am, which will be held in our sanctuary and over our regular Zoom prayer link. This week’s Torah portion of Bo finds us entrenched in the narrative of the plagues, the precursor to our redemption from Egypt. The last three of the Ten Plagues are visited on Egypt: a swarm of locusts devours all the crops and greenery; a thick, palpable darkness envelops the land; and all the firstborn of Egypt are killed at the stroke of midnight of the 15th of the month of Nissan. HaShem then commands the first mitzvah given to the people of Israel, to establish a calendar based on the monthly rebirth of the moon. The Israelites are also instructed to bring a “Passover offering” of a lamb or kid goat to G-d, which is to be slaughtered and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of every Israelite home so that G‑d can pass over these homes when He comes to kill the Egyptian firstborn. The roasted meat of the offering is to be eaten that night together with Matzah (unleavened bread) and bitter herbs. The death of the Egyptians’ firstborn finally breaks Pharaoh’s resistance, such that he relents, allowing the children of Israel to leave and serve their G-d. Happy Pesach! As is typical of the parsimonious literary nature of the Torah text, the description of the plagues is relatively brief and often lacks enriching details. The Rabbinic tradition, however, makes use of these gaps in detail, repetition of words, and grammatical anomalies to become the springboard for magnificent and imaginative Midrashim (interpretations). In the spirit of having fun with literature, allow me to share what I believe are a few whimsical and clever short Rabbinic anecdotes from Exodus Rabba 10:4, regarding the third plague, the affliction of the frogs. The first Midrash asks the question of why did HaShem visit the Egyptians with frogs, to which the answer is that the Egyptians made their slaves tread through the Nile to capture frogs and small reptiles for elaborate feasts. Thus, Egypt became inundated with frogs! Another Midrash is of Rabbi Avika, who explained that there was only one frog, but it bred so rapidly, which is what Pharoah first accused the Hebrews of doing, that the entire land became covered with its offspring. You think you have too many Hebrews? How about this many frogs?!? Rabbi Elieazer ben Azariah responded to Rabbi Akiva saying, it’s true that originally there was only one frog, but it had such a powerful voice that the singular frog croaked loudly and encouraged the others to jump out of the river! And finally, in response to the above Midrash and the Torah’s mention of the noise of the frogs, our Sages taught that as much as the smell and touch of the frogs wreaked havoc upon Egypt, the issue was that the smallest of the frogs entered the bodies of the Egyptians and croaked loudly from within their bellies! While the veracity of these short anecdotes is questionable, I believe the lesson here is that even though our religious traditions are serious, deep and powerful, it is always good to have a sense of humor! As we enter into Shabbat, I pray that we can all find laughter, joy, merriment, and delight in our interactions such that we fulfill the directive of the Psalmist who wrote, ”עִבְד֣וּ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֣ה בְּשִׂמְחָ֑ה בֹּ֥אוּ לְ֝פָנָ֗יו בִּרְנָנָֽה,” Serve HaShem in gladness and come into His presence with shouts of joy! Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Eric L. Wasser, EdD.
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