A Fresh Look at the Abbreviations of the Plagues
Rabbi Ari Sytner explores the abbreviations of the plagues and asks 3 questions, why is it such a big deal that R’ Yehuda created a acronym, why does it say give in the present tense and not past tense, and why does it say “bahem”- in them, instead of “Lahem” - for them? He answers these questions very simply, but he gives a lot of background info. Rabbi Sytner says that Rabbi Yehudah was a pragmatic thinker, and he thought about the average Jew at the time, they probably didn't have a haggadah, and rather than making them struggle to remember the 10 plagues, he created a simple mnemonic. The present tense נותן refers to the fact that he was here and now working with people. And בהם does not refer to the plagues it refers to the jewish people, saying that he (G-d) gave to them (the despondent generation) to say that we have been oppressed before and hashem has saved us, he will do it again, and that is the meaning of the acronym, it is a symbol of hope and simplicity.
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