{"id":40948,"date":"2018-07-09T18:50:30","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-58\/"},"modified":"2022-04-26T08:50:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T05:50:14","slug":"wall-58","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-58\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Exodus-8"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"58","date":"20251118","book":"Exodus","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"58","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"41203","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Exodus 8- Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Exodus 8- Judy Hammond","slug":"exodus-8-judy-hammond","old_id":"41203","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"58","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Exodus 8","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/exodus-chapter-8-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"58","date":"20251118","wall_id":"58"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"104316","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Small Changes Lead To Big Plagues ","post_title":"Small Changes Lead To Big Plagues","slug":"small-changes-lead-to-big-plagues","old_id":"104316","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"58","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The natural order gone awry\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

There are many interpretations as to why God picked these specific ten plagues. One possible interpretation is that God wanted to show his mastery over nature. In this interpretation, the plagues are not supernatural phenomena, but simply natural events gone awry. The initial plague of blood is created by a small imbalance in the Nile. Most likely the introduction of a foreign fungus that spreads, creating a blood red coloration of the water (Blood). Next, the frogs that live in the water abandon their distressed natural habitat and spread across the land (Frogs). Unable to live in their natural habitat, the frogs die out quickly. Mounds of dead frog carcasses invite gnats and other small insects like lice to spread (Lice).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The fourth plague, <\/span>Arov<\/em> <\/span>mentioned in chapter 8, is commonly translated as wild animals. Alternative translations are swarms of flies or wolves. Sforno interprets it as snakes and other creeping creatures due to the phrase \u201cand also the land that they are on\u201d in verse 17, implying that these are creatures that crawl close to the ground. Each of these interpretations would make sense in the natural order explanation. After smaller insects swarm, larger flies would be attracted to the dead frogs. If not, then these dead frogs would attract wild animals (<\/span>Arov<\/span><\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These flies or wild animals would bring disease with them that would first infect the domesticated animals (<\/span>Dever<\/span><\/em>\/plague). As we all know too well, sick animals can easily transfer their diseases to humans (Boils). These six plagues then form the first section of natural phenomena gone awry all based on one small change to the natural order. It is in this very small change that God sends a message to the Egyptians of his power.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The next four plagues extend from a much larger natural phenomenon. Wild weather would be something foreign to Egypt. The land is mostly desert and the Nile acts as the major water source. Therefore, a massive once in a lifetime hailstorm would be terrifying to the Egyptians (Hail). Such a disruption in weather would then cause a disturbance in the annual migration of locusts causing a massive swarm to descend on Egypt (Locusts). What would cause the disruption in weather and the swarm of locusts? Historically, volcanic eruptions hundreds of miles away have been known to affect weather and migratory patterns. The ash from the volcano would then travel over the land of Egypt darkening the sky (Darkness).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The storm and locusts would have devoured and destroyed crops in the fields leaving only moldy old wheat stores available to the Egyptians. As a rule, the Egyptians would have fed their first-born children the diseased wheat first.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Again, God\u2019s message is showing his mastery of nature. A simple change in the natural order, this time a cataclysmic one, can cause so much destruction. This is the true finger of God that the sorcerers see and it is what makes the plagues so terrifying. Simple magic can not match nature.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47196,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1088312105","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","width":5000,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Small Changes Lead To Big Plagues","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The natural order gone awry","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47196,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1088312105","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","width":5000,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"58","date":"20251118","wall_id":"58"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"360","name":"Nature\/Environment","old_id":"760"},{"term_id":"618","name":"Plagues","old_id":"1018"}]},{"order":3,"id":"41218","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Bible on The Bench: What Was the Plan? ","post_title":"Bible on The Bench: What Was the Plan?","slug":"bible-on-the-bench-what-was-the-plan","old_id":"41218","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"58","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

https:\/\/youtu.be\/h9Alab3eknM<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Bible on the Bench","tile_main_caption":"Chapter 8: What Was the Plan?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Adam Mintz and Shira Hecht-Koller","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/h9Alab3eknM","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"58","date":"20251118","wall_id":"58"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":4,"id":"41009","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Did Moses Lie To Pharaoh? ","post_title":"Did Moses Lie To Pharaoh?","slug":"did-moses-lie-to-pharaoh","old_id":"41009","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"58","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Acting from powerlessness in a world of power","post_main_content_content":"

