"The staff of Aaron swallowed their staffs"
The Egyptians acted as a snake, in their cruelty adding affliction and suffering, way beyond what had been decree
We read in our Parasha that, after Hashem informed Moshe, that (7:3-5) ’I shall harden Pharoah’s heart and I shall multiply My signs and My wonders in the Land of Egypt..And Egypt shall know that I am Hashem’. (7:8-13),’ Hashem said to Moshe and Aaron, saying: ’When Pharoah speaks to you saying:’Provide a מופת: a wonder for yourselves’, you shall say to Aaron: ’Take your staff and cast it down before Pharoah - it will become a snake’.
‘Moshe came with Aaron to Pharoah and they did so, as Hashem had commanded; Aaron cast down his staff before Pharoah and before his servants, and it became a snake. Pharoah, too, summoned his wise men and sorcerers, and they, too..did so with their incantations. Each one cast down his staff and they became snakes; and the staff of Aaron swallowed their staffs. The heart of Pharoah was strong and he did not heed them, as Hashem had spoken.’
Rav Yosef Salant comments: ’We have to give a reason as to this commandment of Hashem, to perform before Pharoah this sign, of the staff turning into a snake, something that the sages of Egypt were also able to do.
‘More so, as the Midrash relates, Pharoah brought children of four and five, who also turned staffs into snakes - and that, so too did Pharaoh’s wife.
‘Since, then, this feat was easy and weil known to all in Egypt - to turn a staff into a snake - why did Hashem command Moshe and Aaron to perform a feat which would not make any impression on Pharoah?
‘The Midrash offers a number of answers, as to the allusions to which the image of the snake alluded.
‘It is also possible to further expound, that it came to allude to Pharoah and his servants, as to their wickedness in afflicting Bnei Israel and embittering their lives, and as to why they would be punished.
‘Whilst Rambam queries - in his Hilchot Teshuva - why the Egyptians were punished, when they were seemingly carrying out Hashem’s decree at the Covenant between the Halves.
‘The Raa’vad, in his commentary on this Rambam, answers, that ‘Hashem said: afflict them, but the Egyptians went well beyond this, by giving them hard labor, and killing them, and drowning them - and therefore deserved to be punished.
‘Accordingly, had the Egyptians not afflicted Bnei Israel beyond that that had been decreed, they would not have been punished.
‘This is what was alluded to, in the staff turning to a snake before them: that they were only meant to be Hashem’s staff, only to strike as its holder- Hashem - directs, the staff not adding anything from itself beyond the intention and will of the striker.
‘The Egyptians, however, acted as a snake, in their cruelty adding affliction and suffering, way beyond what had been decreed; and this without deriiving any benefit, as the cities which they forced Bnei Israel to toil to build, they had no real use for, their sole purpose being to afflict Bnei Israel.
‘This mindless cruelty - for no real benefit - is what our Sages say ( Arachin 15: ) is the accusation that all the other animals will hurl at the snake, at the End of Days, saying that all other animals which strike, do so for food, but you: snake, ‘what pleasure do you get, from striking?’
‘Therefore, this sign was to castigate the Egyptians, that they were permitted only to be ‘in the nature of a staff’ to Bnei Israel, as had been decreed by Hashem, but in their wickedness, they acted ‘as a snake’ - and therefore, Hashem will punish them, notwithstanding that He has decreed that Bnei Israel be afflicted.
‘Our Sages describe Aaron’s staff swallowing the other staffs, as a miracle within a miracle as even though it swallowed them, it did not thicken one iota, so that all who subsequently saw it, said:’This is Aaron’s staff’.
‘This can be expounded as alluding to the staff of Hashem, with which He would strike the Egyptians a mighty blow, so that all the staffs with which the Egyptians had struck Bnei Israel - when compared to the terrible blows with which they were going to be struck by this staff - would be as nought.
‘This was alluded to the staff of Aaron remaining in its original form, and showing no sign of the staffs which it had swallowed, alluding to their being no sign of the staffs of the Egyptians, or the blows they had struck Bnei Israel, from now on.’
Rav Chaim miChernowitz adds: ’Clearly the wicked have no desire that Hashem’s Name be magnified by anything they do or say - more so when we recall that we are talking of the wicked Pharoah, who had said:( Shemot 5:2 )I do not know Hashem, and also, I will not send Bnei Israel, from my service - meaning: Even if I had known Him, I would not release Bnei Israel’, magnifying his brazenness.
Therefore, clearly he would not willingly do anything to magnify Hashem’s Name, by asking for a sign through which it was possible that this might result.
‘Any sign that might be performed before him, he would deny being from Hashem.
‘This is the purport of Hashem’s words:’When Pharoah speaks to you, saying:’Provide a sign for yourselves’, meaning: If Pharoah is to do so, he will say:’for yourselves’, that he is testing you - Moshe and Aaron - if you can do anything in the land, but will not do anything which can be construed as ‘trying Hashem’, as this is against his will.
