As we recite each of the Ten Plagues, we dip out a drop of wine from our wine cup. When human beings suffer, even evil human beings, our joy cannot be complete.
God brought Ten Plagues upon the Egyptians, and they were:
Blood | Dam
Frogs | T'z'fardaya
Lice | Keeneem
Beasts | Arov
Blight | Dever
Boils | Shecheen
Hail | Barad
Locusts | Arbeh
Darkness | Choshech
Death of Firstborn | Makat Bechorot
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When Israel saw the wondrous power which the Lord had wielded against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord; they had faith in the Lord and His servant Moses. Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They sang: "I will sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously." Midrash: At that moment, the angels of heaven wanted to sing praises to God. But God silenced Mthem, saying: "My children are drowning in the sea and you want to sing before me?"
Moses confronts Pharaoh. The one represents the power of the moral, the other, a morality of power. Who will prevail? Can raw power extinguish the human spirit? Can the police state control the human imagination? The victory of God over Pharaoh is the foundation of the ultimate Jewish faith in the future. At the Red Sea, history became transparent — its pattern and meaning became visible.