Why did Moses tell Pharaoh, if not a lie, then less than the full truth? Here is the conversation between him and Pharaoh after the fourth plague,\u202farov, \u201cswarms of insects\u201d (some say \u201cwild animals\u201d):<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, \u201cGo, sacrifice to your God here in the land.\u201d But Moses said, \u201cThat would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us?\u202fWe must take a three-day journey into the wilderness\u202f to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as He commands us.\u201d (Ex. 8:21-23)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At no stage does Moses say explicitly that he is proposing that the people should be allowed to leave permanently, never to return. He talks of a three day journey. There is an argument between him and Pharaoh as to who is to go. Only the adult males? Only the people, not the cattle? Moses consistently asks for permission to worship God, at some place that is not Egypt. But he does not speak about freedom or the promised land. Why not? Why does he create, and not correct, a false impression? Why can he not say openly what he means?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The terms of the encounter between Moses and Pharaoh are part of a wider pattern that we have already observed in the Torah. When Jacob leaves Laban (Gen. 31:20), Jacob again has to tell at best a half-truth when Esau suggests that they travel together (33:13-14), when Jacob\u2019s sons are trying to rescue their sister Dina who has been raped and abducted by Shechem the Hivite, they \u201creplied deceitfully\u201d (34:13), \u00a0and earlier still we find that three times Abraham and Isaac, forced to leave home because of famine, have to pretend that they are their wives\u2019 brothers not their husbands (Gen. 12, 20, 26).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These six episodes cannot be entirely accidental or coincidental to the biblical narrative as a whole. The implication seems to be this: Outside the promised land Jews in the biblical age are in danger if they tell the truth. They are at constant risk of being killed or at best enslaved.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why? Because they are powerless in an age of power. They are a small family, at best a small nation, in an age of empires. They have to use their wits to survive. By and large they do not tell lies but they can create a false impression. This is not how things should be. But it is how they were before Jews had their own land, their one and only defensible space. It is how people in impossible situations are forced to be if they are to exist at all.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: <\/span>Freedom & Truth (Covenant & Conversation, Va\u2019era 5777)<\/span><\/i><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73652,"alt":"","title":"ez13-truthmeter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","width":534,"height":173,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter-300x97.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":97,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","medium_large-width":534,"medium_large-height":173,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","large-width":534,"large-height":173,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","1536x1536-width":534,"1536x1536-height":173,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","2048x2048-width":534,"2048x2048-height":173,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","post_full_size-width":534,"post_full_size-height":173,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","home_baner-width":534,"home_baner-height":173}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Did Moses Lie To Pharaoh?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Acting from powerlessness in a world of power","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73652,"alt":"","title":"ez13-truthmeter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","width":534,"height":173,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter-300x97.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":97,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","medium_large-width":534,"medium_large-height":173,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","large-width":534,"large-height":173,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","1536x1536-width":534,"1536x1536-height":173,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","2048x2048-width":534,"2048x2048-height":173,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","post_full_size-width":534,"post_full_size-height":173,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez13-truthmeter.jpg","home_baner-width":534,"home_baner-height":173}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"58","date":"20251118","wall_id":"58"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"354","name":"Rabbi 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lice emerged \/ \u201cTake these away,\u201d a scratching Pharaoh urged","post_main_content_content":"

Aaron brought the frogs. Magicians too
\r\nThey filled the ovens and the cups they drank
\r\nAnd when they died, the dead-frog piles grew,
\r\nAnd all the land was rancid and it stank.<\/p>\r\n

Pharaoh pleaded: \u201cGo! Just take these critters
\r\nAnd Moses said: \u201cSure thing, but tell me when
\r\nTo get rid of the source of all your jitters\u201d
\r\n\u201cTomorrow!\u201d Pharaoh said. \u201cHop to it, then.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The frogs died and were heaped along the ditch
\r\nAnd Aaron struck the dust, and lice emerged
\r\nEgyptians suffered terribly. That itch!
\r\n\u201cTake these away,\u201d a scratching Pharaoh urged.<\/p>\r\n

So God, as Pharaoh begged, removed the lice
\r\nThe respite was short-lived, but surely nice.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104046,"alt":"","title":"-625839483a25f--625839483a261Ex-Kurshans sonnet 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He is the author of The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Sasanian Iran (Philadelphia, 2014), and The Talmud\u2019s Red Fence: Menstruation and Difference in Babylonian Judaism and its Sasanian Context (Oxford, 2020), and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture.","short_description":"Shai Secunda is a professor of Jewish studies at Bard College, and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36150,"alt":"","title":"Shai Secunda","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","width":1202,"height":1287,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-280x300.jpg","medium-width":280,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-768x822.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":822,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-956x1024.jpg","large-width":956,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","1536x1536-width":1202,"1536x1536-height":1287,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","2048x2048-width":1202,"2048x2048-height":1287,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-1121x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1121,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-392x420.jpg","home_baner-width":392,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"58","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Transforming someone religiously is the truest form of magic","post_main_content_content":"

The onset of the Ten Plagues in Egypt is presented as a magical dual between Moses and Aaron on the one hand, and Pharaoh\u2019s sorcerers on the other. Pharaoh has his magicians successfully perform the same feats as God\u2019s messengers no less than three times, shape-shifting their staffs into serpents, turning the River Nile blood-red, and spontaneously generating frogs (Exodus 7:11; 7:22; 8:3). Yet they are inexplicably stymied in their efforts to reproduce the third plague of lice, exclaiming: \u201cthis is the finger of God!\u201d (Exodus 8:15). \u00a0Rashi, the great medieval exegete, explains this development by quoting a bizarre magical rule-of-thumb from the Talmud.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Eliezer says: It is derived from here that a demon[ic force] cannot create an entity smaller than the size of a barley grain. (b. Sanhedrin 67b)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Where does this curious rule come from, and what might it teach us?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Palestinian Talmud \u2013 which often more accurately preserves rabbinic statements than its younger sibling, the Babylonian Talmud \u2013 presents the text slightly differently, with a mosquito replacing the barley-seed, and people coming together, rather than a demonic force. These tiny details betray a connection with another, almost identical midrashic statement by the same sage, regarding a biblical reference to \u201cthe soul that they [Abram and Sarai] made in Haran\u201d (Genesis 12:5) before their journey to Canaan.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If everyone in the world got together they still could not create even a single mosquito and put a soul in it, and yet you say \u201cthe soul they made in Haran?!\u201d Rather, these are the converts whom they had converted\u2026which teaches you that whoever brings an idol-worshiper close to Divine worship and converts him, it is as if he created him.\u201d (Genesis Rabbah 39:14)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Using the tools of philological reasoning, it is possible that this comment, which emphasizes<\/span> the impossibility of creating <\/span>any<\/span><\/em> kind of life, even in its smallest insectile form, later evolved into the magical rule that sorcerers cannot create small \u2013 mosquito or barley-sized \u2013 life-forms. Whether or not that explains the <\/span>origins<\/span><\/em> of the strange talmudic rule, it is surely suggestive how the midrashic comment about the soul Abram and Sarai <\/span>made<\/span><\/em> rejects the possibility of magically creating <\/span>any<\/span><\/em> form of life at all, while reminding us that transforming someone religiously is the truest form of magic. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

