The 10 Plagues And The 10 Sefirot By
The 10 Plagues And The 10 SefirotbyRobert M. Haralick
The Plagues And The SefirotThere are ten plagues and there are ten Sefirot. Each plague correspondsto one Sefirah. The sequence of the ten plagues corresponds to the sequenceof the ten Sefirot, starting at the bottom of the tree, at zEkl:n , and going tothe top of the tree, xzVKV, proceeding exactly in reversed order, as it explainsto us in the Zohar.The Holy One, blessed be He, began with the lowest grade, smiting each one in succession with every finger of His hand; andwhen He reached the highest He Himself passed through Egyptand slew all the first born of the land, as the firtborn representedthe highest and choicest grade of all.1Now as there are ten crowns above, so likewise are there ten suchbelow; and all are concealed in the three grades symbolized by“the firstborn of Pharaoh,” “the firstborn of the maid servantthat is behind the mill,” and “the firstborn of the cattle,” bymeans of which Pharaoh sought to keep the Israelites captive forever.2The Holy One, blessed be He, has produced ten holy crowns abovewherewith He crowns and invests Himself, and He is they and theyare He, being linked together like the flame and the coal.Corresponding to these are ten crowns beneath, which are notholy, and which cling to the uncleanness of the nails of a certainholy Crown called Wisdom, wherefore they are called “wisdoms.”We have learned that these ten species of wisdom came down tothis world, and all were concentrated in Egypt, save one whichspread through the rest of the world.3This is the reason Pharoah says to his people1The Zohar, Vol 3, (II, 29a), trans. Harry Sperling, Maurice Simon, and Paul Levertoff(London: The Soncino Press, 1978), p. 96.2The Zohar, Vol 3, (II, 38a), trans. Maurice Simon and Harry Sperling (London:Soncino Press, 1978), p. 118.3Ten kabs (measures) of witchcraft descended to the world; nine were taken by Egypt.Kiddushin 49b.2
Îl dn!K:g z:ï da!d!Come, let us outsmart them.4Come let us outsmart them, let us be clever over them here meansnot only by plotting and scheming, not only by deception, but bypracticing on the Israelites the dn!k:g!, the wisdoms of Egypt, theblack magic arts of Egypt.There must not be found among you anyone that1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.makes his son or daughter to pass through the fire,or that uses divination,a soothsayer,or an enchanter,or a witch,or a charmer,or a medium,or a wizard,or a necromancer.5They are all species of sorcery, and through them the Egyptianswere more skilled in sorcery than all other men. When the Egyptians desired to consort with the demons, they used to go out tocertain high mountains and offer sacrifices and make trenches inthe gound and pour some of the blood around the trenches andthe rest into them and put flesh over it, and bring offerings to thedemons. Then the demons used to collect and consort with themon the mountain.6As for the wisdom of Egypt, this is the lower wisdom which iscalledthe handmaid behind the millstones74Exodus, 1:10.Deuteronomy 18:10.6The Zohar, Vol 5, (III, 69b), trans. Maurice Simon and Harry Sperling (London:Soncino Press, 1978), p. 66-67.7Exodus 11:5.53
Each plague is designed to spiritually neutralize and annihilate a vice openlypracticed in Egypt. The vices neutralized are exactly the vices associatedwith their respective Sefirot. In this manner the children of Israel becomeseparated from these vices. So when they leave Egypt, the land of limitationand bondage, they have become spiritually elevated and free.Bloodmc And the Lord spoke to Moses:Say to Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thy handupon the waters of Egypt, upon their rivers, upon theircanals, and upon their ponds, and upon all their poolsof water, that they may become blood; and that theremay be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both invessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.8Rashi9 explains that their riversare flowing rivers such as our own rivers.Their canalsare pools or gutters which are made by man from the bank of theriver to the fields.And their ponds area gathering of waters which do not gush or flow, but remain inone place.The Zohar tells us that first the gods of a nation are punished and then thenation itself.Said R. Johanan:8Exodus 7:19.Rashi, Pentateuch and Rashi’s Commentary, Exodus, vol. 2, trans. Abraham benIsaiah and Benjamin Sharfman (Brooklyn, NY: S. S. and R. Publishing, 1976), Exodus8:19, p. 64.94