‘Hashem, who knows what is in the heart of the wicked - who do not wish to ‘try Him’ lest his Name be thereby magnified - causes the wicked to err, and to be lost, and therefore initially commanded the performance of a sign that Pharoah’s sorcerers could also perform by their incantations, this so that Pharoah would believe that this sign was by sorcery, and would not believe in Moshe - and certainly not in Hashem.
‘This was so that Pharoah harden his heart, so that Hashem will increase the signs of His greatness, and that His Name will thereby be known throughout the land, by what happens to Pharoah.
‘This led Pharoah to show that his sorcerers, and even the infants amongst his people could replicate this sign, all to teach the wickedness of Pharoah, who did whatever he could to minimize that which Aaron had done - and all this magnify praise on Hashem, showing how He causes the goyim to err, as He sees what is in their hearts.’
The Alshich Hakadosh elucidates:’From Hashem’s instruction: ‘If (or when) Pharoah speaks to you, saying: ‘Provide a wonder for yourselves’ - Moshe and Aaron being commanded not to proffer by themselves a sign’ - as this would appear like some sorcery that they had prepared in advance, and now performed - turning the staff into a snake - by some incantation that they had prepared, but to wait until Pharoah tells them to provide a sign.
‘This would explain the seemingly unnecessary word: ‘saying’, in the passuk:’When Pharoah says to you, saying..’: Meaning: Do not start speaking, until you have provided a sign.
‘(Only) then, Moshe say to Aaron:’Take your staff and cast it down before Pharoah..’, before there is time to pronounce any incantations, lest it be said that it was all by sorcery.
‘This is the purport of:’before Pharoah’, that he sees with his eyes that the staff turned into a snake without any incantation - showing that this staff, despite being inert, by the strikes that will be made with it, will become a snake.
‘This they performed ‘before Pharoah and before his servants’, so that all should see that no incantation was involved.
‘Then:’Pharoah summoned his wise men and sorcerers’, thinking that that would replicate the sign, also without incantations, but they did not do so, but ‘did so with their incantations’, and with them ‘cast down their staffs..and it became a snake’.
‘Hashem then showed Pharoah that it was by a G-dly force, as what his sages did was to ‘create’ images of snakes, without life-force, or the ability to swallow like real snakes.
‘The proof of this, was that Aaron’s staff ‘swallowed their staffs’, which could only be if it had life-force in this inert object - which was not the case with them.
‘You would have thought that Pharoah, from this, would acknowledge that all his force was as nothing before the inert staff of Hashem’s emissaries - but instead, the Torah relates:’The heart of Pharoah was strong and he did not heed them, as Hashem had spoken.’
The Kli Yakar expounds: ‘Moshe and Aaron performed all their miracles by the words of their mouths, like the snake whose main power is in its mouth.
‘Further, it appears that the majority of the miracles were performed through the staffs of Moshe and Aaron, but so that there should not be an opening to dispute, and to say that by the power of the staffs all of the miracles were performed - and to attribute the miracles to magic powers in the staffs.
‘The staffs therefore turned into snakes, to say: Just as the snake bites without sound of its mouth, so too, Moshe and Aaron , their power is in their mouths, and the staffs performed all those same miracles by the power of the utterances of their mouths, because ‘the Tzaddik decrees,, and it is so’.
‘Therefore, the staffs of both of them turned to snakes, fiery weapons to harm Pharoah and all his servants.
‘You should know that Moshe was the shepherd and leader of Bnei Israel with his staff, as a shepherd drives his flock - and was also a ruler over Pharoah; but Aaron was only a ruler over Pharoah.
‘Therefore - at the Burning Bush - Hashem commanded Moshe to cast his staff before Bnei Israel - and it turned into a snake - whereas Aaron only did so before Pharoah and his servants.
‘Further, Hashem commanded Moshe to grab the snake - into which the staff had turned - by its tail, so that it could cause no harm, to teach him that he was destined to be the shepherd of Israel, and not harm or cause damage, like the tail of the snake, which is like an inert staff.
‘Thus, as saying that, at the one time, it will be like a snake that harms Egypt, yet, at the same time, be a mighty staff for his people.’
The Abarbanel adds:’Hashem did not want Moshe to perform the miracle before Pharoah with his own staff, lest he be compared to the sorcerers of Pharoah, when they performed their feat, as this would not be to his honor.
‘Instead, He commanded Moshe to tell Aaron to cast his staff - which was in his hand - as this would weaken the impression of them seemingly replicating the sign.
‘This would also, as mentioned, protect the honor of Moshe.
‘We need to clarify here , what the sorcerers were.
‘The first way is that posited by the Rambam, who wrote in his Guide to the Perplexed, that the sorcery was the work of the שדים: the spirits, but that is totally nullified, as they are the work of the imagination of men.
