The Ten Plagues (Iii)

These are the Ten Plagues which the Holy

One, blessed be He, brought upon the

Egyptians, namely as follows:

Blood. Frogs. Lice. Wild Beasts. Pestilence. Boils. Hail. Locust. Darkness. Slaying of the First-born.

Ten Plagues and Ten Commandments

During the Seder we make reference to the Ten Plagues that G-d visited upon the Egyptians. The number ten is a significant number in our tradition. The most famous “ten” is the Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments. Since nothing happens by chance, what is the connection between the ten plagues and the ten commandments?

To find the connection it is necessary to first understand the function of the ten plagues. Why did G-d need to attack the Egyptians with so many plagues? He could have brought them to their knees with just one plague.

The purpose of the ten plagues will be understood by referring to yet another set of “tens.” G-d created the world, with ten statements, or Ten Utterances, as they are referred to in the Mishnah. For example, G-d said, “Let there be light!” or, “Let us make man” etc.

Introducing the Ten Commandments to the Ten Utterances

According to a Chassidic commentary, the purpose of the Ten Plagues was to introduce the Ten Commandments to the Ten Utterances. This statement obviously calls for an explanation.

Our mystical tradition introduces us to yet one more “ten,” the Ten Sefirot, or Ten Divine attributes. The word “sefirah” (singular) or “sefirot” (plural) is very likely related to the English word “sphere” and derives from the Hebrew word sapir (sapphire), which means “shining light.” It is also related to the word “sippur,” which means story. The sefirot are thus G-d’s light that relates G-d’s “story” to the world.

When G-d created the world, His creative energy (Ten Sefirot) was channeled through the Ten Utterances. These Ten Utterances, however, obscured the G-dly energy that they channeled, so that the world would not see G-d’s force in creation and be overwhelmed by its presence. If G-d’s presence were readily apparent to all, there would be no room for free choice and the very purpose of creation—that we humans of our own volition “invite” G-d into this world—would be undermined The reason why G-d’s Sefirot are not seen is because the world (olam in Hebrew which means concealed) was created through a process called tzimtzum, which means contraction or condensation. This means that G-d contracted, constrained and concealed His own presence when he made the Ten Utterances. This he did, as stated, so that we should be given the ability to introduce G-d to our world through our own efforts.

The word for constraints in Hebrew is Meitzarim, which is related to the word Mitzraim-Egypt. Egypt thus symbolizes the obscuring of G-d’s creative energy and light.

Breaking through the Barriers

G-d’s intention, though, was that ultimately the Divine power generated through His Ten Sefirot would break through the barriers and constraints. To effect this change—to reveal the Ten Sefirot within a world that was created through Ten Utterances, or ten filters—G-d gave us the Ten commandments. Each commandment was given the capacity to remove the obscuring power of one of the Ten Utterances and thereby allow the Ten Sefirot, the G-dly emanations to shine unobstructed within our world.

But, for the Ten Commandments to be effective, they had to penetrate the gross nature of the world, represented by Egypt’s immoral and pagan nature. To introduce the G-dly Sefirot to the Utterances, G-d “had” to “scrape” away the layers of gross materialism of Egypt.

Every plague chipped away at another layer or characteristic of Egypt—and through Egypt—the rest of the physical world, preparing it for the Ten Commandments and its ultimate transformation of the world.

Plowing Before the Sowing

The role of the Ten plagues as a prelude to the Ten Commandments can thus be compared to the need to plow before one is ready to sow, or—to use a military analogy— the need to “soften” the enemy before the invasion.

In light of the above analysis, the Ten Plagues were not just G-d’s way of punishing the Egyptians. They were G-d’s agents that prepared the world for the Ten Commandments. By softening the resistance of the constraining effects of Egyptian culture and impurity, the Ten Commandments would now have the capacity to infiltrate the Ten Utterances and reveal their true G-dly nature and source: the Ten Sefirot.

We can now understand why the Ten Commandments were not given in an earlier generation. In order for these commandments to have their desired effect on the world, the obstructive forces of Egypt had to be neutralized. Only after the Ten Plagues was that possible.

Of course, we must also understand why the Israelites had o go through hundreds of years of exile and bondage before getting the Torah. But that too was a way of refining the Jewish nation in the crucible of Egypt so that they would be capable of receiving the Torah.

However, not until the Ten Plagues that dealt the immoral forces that characterized Egyptian culture were crushed, was it possible for the Ten Commandments to have an impact on the world at large.

In other words, for the Ten Commandments to be received and internalized by the Jewish nation there was a need for their cathartic experience in Egyptian bondage. For the world at large—represented by the Ten Utterances—to be receptive to the Ten Commandments, the Ten Plagues were necessary.

An Ongoing Process

This process has not ended with the Ten Plagues and the giving of the Ten Commandments. Every day we receive the Ten Commandments and the entire Torah anew, and every day we must go through a process of refinement that makes us less impervious and more receptive to the Divine message. Particularly, every Passover night, when we recite the Ten Plagues we empower the Ten Commandments to ultimately fulfill their mission to make the world a Divine place.

In the course of the last few thousand years that we’ve been reciting the Haggadah and the Ten Plagues every Passover night, we’ve been chipping away at the resistant nature of the world to G-d and His teachings. But it was not wasted, G-d forbid. All of these efforts accumulate and will bear fruit. We will—imminently—finally succeed in removing every barrier to the G-dly light. This is what the Messianic Age is all about that will be ushered in imminently by our righteous Moshiach.

From the book Light from the Future: Haggadah Shel Pesach by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.