They had many idols, but their chief god was the Nile,and the Lord executed judgements on them all.Said R. Abba:The exposition of R. Johanan is the correct and selfevident one. For we know that first the gods of a nationare punished and then the nation itself. So here, firstthe Nile and wood and stones were smitted, as Scripture says:and there shall be blood throughout the landof Egypt, both in wood and stone,10the wood and stone being the very gods which theEgyptians worshipped.11Cassuto says thatVessels of wood and stone were uncommon in Egypt at that time;. When, however, we consider the fact that the term ‘wood andstone’ usually signifies idols in the Bible, and that the Egyptianpriests used to wash the images of their gods in water every dayearly in the morning, we may possibly conjecture that the senseof the passage is that even the water that was poured that verymorning over the idols turned to blood, thus providing anotherexample of mockery at the expense of the Egyptian deities.12We read in Midrash RabbahWhy were the “waters” first smitten, and with blood? BecausePharaoh and the Egyptians worshipped the Nile, and God said: ‘Iwill smite their god first and then his people,’ just as the commonsaying goes: ‘I will smite the gods and their priests will tremble.’1310Exodus 12:19.The Zohar, vol. 2, trans. Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon (London: The SoncinoPress, 1978), p. 58.12Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Exodus, trans. Israel Abrahams(Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1987), p. 99.13Midrash Rabbah, Exodus, vol. 2, trans. Rabbi S. M. Lehrman, (London: The SoncinoPress, 1983), p. 126.115
Why did God punish them with blood? To pay them back in theirown coin, for . They did not allow the daughters of Israel to haveritual immersion after their menstruation, so that they should notincrease; on this account were they smitten with blood.14Rabbi Sorotzkin suggests that the blood wasIn vengeance for the Jewish children that the Egyptians hadthrown into the River.15Nachmanides tells us thatIn Pharaoh’s sight, all the waters that were in the river turned toblood, and the blood was furthermore throughout all the land ofEgypt.16The waters represent the life-blood of the land of Egypt, for without thewaters of the Nile river, the land would not be fertile. Blood representsthe soul of the living, for without blood the living would be soul-less and,therefore, spiritually dead. Turning the waters to blood has the immediateconsequence ofThe fishlife that is in the River shall die and the River shallbecome foul. Egypt will grow weary of trying to drink waterfrom the River.17Sforno says that the turning of the water to blood is not just an illusion, achange in appearance, it is a change in essence.There will be no form (essence) of water (combined) with theappearance of blood, rather it shall become the essence (form) aswell as the appearance of blood; hence the fish will die.1814Midrash Rabbah, Exodus, vol. 2, trans. Rabbi S. M. Lehrman, (London: The SoncinoPress, 1983), p. 127.15Zalman Sorotzkin, Insights in the Torah, Shemos, trans. Ralph Blumberg (Brooklyn,NY: Mesorah Publications, 1993), p. 74.16Nachmanides, Ramban Commentary on the Torah, Exodus, trans. Rabbi CharlesChavel, (New York: Shilo Publishing House, 1973), p. 82.17Exodus 7:18.18Ovadiah Sforno, Sforno: Commentary on the Torah, trans. Rabbi Raphael Pelcovitz(Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, 1987), p. 282.6
Therefore, we can conclude that the attempt of Egypt to use the labor,sweat, and blood of the Israelites to support the soul of Egypt is like makingthe waters of the Nile be blood to support the fertility of the land. Theconsequence is that the life in the waters will die and the life on the land willbecome wearisome. It just cannot work.Rabbi Sorotzkin explains thatHere the Torah hints at what Rabbi Eliezer expounds upon inthe Haggadah, that each Plague was made up of four Plagues.First the water “would change to blood” the sight of blood aloneis enough to upset people. Then “fish in the River would die”leaving the Egyptians without their staple food. Then “the Riverwould become foul” with an offensive odor. And last “Egypt willgrow weary with trying to drink” they would have no water. Allin all four plagues.Following Rabbi Akiva, who says that each Plague was made offive Plagues, we can add the wearisome labor of digging aroundthe River for drinking water which is within the meaning of“Egypt will be wearied.”19Rabbi Alshech explains thatThe striking by the rod, was to prove that this was an act of God,not another trick, such as the Chartumim would perform. Therewere three distinctions between this miracle, and the kind of thingthe magicians were capable of. Their art could change the colorof the water, but not its nature. People could continue to drinkwater discolored by the magicians, whereas they could not drinkwhat had been turned into blood by Moses’ staff. Secondly, theart of the magicians was limited to converting the color of thewater in a continuous river bed. Once that water had seepedout, to form ponds in some place, it would not be subject to themagicians’ art. In the case of God’s staff however, all water whichhad surfaced in Egypt, turned into blood. The third differencewas that when the magicians turned water into red water, both19Zalman Sorotzkin, Insights in the Torah, Shemos, trans. Ralph Blumberg (Brooklyn,NY: Mesorah Publications, 1993), p. 74.7
