For many long years, Egypt harshly enslaved the Children of Israel, and when the cries of the Children of Israel rose, the Lord, the God of vengeance, struck the Egyptians with ten plagues until the Exodus from Egypt was complete. The first plague that God struck Egypt with was turning the Nile River, the main water source of Egypt and its lifeline, into a massive reservoir of blood.
Even today, most of the population in Egypt and Sudan is concentrated near the enormous Nile River. Its drainage basin area is 3,490,000 square kilometers!
To understand the essence of the idea of blood and the process that preceded it, let us consider the personality of Pharaoh, who, as described in the Torah and the interpretations of our sages, was afflicted with the sin of arrogance, which paralyzed him from thinking logically.
Let’s return for a moment to the end of the Book of Genesis. Jacob, who went down in his old age to Egypt because of the famine, came to meet Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. “And Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.” (Genesis 47:7)
Rashi (a prominent biblical commentator) quotes a section from the Midrash Tanchuma (an ancient midrash compiled by the Talmudic sage Rabbi Tanchuma bar Abba): “And what blessing did he bestow? That the Nile should rise to his feet. For Egypt does not drink rainwater but relies on the Nile, which rises and waters it, and from Jacob’s blessing onward, Pharaoh would come to the Nile, and it would rise to greet him and water the land.”
This blessing was fully realized, and Pharaoh grew accustomed to the idea that his presence brought blessing to the people and the land. Whenever Pharaoh stood at the foot of the Nile, the waters would rise to greet him, watering the lakes and wells throughout Egypt.
The flowing water that nourishes the land is not just a blessing but a necessary condition for the survival of the world’s inhabitants. The man, whose very presence brought water to his land, grew accustomed to believing that without him, his land could not survive.
Had Pharaoh not been afflicted by the sin of hubris, he would have wisely utilized this wonderful ability with humility and modesty, remembering through whom the blessing came to him. But to the misfortune of his nation, the king was dazzled by the miraculous phenomenon and began to see himself as all-powerful.
Until Moses came to him as God’s messenger with signs and wonders, Pharaoh was unimpressed but fortified himself in arrogance and said: “The river is mine, and I made it” (Ezekiel 29:4). He was sure that he had created the river and himself.
Arrogance has caused much destruction to humanity since the dawn of history. People tend to forget what preceded their success and what led to their achievements. Those who are arrogant do not allow reason to guide them.
God says to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he will go out to the water, and you shall stand to meet him by the brink of the river.”
Sin of arrogance turns to curse
Explains Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz (the rabbi of Frankfurt on the Main, one of the great commentators of the 18th century, known as the Hafla’ah – “the wondrous”) in his book on the Torah, Panim Yafot: God told Moses to stand before Pharaoh specifically when he stands over the Nile – the source of his pride – and then when Jacob’s blessing is fulfilled again, and the river rises to greet him, the blessing will turn into a curse, and a huge flood of blood will rush and sweep over Egypt.
The blessing that led Pharaoh to the sin of arrogance is the very thing that will turn into a curse. Instead of streams of clear water, the lakes and wells of Egypt will be filled with foul and putrid blood.
This is hubris and its punishment.
The writer is the rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites.