Today's topic I thought would be concerning the ten makkot, which is connected to the parashiyot that we're learning these weeks. Last week in פרשת וארא, we learned about the seven makkot. This week we're learning about the last three, the ten makkot. What we're going to discuss is not every one of the ten makkot, just a general few points concerning the ten makkot, and then also to pick a few of the makkot and to discuss them, not from the simple aspect of it, but more from the spiritual or what it says in chassidut and in מוסר ספרים, what the makkot teach us. What the makkot are, we know. The ten makkot are דם, צפרדע, כנים, ערוב, דבר, שחין, חושך, ברד, חושך, מכת בכורות. There is even an abbreviation to help us remember the ten makkot, and we mention that in the Haggadah: דצ״ך עד״ש באח״ב. Those are the ten makkot. And the order of the makkot is, as I just mentioned, first one was דם, was blood, then were frogs, כנים were the lice, ערוב were the mixture of wild animals, then דבר, which is the animals died, שחין was the boils, then ברד was the hail, ארבה were the grasshoppers, חושך was darkness, and מכת בכורות, which is the last one, when the firstborn all died. The reason it says that Rabbi Yehuda gave these simanim, Rabbi Yehuda in the Haggadah we find gave the abbreviation of these makkot to teach us that the order of the makkot is exactly as we just said, because in Tehillim, when David HaMelech mentions these makkot, he mentions it in a little bit of a different order. So we might have thought that maybe the order was not exactly the way we just said. And even though the Torah mentions it in that order, we have a rule, אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה, that sometimes the Torah does not go in a chronological order, but goes for other reasons in a different order. So maybe this was not the right order, and therefore we say that it was the right order. The purpose of the ten makkot was first to punish the Mitzrayim, to punish the Egyptians, and Hashem has promised that yet to Avraham Avinu. When He told him about the exile of Mitzrayim, He said to him that, \"I will punish those people that will make your children work.\" By the ברית בין הבתרים, when Hashem said to him, גר יהיה זרעך בארץ לא להם, your children will be strangers in a land that's not theirs, ועבResource דום וענו אותם, and they're going to make them work hard and they're going to make them suffer, but Hashem said that וגם את הגוי אשר יעבדו דן אנכי, the nation that's going to make them work, I will punish, and you will go out with a rechush gadol, you will go out with a great treasure, but Hashem said, \"I will punish them.\" So the punishment was: first He punished them with the blood, then with the frogs, and then all the other makkos as we go on, till finally He punished them with מכת בכורות, the last makkah that their firstborn died, and then He punished them even further later on when they chased the Yidden. By the time the Yidden came to the Yam Suf and they all drowned in the Yam Suf, so that was the last punishment for the Mitzrayim at the splitting of the sea, and at the same time we know that those Egyptians that stayed home, that didn't follow the Yidden to the Yam Suf, also were punished, Rashi says there. So it comes out that the reason Hashem gave the ten makkos, brought the ten plagues upon the Egyptians, was to punish them. But the truth is there is another reason why Hashem brought these ten makkos, and that is as the pasuk mentions quite a few times, למען ידעו, in order for the Egyptians to realize that Hashem is the Ruler, that Hashem is in control. וידעתם כי אני ה׳, you shall know I am Hashem. And we find that in the pasuk quite a few times that Hashem mentions it to Moshe Rabbeinu to tell the Egyptians, and Moshe speaks to Pharaoh and tells this to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, that by the ten makkos, you will see that Hashem is in control. So it's not only for the purpose of punishing the Egyptians, but there's another reason, which could be even a more important reason than this one, and that is to make sure the Egyptians, Pharaoh, will recognize that this, the truth of Hashem, the existence of Hashem, that Hashem is the Ruler. Pharaoh at that time was Mitzrayim at that time was the superpower of the world. Pharaoh was the מולך בכיפה, which means he was the king over the world. Doesn't mean actually he was the king over the world, but he was the superpower of the world at that time. And it was an evil nation, so it represented the epitome of what we call klipah, of the evil forces of the world. And what Hashem wanted, to break the klipah, we