At the heart of Seder night, which we celebrate on the first night of the Passover holiday, stands a unique commandment unlike any other in the Torah: the telling of the story of the exodus from Egypt.
We are commanded to recount – to one another, and parents to their children – the foundational story of the Jewish people, the story of our ancestors’ exile and bondage in Egypt, and the redemption – the miraculous exodus that occurred on this night.
The story is told simply at the beginning of the Passover Haggadah: “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord our God brought us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.” This is, of course, the shortest and most concise way to recount the exodus from Egypt. But throughout the night, we expand upon the story, detailing and reflecting on the suffering endured by our ancestors in Egypt, and delving into the specifics of the liberation, with the Ten Plagues at its center – 10 types of afflictions that God brought upon the Egyptians before the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt.
The Ten Plagues
These ten plagues are described in detail in the Torah: blood, frogs, lice, mixed swarms, diseased livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and finally, the death of the firstborn [son]. In the Haggadah, we mention the custom of Rabbi Judah, a sage from the second century: “Rabbi Judah used to give them mnemonic signs: ‘Dtzach,’ ‘Adash,’ ‘Be’achav.’” According to Rabbi Judah, the ten plagues are divided into three sets. The first set is ‘Dtzach’ – the Hebrew initials for the plagues of blood, frogs, and lice; the second set is ‘Adash’ – mixed swarms, diseased livestock, and boils; and the third set is ‘Be’achav’ – hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn.”
Indeed, when reading the description of the Ten Plagues in the Book of Exodus, we can see that they are three sets, each structured in a fixed internal order, and each with a different purpose indicated by the warning that Moses gave to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. The purpose of the first set is “that you may know that I am the Lord”; the purpose of the second is “that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the Earth”; and the third set opens with the declaration “that you may know that there is none like Me in all the Earth.”
Let us try to understand these three purposes that we mark on Seder night, the night on which we pass on the foundations of faith to future generations.
The purpose of the first set delves into understanding the existence of God, particularly in relation to human arrogance. A worldview that recognizes the existence of God places man in a limited place: You do not determine everything! You are not all-powerful! The dark regimes in Nazi Germany and the Communist Soviet Union can teach us about the disaster that stems from the perception of human exclusivity.
The foundation of faith that we learn from the second set of plagues represents an elevation in the understanding of Jewish faith. God not only exists but also acts “in the midst of the Earth.” God is concerned about reality, oversees it, and guides it. God calls upon man to participate in good deeds and to lead a life dedicated to promoting goodness and fighting evil. The exodus from Egypt imparted this message to generations. The moral demand for equality and freedom is nothing but the result of the exodus from Egypt. The call that God directed to Pharaoh – “Let my people go” – still resonates in the ears of humanity.
The third set of plagues has an additional message: “There is none like Me in all the Earth.” Even after we understand the foundations of faith, the question still arises: Will good prevail? Will the joint struggle of God and man end in the defeat of evil? To this, God replies, “There is none like Me in all the Earth.” There is no longer any force in the world, whether human or otherwise, capable of opposing real opposition to the divine trend. We are assured that good will prevail, even if the process leading to it is not a short one.
Three foundations of faith found in the Ten Plagues; three purposes toward which Judaism aspires and which we seek to impart – first to ourselves and then to our children – on the central night of the year, Seder night. ■
The writer is rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites.