27 Jan MIDDAH K’NEGED MIDDAH – PART TWO

Last week, we
started discussing the
fundamental attribute of
middah k’neged middah,
measure for measure;
how Hashem punishes
and rewards to exactly
match a person’s own
behavior. We cited the Rambam who says
that this is a thread that runs through the
makkos, the plagues, and how it is a mitzvah
to explain how each plague was measure for
measure, perfectly matching the evil behavior
of the Egyptians. We pointed out that this
understanding is vital for it precludes any
element of chance when we discover that the
punishment perfectly fits the crime. In Part
One, we discussed the plague of dam, blood.
This week, let’s turn our attention to tzfardei’a,
the frogs.
If I would ask you to pick one plague that you
would have to experience, which one would
you choose? I would venture to say that after
careful consideration, most people would say,
‘If I have to suffer through one of them, let it
be frogs. They’re squishy little things and I
get that hundreds of them would be annoying,
but it wouldn’t be as bad as the painful boils,
the killing hail, destructive locusts, dangerous
wild animals,’ and so on.
The Abarbanel however, paints a completely
different picture. He says that the word

tzfardei’a (or tzfard’im) is written in the Torah
ten times, to teach us that it was as bad as all
ten plagues put together. For the explanation
of this, he points to the verse [Shmos 7:8], “Al
d’var hatzfard’im.” Literally this means “about
the matter of the frogs.” But the word dvar
also means ‘to speak,’ and the Abarbanel says
that each frog made a different sound with a
different pitch having a different screech. And

they croaked in unison without pause, twenty-
four-seven. When they filled the Egyptian

houses and bedrooms, it was like having 100
alarm clocks going off continuously with
100 different reverberations. The Egyptians
couldn’t think, couldn’t sleep, and it drove
many of them thoroughly insane.
This was measure for measure for the
lachatzeinu, the intense pressure that the
Egyptian taskmasters wreaked upon us
nonstop, hour after hour, day after day. (As an
interesting aside, I found a Tanna d’bei Eliyahu
that says that the sound the frogs made was
coockoo , which in English is slang for going
crazy. Perhaps this is the source for the word
coockoo, since this is the effect that the frogs
had on the Egyptians. In secular etymology,
they say that the word coockoo comes from
the cuckoo bird which are ‘brood parasites’
who act crazy, leave their eggs in other species
nests, tricking them to raise their chicks who
then often kill their host’s young.
In Shmos Rabbah, in explaining the damage of

the tzfardei’a, the Medrash quotes a pasuk in
Tehillim [78:45], “U’tzfardei’a vatash’chiseim
– And the frogs caused them destruction.”
Rashi in Tehillim explains that this particular
destruction was that the frogs mutilated the
Egyptian’s private parts. Shmos Rabbah says
the same thing (which is probably Rashi’s
source), stating that the frogs wounded their
bodies and castrated them. This then, is a
very precise middah k’neged middah, for
Paroh’s entire final solution against the Jews
was focused on the mission of pen yirbeh, lest
the Jews become too many (since they were
having sextuplets).
Therefore, Paroh closed the mikvaos, left the
husbands in the field separating them from
their wives, and only directed the avodas
perach, crushing labor, to married men thereby
discouraging people to get married and have
families. In perfect retribution, Hashem
sweepingly castrated the Egyptians so that they
wouldn’t be able to procreate. It’s fascinating
that embedded within the word tzfardei’a is
the word pered, a mule, that can’t reproduce,
hinting to the objective of the frogs against the
Egyptians.
As we deepen our awareness of the absolute
reality of measure for measure, it really
gives us an incentive to act kindly, patiently,
lovingly, caringly, and warmly to all who we
encounter. In that merit, we will be treated
in the same fashion and may we be blessed

by Hashem with long life, good health, and
everything wonderful.