call it the שבירת הקליפה, to break the klipah, and He broke the klipah by bringing these 10 makot. And for that reason, the first makah and also the second makah were connected to the נילוס, were connected to the Nile. We know that the Nile was the עבודה זרה, was the idol of the Egyptians. They worshipped the Nile. Now, we'll explain soon why they worshipped the Nile, and I think I explained it in other shiurim, too. But they did worship the Nile. So Rashi says that when Hashem wants to punish a nation, the first thing He does is shows them that their god that they worship has no power. So the first thing is, as we say in Yiddish, er nemt zich to their עבודה זרה. Hashem takes to their עבודה זרה. And that's what Hashem did. The first makah was the makah of dam, that He changed the waters of the Nile into blood. So the makah was in the water of the Nile, which was their עבודה זרה. So by doing this, He showed Paro and מצרים that your עבודה זרה has no power over, and Hashem is the one that controls your עבודה זרה. The second makah also was connected, it says, to the יאור. ושרץ היאור צפרדעים, it says, the יאור, the Nile, the river will give out the the frogs. So the second makah, which were frogs, also came from the Nile, which was also, Rashi says, in order to destroy or to punish or their עבודה זרה, the god of the Egyptians.

This is the reason why some opinions hold that the first two and even the third makah also happened to the Jews, which is something that's strange and most people don't even know that. Now, there are opinions that say that they didn't. There are opinions that say that from the first makah of dam, these makot only happened to the Egyptians. For instance, blood, only water in the in the ownership in the hands of the Egyptians turned into blood, but not by the Jews. As a matter of fact, there is even a Midrash that says that at the time of blood, the water the Jews had were water, and if a מצרי, an Egyptian would try to take it away from a Jew, in his hands it would turn blood. And the only way he could get the water from the Jews and it it should stay water is if he paid for it, if he bought it. Because the makah did not happen to the Jews. And the same with tzefardea, with the frogs, that they did not come to the Jews, and with kinim and the rest of the makot. One of the proofs they have is from the Mishnah. There is a Mishnah in Pirkei Avot which says עשרה נסים נעשו לאבותינו במצרים. 10 miracles happened to our forefathers in Egypt. What kind of 10 miracles are we talking about? It doesn't say 10 plagues were given to the Egyptians in Egypt. It says 10 miracles happened to our fathers. What were the 10 miracles? Where do we find in Chumash 10 miracles happened to the Jews? So many of the מפרשים learn it means all 10 makot, and the miracles were were that it didn't happen to the Jews. So each time the water the makah happened, the water changed into blood, didn't happen to the Jews. The צפרדעים, the frogs came, they didn't come to the Jews. The lice didn't come to the Jews. So since there were 10 מכות and they didn't happen to the Jews, so these are 10 miracles. That's what some מפרשים learn. But there is a strong question on this opinion, because when we look into the Chumash, we see that when we get to מכת מכת ערוב, the fourth מכה, which is ערוב, the mixture of the wild animals, Hashem says, 'I am going to make a separation between the Jews and the Egyptians, and the מכות the wild animals will only come to the Egyptians and not to the Jews.' Now, why all of a sudden when it comes to the fourth מכה would the פסוק say that, that here there will be a difference between the Jews and the Egyptians? If it happened to all 10 starting from the first, why didn't it say by the first? Should have said that I'm going to turn the water into blood, but only for the Egyptians. Why did it say only by the fourth? And if it is obvious, as some say, doesn't have to say, it's obvious that if the מכות were there in order to punish the Egyptians, so why would that happen to the Jews? So the פסוק doesn't have to say it. If the פסוק doesn't have to say it, then why would it say it by the fourth מכה? So therefore, there are some that hold that the first three מכות happened to the Jews also. The Ibn Ezra says that. The Ibn Ezra says that דם, צפרדע, כינים happened to the Jews also. And it's nisht gefarlach, he says, because these three מכות were not so terrible. They didn't hurt so much, and therefore it happened to the Jews also. Comes the Radbaz in one of his teshuvot and he screams, so to speak, chai v'kayam as we say, how could you say such a thing, that the מכות, the three מכות