On further thought, this must be the magic \u201ctrick\u201d that Pharaoh\u2019s sorcerers could only dream of, and which Moses and Aaron were about to accomplish during the Exodus, when the Israelites would grow from a downtrodden, enslaved people into an elevated \u201ckingdom of priests and a holy nation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":41246,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_393367726","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_393367726.jpg","width":1000,"height":651,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_393367726-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_393367726-300x195.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_393367726-768x500.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_393367726.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":651,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_393367726.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":651,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_393367726.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":651,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_393367726.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":651,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_393367726-645x420.jpg","home_baner-width":645,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Sorcery 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Museum: Frogs, Many Egyptian Frogs ","post_title":"Brooklyn Museum: Frogs, Many Egyptian Frogs","slug":"brooklyn-museum-frogs-many-egyptian-frogs","old_id":"41508","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40024,"post_title":"Edward Bleiberg","slug":"edward-bleiberg","old_id":"40024","first_name":"Edward ","last_name":"Bleiberg ","description":"Dr. Edward Bleiberg is Senior Curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum. A Pittsburgh native, he graduated from Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Dr. Bleiberg received an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. He is the author of several books and articles on ancient Egyptian economy, Egyptian coffins, and the Jewish minority in ancient Egypt and ancient Rome.","short_description":"Dr. Edward Bleiberg is Senior Curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40025,"alt":"","title":"Edward_Bleiberg_335W","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","width":182,"height":204,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-300x280.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":280,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","medium_large-width":182,"medium_large-height":204,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","large-width":182,"large-height":204,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","1536x1536-width":182,"1536x1536-height":204,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","2048x2048-width":182,"2048x2048-height":204,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","post_full_size-width":182,"post_full_size-height":204,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","home_baner-width":182,"home_baner-height":204}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"58","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

https:\/\/youtu.be\/PQLwH-yQdt8<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Dr. Edward Bleiberg, Senior Curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum<\/p>\r\n

Dr. Aaron Koller, Associate Professor of Near Eastern and Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 At The Museum","tile_main_caption":"Brooklyn Museum: Frogs, Many Egyptian Frogs","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/PQLwH-yQdt8","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"58","date":"20251118","wall_id":"58"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"555","name":"Archaeology","old_id":"955"},{"term_id":"618","name":"Plagues","old_id":"1018"}]},{"order":8,"id":"41241","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"The Plague of Frogs in Art ","post_title":"The Plague of Frogs in Art","slug":"the-plague-of-frogs-in-art","old_id":"41241","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37927,"post_title":"Adapted from ALHATORAH.ORG","slug":"alhatorah-org","old_id":"37927","first_name":"Adapted from","last_name":"ALHATORAH.ORG","description":"ALHATORAH.ORG is a one-stop Tanakh study resource, providing the texts, tools, techniques, and technology to help scholars, educators, and laypersons make Torah come alive in the home, classroom, and synagogue. Enter the site to explore 2,500 years of Biblical interpretation and enjoy a rich, multi-dimensional, learning experience.\r\n","short_description":"ALHATORAH.ORG Re-envisioning the way Torah can be studied and taught","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37929,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_473208484","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484.jpg","width":10000,"height":10000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"58","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"God's wonder or first round of the duel?","post_main_content_content":"

The two images shown here, from two 14th century Catalonian Haggadot, the Golden Haggadah and the Rylands Haggadah, both depict the plague of frogs. Though at first glance the images are somewhat straightforward and simple, the artists' differing portrayals raise questions about the nature of the plague, how and by whom it was brought, and for what purpose.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Only Moses and Pharaoh appear in the Golden Haggadah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

In contrast, the Rylands Haggadah portrays Aaron and Pharaoh\u2019s magicians as well.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is unclear from the Biblical text who was present during the beginning of the plague itself; we know only that afterwards the magicians were able to replicate the feat. The differing portrayals raise the issue of the role of both Aaron and the magicians and how this relates to the purpose of the plagues. Were the initial plagues set up, in part, as a contest between the \"messengers of God\" and the \"magicians of Pharaoh\" to teach that God\u2019s agents had behind them a power much stronger than magic?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Adapted from: ALHATORAH.ORG<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For fuller analysis, see: <\/span>http:\/\/alhatorah.org\/Plague_of_%D7%A6%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%93%D7%A2_in_Art<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Plague of Frogs in Art","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"God's wonder or first round of the duel?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":41242,"alt":"","title":"ex8-golden","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex8-golden.jpg","width":489,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex8-golden-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex8-golden-245x300.jpg","medium-width":245,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex8-golden.jpg","medium_large-width":489,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex8-golden.jpg","large-width":489,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex8-golden.jpg","1536x1536-width":489,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex8-golden.jpg","2048x2048-width":489,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex8-golden.jpg","post_full_size-width":489,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex8-golden-342x420.jpg","home_baner-width":342,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"58","date":"20251118","wall_id":"58"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"618","name":"Plagues","old_id":"1018"}]},{"order":9,"id":"41002","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Second Plague ","post_title":"The Second Plague","slug":"the-second-plague","old_id":"41002","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"58","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Gift me a frog\u2019s humility","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cAnd the Lord said unto Moses, 'Say unto Aaron, stretch forth your hand with your staff over the rivers and over the canals and over the pools of water, and cause frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.\" (Exodus 8:1)<\/span>
\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Frogs \u2014
\r\nMultitudes and masses and swarms
\r\nOf pushing, crawling frogs,
\r\nAbandon swamps and pools of slime
\r\nTo climb
\r\nInto the ovens of Egypt.
\r\nThey do not debate
\r\nNor hesitate
\r\nNor contemplate
\r\nRefusal; frogs simply obey
\r\nGod\u2019s commandment, with all their heart, soul, might;
\r\nRenouncing base instincts of self-survival
\r\nFor more basic instincts \u2014 to sacrifice self-centeredness
\r\nAnd serve God.<\/p>\r\n