the Egyptians and the Israelites would be seen to scoop up thered liquid. The water transformed by Moses’s staff however, wasundrinkable only for the Egyptians. The Jews found it perfectlyclear and drinkable.The words on the water means that the celestial agent in chargeof water, i.e. the sar shel mayim, was stricken, hence the real,not just apparent change in the liquid. Proof lay in the death ofthe fish and the resulting stench. Since we explained that whatthe magicians could do, was affect the water present, but notthe water upstream that had not yet flowed to within the areasubject to the magician’s spell, the Egyptians would attempt todrink clear liquid if and when it arrived. In this case, however,there was no such relief. Hence the Torah reports that they wouldtire of waiting for clear water to follow the discolored liquid.20The Torah explains that stVÃ, soul, acts in dê r :, Assiya, the world of doingor making. We readBut the soul that does with a high hand, [whether] he be homeborn or a stranger, the same blasphemeth the Lord. And thatsoul shall be cut off from among his people.21Here the beginning Hebrew phrase is d r :Z Jx : stVíd Ì. The word d r :Z is the third person future of the root dyr, meaning to do, to make.In another place we read:For whoever shall do any of these abominations, even the soulsthat do them shall be cut off from among their people.22Here the phrase translated as “the souls that do them” in the Hebrew iszyÞd! zÎst!îd . And we see that soul is again associated with doing.Now the dominant Sefirah in the world of doing, dê r :, is the SefirahzEkl:n . From the Zohar, we learn that stVÃ, soul, is associated with theSefirah zEkl:n .20Rabbi Moshe ben Chayim Alshech, Torat Moshe, trans. Eliyahu Munk (Jerusalem:Rubin Mass, 1988), p. 282.21Numbers 30:15.22Leviticus 18:29.8
Observe that stVÃ, g Ex, and dn! Ä are an ascending series ofgrades. The lowest of them stVÃ, has its source in the perennial celestial stream, but it cannot exist permanently save withthe help of g Ex, which abides between fire and water. g Ex, inturn, is sustained by dn! Ä, that higher grade above it, which isthus the source of both stVà and g Ex. When g Ex receives its sustenance from dn! Ä, then stVà receives it in turn through g Ex, so23that the three form a unity.This tells us that stVà is below g Ex on the tree and that g Ex is between fireand water. Now the left column is the column of fire and the right column isthe column of water. And Sefer Yetzirah tells us that s, fire, is above and n,water, is below and , air, is inbetween.24 On the tree, s is the letter thatconnects dn!k:g! and dÈiA.; is the letter that connects cqVgV and d Ea ; andn is the letter that connects gv à and cÎd. These are the three horizontalpaths on the tree. This places the center of g Ex at z V̀t:Z. z V̀t:Z. is therepresentative of the six Sefirot cqVgV, d Ea , z V̀t:Z., gv Ã, cÎd, and cÎq¼.stVà being below these six must then associate with zEkl:n .And stVÃ, soul, is associated with blood as we read:But flesh with its soul, which is its blood, you shall not eat.25For the soul of the flesh is in the blood.26For the soul of all flesh is its blood, on which its life depends:therefore, I said to the children of Israel, you shall not eat theblood of any flesh: for the soul of all flesh is its blood.27But make sure that you do not partake of the blood; for the bloodis the soul, and you must not consume the soul with the flesh.28In the story of Cain and Abel we read23The Zohar, vol. 2, Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon translators, The Soncino Press,London, 1978, p. 281.24Sefer Yetzirah, trans. Aryeh Kaplan (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1995), p. 274.25Genesis 9:4.26Leviticus 17:11.27Leviticus 17:14.28Deuteronomy 12:23.9
After a period of time, Cain brought an offering to God of the fruitof the ground; and as for Abel, he also brought of the firstlingsof his flock and from their choices. God turned to Abel and tohis offering, but to Cain and to his offering He did not turn. Andthis annoyed Cain exceedingly, and his countenance fell.29Cain brings to God some of the produce of the ground. Abel brings thechoicest of the firstlings, even before he has any benefit from them. Thecomparison between what Cain brings and what Abel brings suggests thatwhat Cain brings is an inferior portion of the crop, the leftovers. Cain isgreedy; he desires and takes the best for himself. And for God he donatesthe leavings. While Abel brings the best for God. This makes what Abelbrings acceptable to God and what Cain brings not acceptable to God.In order not to be faced with the unacceptability of his avariciousness,Cain kills Abel. Then God says to Cain:What have you done? Hark, the blood of your brother cries outto Me from the ground.30Avariciousness and greediness are the principal vices of zEkl:n . The avaricious deeds we do result in our blood, our stVÃ, crying out to God.The shephard associated with zEkl:n is King David. Because King Davidwas involved in wars and the spilling of much blood, God did not permit himto build the temple. God only permitted him to provide the situation andresources which facilated his son Solomon to build the temple.From all this we can understand how blood corresponds to zEkl:n .FrogsmiÝc: t v:Thus says the Lord:Let my people go, that they may serve me. And ifthou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thyborders with frogs. And the river shall bring forth frogsin swarms. And these will go up and come into thy2930Genesis 4:3-5.Genesis 4:10.10
