Vaeira 5775:               It’s Only Logical

By Rabbi Joshua (truthfully known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

 In commanding the imposition of the second plague, that of frogs, upon the Egyptians, God tells Moshe to tell Aharon to stretch out his staff over the rivers and canals… and raise up the frogs over the land of Egypt (Shemos 8:11). The Ba’al HaTurim notes that the word “veha’al”- to raise up – occurs only one other time on the Torah, in Parshas Chukas, in which God tells Moshe to raise Aharon up to Hor Hohor, the mountain where he will die, because Moshe and Aharon did not sanctify God’s name by speaking to the rock in the incident of the Mei Meriva, when the people agitated for water.  He explains that the frogs delivered themselves to the furnace in response to God’s instructions, in order to sanctify God’s name, and, as a result, were spared from dying, while Moshe and Aharon did not sanctify God’s name by speaking to the rock, and, therefore, were not forgiven and did not enter Eretz Yisroel. This explanation is enigmatic, because, as Rashi at the end of Parshas Shemos points out, Moshe was already denied entry into Eretz Yisroel for complaining to God that He has not lightened the burden of the Hebrew slaves, since beginning his mission, but, rather, made it worse. What, then, was the message of the frogs? 

Rabbi Yissochor Frand cites, without giving a source, an explanation of the Ba’al HaTurim's comments.  He says that, according to Rabbeinu Yonah, the only way to possibly atone for a desecration of God’s name is to sanctify His name. The frogs, by jumping into the fire on God’s command, sanctified His name, offsetting the desecration of His name caused by the repeated denial of His providence by the Egyptians.  Moshe and Aharon had a chance to offset the desecration of God’s name caused by Moshe’s complaint, but did not take advantage of it, and therefore died in the wilderness.

My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveichik, zt”l, explained the lesson of the frogs as a response to Moshe’s argument to God, that if the Jews didn’t listen to him to leave Egypt, how could we expect Pharaoh to let them out to freedom?  God responded with the example of the frogs, who transform themselves through metamorphosis from tadpoles to frogs, a process which seems illogical and contradictory to the laws of nature. Similarly, the existence of the Jewish nation is seemingly illogical and contradictory to the laws of nature.  Perhaps we can add that the metamorphosis of the frogs, in this sense, constitutes a transformation, symbolizing the beginning of a new kind of life, which is compatible with the explanation cited by Rabbi Frand that the frogs, by sanctifying God’s name, atoned for the desecration of God’s name, and began a new life as a result.

Interestingly, Rabbeinu Yonah writes in his Sha’arei Teshuvah (1:41, and 4:5), that a specific way to offset a chillul Hashem is to sanctify God’s name by attaching oneself to the truth, as represented by Torah and Torah scholars. The Midrash Rabbah (Shemos 15:6) says, that what led Pharaoh to declare, after the plague of hail, “God is the righteous one,” was his recognition of God’s truth in that plague, as it reached only the land of Egypt, and did not fall beyond its boundaries (see Chiddushei HaLeiv by R. Henoch Leibowitz). The relief from the plagues that came as a result, however, was only short-lived, because Pharaoh was not truly sincere in his recognition of God’s truth. In his admission, he said, God is the righteous one, while I and my people are the wicked ones. This diffusion of blame, as pointed out by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky in his Tzadka Mimeni: The Jewish Ethic of Personal Responsibility, is typical of people who do not really wish to admit their guilt, but blame others as well.  Consequently, Pharaoh’s admission did not truly atone for the desecration of God’s name that he caused by his continued refusal to admit His providence, as demonstrated in Egypt.