God, grant me a frog\u2019s comprehension,
\r\nIts subtle perception;
\r\nHelp me leave the marsh of ego
\r\nAnd live Your will;
\r\nGift me a frog\u2019s humility, make me
\r\nHuman.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104329,"alt":"","title":"-626698f515122--626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"The Second Plague","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Gift me a frog\u2019s humility","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":104329,"alt":"","title":"-626698f515122--626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/626698f515122-626698f515123ex8-frog.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"58","date":"20251118","wall_id":"58"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"374","name":"Humanity","old_id":"774"},{"term_id":"618","name":"Plagues","old_id":"1018"}]},{"order":10,"id":"41239","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Exodus 8 ","post_title":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Exodus 8","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-exodus-8","old_id":"41239","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"58","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u05e8\u05d5\u05d5\u05d7\u05d4 - Revachah - Relief \r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

8:11 - \u201cBut when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, \u201charevachah<\/em>,\u201d he became stubborn and would not heed them, as the LORD had spoken.\u201d<\/span>
\r\n
\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n

During the social protests in Israel a few years back, there were many slogans about what changes should be made in the country. There was one in particular that struck me, because of its play on Hebrew words: \u201ctzedek velo tzedakah, revachah velo revachim<\/em>!\u201d We want a society based on \u201cjustice, not charity\u201d and on \u201csocial welfare, not profits.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

That word revachah<\/em> in our chapter clearly refers to \u201crelief\u201d from the suffering of the plagues, in this case #2, the frogs. It\u2019s interesting that it should be used in this way specifically in Egypt, called in Hebrew \u201cmitzrayim<\/em>,\u201d that narrow land, place of constriction. That is because the root associated with this word means essentially the opposite: spread out, airy (and indeed may be related to the word \u201cruach,\u201d wind or spirit). You can \u201cmitraveach<\/em>\u201d on the couch, \u201cspread out\u201d or \u201cget comfortable.\u201d In writing, the space following a word is a \u201crevach<\/em>\u201d and the spacing between lines is \u201crivuach<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That feeling of expansiveness also translates into the economic realm, when there is some \u201cair\u201d between the price paid for something, and the price received upon reselling, i.e., the profit (revach, revachim<\/em>, \u201cprofit, profits,\u201d leharviach<\/em>, \u201cto make money\u201d). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The word \u201crevachah<\/em>\u201d appears only one other place in the Tanakh, Lamentations 3:56, but the form \u201crevach<\/em>\u201d appears in Esther 4:14, meaning essentially the same thing, \u201crevach vehatzalah<\/em>,\u201d \u201crelief and deliverance.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

