Yud Chet: "And the fish that are in the water shall die, ..."
Cuf Alef: "And the fish that were in the water died, ... "
So when I first read this I became very upset, rather confused even. I thought to myself. Why are the fish getting punished ? What did they do wrong that they all had to die? Are not fish likened to Tzadikkim? Righteous ones? As we learn from Parshas Noah. In that terrible destruction of the world the fish survived, and Rashi tells us that they survived because they were separate, under the water, and did not get involved in the sins of that generation. So also here, what could you say that the fish did wrong to deserve to be singled out to die. Not once, but twice they were specifically mentioned for death.
I heard an answer from at friend and it goes like this. Just like an animal or a tree that is used for idol worship and has to be killed or uprooted,(even though the cow or the tree wasn't doing anything wrong) so too you have the fish in the Nile. The Egyptians didn't just worship the Nile as a deity, but they worshiped everything in the Nile as well, including the fish. So accordingly now the fish had to die. However there is one difficulty with this answer and that is for the law of destruction to fall on the worshiped object it must also be owned by the worshiper. So in this case we must say that the Nile belonged to the people of Egypt, It was their God and everything that was in it. According to this answer the fish come out really sinless, a Tzadik as they always were and rather as a korbon (sacrifice) of this first plague.
The Soforno has a different approach. He writes that there was no form of the water left at all. It has the consistency of blood and all the other attributes of blood. "Therefore", the Soforno says "the fish died. " In other words it was blood, and not even Tadikkim Fish can survive in blood.
The Or Ha Chaiim writes on Pasuk 21. This dying of the fish was a siman, a sign, that this plague was not the work of shadim (demons), and not the work of magic, because what would you think if the water turned to blood and the fish didn't die ? You would think that its a trick and the water is not really blood.
So we see that according to most of the commentators the fish remained sinless tzadikkim and to quote the Or Ha Chaiim "and this will be a sign forever that this was an act of G-d. It was an act of truth and not an illusion."
And finally there is the Even Ezra which simply states that when the Torah uses the word Hadaga, in both Pasukim, it is to be understood in a general way, meaning not specifically fish, but all the swarming things in the water.
BS"D Discussion with Moishe'la (with his family) A Handicapped child Tishrei 28 '5774 (Oct 1 '13)
We Cried and We Cried
I want to tell you that Zaidy came to me again from Olam Ha’emes. (My Zaidy, a great Tzaddik, was very famous when he was alive.) I want to tell you that he sat down next to me when I was sleeping, and said to me, "Yingel Yingel my Zeesa Yingel (my beloved boy) I am so proud of you. I am so happy that you are in the house that you are, in the home that you are, and I Bentch you that you should continue bringing truth to our family and truth to the Yidden wherever they might be."
And then he said, "I have more to tell you. I am very worried about my adopted homeland the United States of America. I am not worried about the place itself, as we all know its pure Edom. I have always realized how this Golus of Edom has almost destroyed all Yiddishkeit in America.
"But no I am not worried about the Edomite country called the United States. I am worried about the Yidden in United States. First of all they are in very big physical danger and of course we know very well that the Yidden in America, including the Frum, are in great spiritual and physical danger. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule, but the very big majority of the Yidden in America are in very big spiritual danger. "Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that the Yidden all over the world are in a better condition, but I am worried especially about the Yidden in the United States of America.
"I really want them to do Teshuva, real Teshuva. And I know that I have said this many times, and people don't understand what I am talking about. Even when you explain it so clearly, most people just brush it off because it's much more interesting to be busy with the Gashmius than to be busy with the Ruchnius. It take less spiritual and emotional effort to rise high in the attainment of the Gashmius, than it takes to rise high in the attainment of the Ruchnius.
"Since I was very young I realized that the American Jewish community would eventually disappear. Now however I see clearly that the United States of America is disappearing right in front of our eyes. Soon there will be no United States of America, and the Yidden will have to find themselves a new home. I hope they decide on Eretz Yisroel, and hope they do it quickly, because if not well……. "
Then he asked me to sit down with him and say Tikkun Chatzos. Together we Davened and we cried, and we cried, and we cried. I closed my eyes so I could feel the Tza'ar HaShechina, (the pain of Hashem) and when I opened them my Zaidy was gone.
Posted: 10/6/2013 7:57:01 AM by:
moishe'la
to moishela
כל כך מדוייק מה שמויש'לה כותב לנו.
למי שיש לב זה גם מפחיד ומעורר אותנו לתשובה אנחנו חייבים את זה..
מוישל'ה אתה צודק !!! גם פה בארץ אנחנו שבויים,
אני שומעת הרבה , יהודים יקרים ,מכל המגזרים,
ואפילו חוזרים בתשובה זה מקרוב באו, ברגע שהתחתנו הביאו צאצאים,
Important Numbers