house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon they bed,and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people,and into thy ovens, and into thy kneading troughs. Andthe frogs shall come up both on thee and on thy people,and on all thy servants.31About the bedchamber, the Zohar tells usThe bed here is mentioned only in connection with Pharaoh, notwith his servants and people. The reason is this. It is writtenconcerning Sarah:The princes of Pharaoh saw here and commended herbefore Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’shouse.32The threefold repetition of “Pharaoh” in this verse correspondsto the three Pharaohs, one in the time of Sarah, one in the timeof Joseph, and one whom Moses punished with his rod. The firstPharaoh, seeing that Sarah was a beautiful woman, commandedhis artists to make a likeness of her. They painted her pictureon one of the walls of his bedchamber, but he was not satisfieduntil they made a picture of her on wood, which he took withhim to bed. Each successive Pharaoh used similarly to feast hiseyes on that picture. For that reason Pharaoh was punished moreseverely than his subjects; the frogs entering even into his bed.33Midrash Rabbah tells us that the frogsdestroyed their bodies and emasculated them.34For this is the interpretation ofAnd frogs, which destroyed them.3531Exodus 7:26-29.Genesis 12:15.33The Zohar, vol. 2, Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon translators, (London: TheSoncino Press, 1978), p. 98.34Midrash Rabbah, Exodus, vol. 2, trans. Rabbi S. M. Lehrman, (London: The SoncinoPress, 1983), p. 200.35Psalm 78:45.3211
Why did He visit them with frogs? Because the Egyptians, whensubjecting Israel to slavery, ordered them to bring reptiles andcreeping things; in retaliation did He bring frogs upon them.Whenever they used to fill a cup, it was found to be full of frogs.36Rabbi Alshech explains thatBy announcing that the frogs would smite all within the bordersof Egypt, God wanted to show that precisely the area subjectto the horoscope governing Egypt would be struck, not a squareyard more or less. These frogs, i.e. the ability to multiply werethe known frogs, Batzefardim, which would swarm completely outof control in their numbers from their normal habitat, the Nile.They would occupy all sources of water pond etc. These werenot intelligent frogs. The Nile, however, would spawn in quantityanother species of frogs, which were intelligent and which wouldinvade the centers of civilization, homes, even the bed of Pharaoh.Their specific objective would be to frustrate the Egyptians’ family life. Afterwards, they would interfere with another aspect oflife on this earth, namely the economy, food supplies. Thereforethey would invade the kitchens, ovens, kneading bowls etc, consuming all in their path. By persecuting the Egyptians to thepoint of where they would be fed up with their very lives if theplague were not removed, these frogs also showed that God whohad sent them, had decisive influence on life on earth itself. TheMidrash explains that these intelligent frogs committed many actsthat were against all instincts of survival and self preservation,in order to carry out the design of their Creator, and produce afeeling of abhorrence amongst their victims. These frogs survivedin the most unlikely situations, such as in burning ovens, humanintestines etc. They only died after they had demonstrated theirability to survive in the places in which they should have died immediately. They left all those places that were natural deathtrapsfor them alive and died away from the houses and the field.3736Midrash Rabbah, Exodus, vol. 2, trans. Rabbi S. M. Lehrman, (London: The SoncinoPress, 1983), p. 134.37Rabbi Moshe ben Chayim Alshech, Torat Moshe, trans. Eliyahu Munk (Jerusalem:Rubin Mass, 1988), pp. 284-285.12
The word frogs miÝc: t v: can be broken into miÝc , which is the plural ofthe noun ßc , meaning knowledge or understanding and the root uxt, whichmeans to break, break through, break out, erupt, demolish, destroy, make abreach, crack, scatter, rush upon, burst, spread, increase, or overflow.When Jacob leaves Beersheva and was on his way to Haran, God talksto Jacob using a word whose root is uxt.The land on which thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thyseed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thoushalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the northand to the south; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the familiesof the earth be blessed.38Using the verb uxt, Jacob says to Laban:For the little which thou hadst before I
Robert M. Haralick. The Plagues And The Sefirot There are ten plagues and there are ten Sefirot. Each plague corresponds to one Sefirah. The sequence of the ten plagues corresponds to the sequence of the ten Sefirot, start
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