‘Who can tell me, if that were the case, what would the Rav say about the sorcerers in Egypt, and how they turned their staffs into snakes, and the waters into blood, as the Torah testifies that they actually did those feats, just as Moshe and Aaron did.
‘What can be said, in regards to the view of the Rav, is that the sorcerers were adept in the way of those who, by the skill of th movements of their hands, manage to create an impression different to what was previously seen.
‘They do so by the speed of the actions of their hand movements - which are not still for a moment - so that the watchers do not have time to see the true situation.
‘This is the meaning of the passuk: ’And they, too..did so with their staffs. Each one cast down his staff and they became snakes’: they made with their staffs movements as if the staffs were ‘alive’, like snakes.
‘However, since the miracle that Aaron wrought was a G-dly action, it lasted many hours, as a snake.
‘This was unlike the staffs of the sorcerers, which only lasted vey briefly, which is why the Torah then relates:’and the staff of Aaron swallowed their staffs.’, meaning:that it swallowed them, and annihilated them, and all that remained there before Pharoah, except for the staff of Aaron.’
Sforno similarly expounds:’And they became snakes’: they had the appearance of snakes, but not the movements, and ‘the staff of Aaron swallowed their staffs’, so that all should see that Hashem alone gives life, whereas the sorcerers did not have the ability to give life and movement to the snakes.’
The Panim Yafot adds:’With regard to the comment of Rashi - on:’and the staff of Aaron swallowed their staffs’ - that, after it again became a staff, it swallowed their staffs, note that it refers solely to ‘staffs’, and we ask: Would it not have been a greater wonder, had Aaron’s staff swallowed the snakes, whilst they were snakes?
‘The answer is that the deeds of Hashem which are all truthful, cannot be likened to those of others, the staff really turning into a snake - not to an imaginary snake -and so too, when the staff turned into a snake; whilst this was not the case with the deeds of the sorcerers which at no time turned the staff into a snake, was not at any time a snake, but was an illusion that, in the eyes of the viewers, resembled a snake.
‘This is why the Torah referred to ‘their staffs’, which had this resemblance to snakes, and, in truth, the staff of Aaron swallowed ‘their staffs’ which were imaginary snakes - which is why the Torah called them ‘their staffs’, as they were at all times, only staffs.’
A parting gem from the Malbim:’’Pharoah, who held himself as being a deity, wanted to be the equivalent of Moshe - so, just aa Moshe did not do any deed here by himself, but only through his prophet - Aaron - so too, Pharoah did so ‘also’, through his sorcerers and sages.
‘’And they, too, did so with their incantations’:By not saying that ‘they did so too’, alluded to the difference between that which Aaron did, and their deed, that they did not create snakes, but only did their incantations, meaning by sleight-of-hand, doing so with great speed to trick the watchers.
‘’And so too did the sorcerers do’: They brought the skins of dead snakes, with the sorcerers concealing themselves in those skins, and moving to resemble a snake moving from place to place.
‘When the Midrash states, that even infants were brought, and did so, it alludes to those infants donning those skins, they having been tutored in this art of deception.
‘’And they each one cast down his staff’, alludes to the sorcerers, ‘and they became snakes’: this relates to the sorcerers who themselves became snakes - the moment they cast their staffs, they - the sorcerers - turned into snakes, by wrapping themselves in the skins of the animals, appearing to turn into snakes from the staffs.
‘’And Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs’: The Midrash says: Said Hashem: if the snake swallows the snakes of Egypt, it will be seen as the natural order of things; but rather, let it return to its original form, and swallow the snakes.
‘What is the purport of: ‘And it swallowed their staffs’? Said Rabbi Eliezer:’It was a miracle within a miracle, teaching that the staff returned - from being a snake - to being a staff, and swallowed theirs.
‘When Pharoah saw this, he wondered about this, thinking: What if the staff is told to swallow Pharoah and his throne, it would swallow it!
‘Rabbi Eliezer -in this Midrash- first innovated that the staff returned to its original being, and then swallowed- and, on this, he asked: What is ‘And the staff of Aaron swallowed their staffs’, when it should have said: ‘It swallowed the snakes’.
‘To this he replied: This was a miracle within a miracle, that after Aaron’s staff returned to being a staff, , ‘it swallowed them’, meaning: the sorcerers, as they had hidden in the skins of the snakes, with their staffs - the staff of Aaron swallowed the snakes with the sorcerers and their staffs.
‘Had the Torah merely stated that ‘Aaron’s staff swallowed the snakes’, I would have thought that only the body of the snakes had been swallowed, but when it said that it swallowed their staffs, they having concealed themselves in the skins, we would know that the sorcerers themselves had been swallowed.
‘This is what led Pharoah to surmise that it could also swallow him and his throne, as it had swallowed the sorcerers.
‘’The heart of Pharoah was strong, and he did not heed them’: You might have thought that Pharoah would fear that it would swallow him alive - as it had the sorcerers- he, instead, ‘strengthened his heart’.’
לרפואת נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/402760
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