Daily Chumash & Rashi – Parshas Vaeira Chamishi: The plague of lice (Thursday 26th Teves)

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Chamishi

  • Moshe prays: Moshe and Aaron left the presence of Pharaoh and prayed to Hashem regarding the frogs. Hashem did as Moshe requested, and the frogs died within the houses and courtyards and fields. The dead frogs were heaped up into piles and they polluted the land.
  • Pharaoh refuses to let them go: Pharaoh saw that his country was relieved of the plague and he hardened his heart to not adhere to Hashem’s command to let the people go.

The plague of lice:

  • Hashem’s instructions to Moshe to perform the plague: Hashem told Moshe to tell Aaron to take the staff and hit the dust of the earth, and it will turn into lice. All of Egypt will be filled with lice.
  • Moshe and Aaron turn the dust of the land to lice: Moshe and Aaron did as G-d instructed them and he lifted the staff and struck the dust of the earth and there were lice all over the people and animals. All of the dust of Egypt turned to lice.
  • Egyptian sorcerers fail to replicate the miracle, but Pharaoh remains stubborn: The Egyptian sorcerers tried using witchcraft to do the same and were unsuccessful. They came to Pharaoh and told him that this plague is the hand of G-d. Pharaoh, however, hardened his heart and refused to adhere to Hashem’s demands.

 

The plague of wild animals [Arov]:

  • Hashem’s instructions to Moshe to warn Pharaoh and perform the plague: Hashem told Moshe: awaken early in the morning and greet Pharaoh by the river and tell him that Hashem demands that he let His people go so they can serve Him, and if you refuse to send them, I will send against you and your servants wild animals. The wild animals will fill the houses of Egypt and its grounds. I will distinguish on that day between the land of Goshen, on which my nation stands, by not having any wild animals there. You then shall know that I am G-d of the land.

Q&A on Rashi

Q1: What does “וַיֵּצֵא וַיִּצְעַק” mean when Moses left Pharaoh (8:8)?

A: It means Moses immediately cried out to God that the frogs should disappear by the next day.

 

Q2: What does “חֳמָרִם חֳמָרִם” mean regarding the dead frogs (8:10)?

A: It means “heaps and heaps,” as Onkelos translates it: דְּגוֹרִין—piles of frogs gathered together.

 

Q3: Why does the Torah use the form “וְהַכְבֵּד אֶת־לִבּוֹ” (8:11)?

A: It is an infinitive form used instead of past tense to indicate ongoing action, like “הָלוֹךְ וְנָסוֹעַ” (moving steadily). Pharaoh persisted in being obstinate.

 

Q4: Why did Aaron strike the dust for the plague of lice (8:12)?

A: Because the soil had helped Moses when he buried the Egyptian (Ex. 2:12). Out of gratitude, Moses did not strike it; Aaron did.

 

Q5: What does “וַתְּהִי הַכִּנָּם” mean?

A: It means “the swarm of lice,” called pedolliyere in Old French (“lice swarm”).

 

 

Q6: Why could the necromancers not produce lice (8:14)?

A: Because demons have no power over creatures smaller than a barleycorn.

 

Q7: What did the necromancers mean by “This is the finger of God” (8:15)?

A: They admitted that this plague was not magic but came from the Omnipresent.

 

Q8: What does “מַשְׁלִיחַ בְּךָ” mean regarding the plague of wild beasts (8:17)?

A: It means “incite against you,” as in “I will set the teeth of cattle against them” (Deut. 32:24)—rousing creatures to greater viciousness than usual.

 

Q9: What is “עָרֹב” (mixed horde)?

A: A chaotic mixture of wild beasts, snakes, and scorpions wreaking destruction. Rashi cites Midrash Tanchuma: the plagues followed the tactics of a king besieging a city—first ruining water, then creating noise (frogs), then havoc (wild beasts).

 

Q10: What does “וְהִפְלֵיתִי” mean in 8:18?

A: It means “I will set apart,” as in “God will differentiate” (Ex. 33:16). Goshen would be spared to show God’s presence in the land.

About The Author

Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein is a 6th generation descendent of the famous Chief Rabbi of Izhmir, Rav Yehoshua Avraham Krispin, who authored a number of Sefarim, and was a colleague of Rav Chaim Falagi, and father in-law of the Pesach Hadvir. He currently lives with his wife Shayna, and twelve children K”H, in Tzfas, Israel. Rabbi Goldstein received Semicha from Rabbi Schneur Zalman Labkowski of the Tomchei Temimim headquarters in 2005 and served as a chaplain in the Lotar/Kalatz and K9 unit of the IDF from years 2005-2008. He is also a certified Shochet, and has performed Hashgacha work in slaughterhouses. Rabbi Goldstein is the director of Shulchanaruchharav.com, the world’s leading web-based Halacha database, and is the director of the Home Study Semicha Program, a self-study web-based Semicha program. He is a prolific author of over 50 Sefarim studied by a wide range of readers throughout the world, which is used regularly in Semicha programs around the globe. He is a world renowned Posek, answering questions to a web-based market, and serves as a local Posek, Rav, and Lecturer, in the Tzemach Tzedek community Shul in Tzefas, Israel. His many classes can be heard both from his website, Vimeo and YouTube channel. Students can join live to classes given in the Tzemach Tzedek Shul, through the “בית חבד צפת Chabad Tsfat” YouTube channel.

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