It was striking that even though we Jews like to boast that our notion of charity, \u201ctzedakah<\/em>,\u201d is based on justice, \u201ctzedek<\/em>,\u201d the protesters saw them in modern political terms as oppositional concepts. The case is similar for \u201crevachim<\/em>\u201d and \u201crevachah<\/em>\u201d: a society based on the private profits of the wealthy, or a vision of welfare for all. We see from our chapter that the \u201crevachah<\/em>\u201d that was momentarily achieved, benefiting all in its relief, did not affect the long term policies of Pharaoh, as he led his society, based on cruelty and slavery, not to mention his own egotism and entitlement, to its downfall.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104320,"alt":"","title":"-6266903cb2445--6266903cb2447ex8-milim revachah relax.png.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner","tile_main_caption":"\u05e8\u05d5\u05d5\u05d7\u05d4 - Revachah - Relief ","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"... a word from the daily chapter...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":104320,"alt":"","title":"-6266903cb2445--6266903cb2447ex8-milim revachah relax.png.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/6266903cb2445-6266903cb2447ex8-milim-revachah-relax.png.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Robert Kneschke (shutterstock 161025986)","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"58","date":"20251118","wall_id":"58"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew language","old_id":"761"}]},{"order":11,"id":"41195","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Exodus 8 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Exodus 8","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-exodus-8","old_id":"41195","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. He received ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He received the Covenant Award in 2000. He is the author of APassover Haggadah: Go Forth and Learn, published by JPS in 2011, and the newly released For Such a Time as This: Biblical Reflections in the Book of Esther, published by Koren Publishing in 2017 (Hebrew). ","short_description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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Three of the ten plagues take place in this chapter: frogs (which actually began in the last chapter), lice and wild animals.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After a clear, detailed warning (for those who missed it, it's in the last chapter - 7:26-29) of what will happen if Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelites go, the miracle occurs: \"And Aaron stretched his arm over the waters of Egypt and frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt\" (8:2). Pharaoh's magicians see the next stage of the competition and... they also bring up frogs, which only makes the situation in Egypt worse - only God can remove the plague...<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Once Pharaoh is willing to let the people go (to sacrifice to God) if only the plague is removed, Moses prays and God accedes, but, as is to be expected, \"and Pharaoh saw that there was relief and he hardened his heart and did not heed them\" (8:11).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Right away, in Verse 12, comes the next plague, and this time the plague comes from the soil - lice all over Egypt. Pharaoh's magicians don't give up; they too try their powers, but fail and admit \"it is but God's finger\" (8:15). This plague also fails to bring Pharaoh to agree to Moses and Aaron's demand, and so comes the next plague - a \"mixture\" (of animals).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This plague, a mixture of harmful animals not described in detail, fills the land of Egypt. Pharaoh, dismayed, bargains with Moses and Aaron: You want to go and sacrifice? Fine. But do it here in Egypt. But Moses and Aaron insist: \"We will walk three days' journey in the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He instructs us\" (8:23). Pharaoh agrees. But as soon as the plague ends: \"And Pharaoh hardened his heart this time, too, and did not let the people go\" (8:28).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And there's more to come...<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Points to ponder:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

1. Who<\/strong> carries out the plague? <\/b>The plagues of frogs and lice descend on Egypt after an act performed by Aaron, not Moses. The Midrash provides a sensitive, educational explanation: Moses, who was saved by the Nile as a baby (Moses in the basket, remember?) and also by the soil (when he buried the Egyptian he killed in the dirt), won't harm them - even if it means taking the Israelites out of Egypt...<\/span><\/p>\r\n

2. Uncompromising<\/strong> (and unconsidered) competition<\/b>. Note the magicians' determination to keep up - even if it means making matters worse.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

3. What<\/strong> is \"the mixed multitude\"?<\/b> From the description of the plague this seems to be a mixture of small pests that can reach any place - scorpions, snakes... The sages interpret the plague to be an attack of large predators - lions, tigers... and this is what you'll often see in illustrated Haggadahs.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

4. <\/span>Why in the desert?<\/b> Behind the cover story of celebrating in the desert lies a reason why it must be in the desert: \"<\/span>for we will sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God; and if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us<\/span>?\" (8:22). (\"The abomination of the Egyptians\" is a disrespectful way of saying \"the Egyptian gods\"). If you recall, the claim that sheep are considered gods by the Egyptians was already heard in Genesis, by Joseph, in order to get Goshen for grazing land far from the eyes of the Egyptians... and just wait till you hear what happens in Egypt in Chapter 12.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Exodus 8","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"58","date":"20251118","wall_id":"58"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"home_posts":false,"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/40948"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}