happened to the Jews? He says, we look in the פסוק when it comes to all the different מכות from starting from דם, it says, \"I will bring blood to the Egyptians,\" and it says that this frogs came into the Egyptians. If it happened to the Jews also, why does the פסוק mention that it came only to them? Doesn't say only, but why does it say it came to them if it happened to the Jews also? And then the Radbaz asks another question: What was the purpose? If the whole idea was to punish the Egyptians and to show them the strength of Hashem, then why did He do it to the Jews too? The only way He would show it to them was if they would see that it's happening to the Egyptians, not to the Jews. And therefore the Radbaz says it's not true. Starting from מכת דם it happened only to the Egyptians, not to the Jews. The Rambam in Perush HaMishnayot on the Mishnah in Pirkei Avot says that it only happened to the Egyptians. He says like this: all happened only to the Egyptians, כינים happened to the Jews also, but it came the the lice were there, but it didn't bother them. And that's why in the מכה right after that by ערוב, the פסוק says that it's not going to happen to the Jews. But basically we have these two opinions. But we have the question of the Radbaz on the Ibn Ezra, two questions: The פסוק seems to be stressing that the מכות, starting from דם, צפרדע, כינים, happened to the Egyptians; if it happened to the Jews also, why does the פסוק say it happened to the Egyptians? And the second question: Why would it happen to the Jews? So the first question is answered that the reason the Torah stresses that it happened to the Egyptians because that's the whole תכלית, that's the goal. The goal is to do it to them. So even though it happened to the Jews too, but it happened to them, it was because of them that it happened, and that's why the pasuk stresses it. But the second question is the main question: Why would Hashem do it? Why would Hashem bring the first three makot to the Jews also according to those opinions? And it happens to be that it seems that Rashi in Chumash seems to be holding that way, because Rashi in Chumash doesn't mention a word. When it comes to the fourth makkah and the pasuk says that there will be a difference between the Jews and the Egyptians, Rashi, who explains פשוטו של מקרא, the simple peshat, would have to stop right then and there and ask, why does the Torah all of a sudden mention it? The fact that Rashi doesn't do that proves that Rashi holds that till now it did happen to the Jews, and from the fourth on, that's when there was a separation between the Jews and the Egyptians. So the question is, why would Hashem make it happen to the Jews also? And the answer that the Rebbe gives is based on what I said before, that the purpose of the first few makot was mainly to destroy or to punish, to start up with the עבודה זרה of the Egyptians. So when he made the Nile, the water of the Nile, turn into blood, it was because he wanted to do something to their עבודה זרה, to their idol. So therefore there is no reason why it shouldn't happen to the Jews if the reason was something else, was to destroy the עבודה זרה. And as a matter of fact, if it would have not happened to the Jews, which means part of the water would have not been punished, not been changed into blood, you know what they would say? That Hashem is not 100% in control over our idol. You see, part of the idol he punished, but a certain part he couldn't do. So Hashem, in order to show that really Hashem is control over the whole עבודה זרה, had to make the דם over the whole Nile. And the same with the second makkah. The second makkah which came from the Nile, Hashem had to make that this makkah had no limits, cuz the moment you're going to limit the makkah, they will come and say that the power of Hashem over our god is limited. We would talk to them and show them, tell them, well the reason that it didn't come to the Jews or to this part where the Jews live is because they are the Jews, they still would have what we call a פתחון פה, they could still find some excuse. Certainly logically you understand that it's not because Hashem is lacking in power, that's why it didn't happen all over, but it's because of the Jews, but at least they would have some way out and say, \"Well, it's not so.\" It's similar to what Rashi says, that by מכת בכורות, when Hashem killed the firstborn, it says He killed every firstborn, even those that were in jail, the prisoners in the Egyptian jails. If there was a firstborn there, he also died. And Rashi says why? Why would he die? What was the reason? They didn't do anything. So Rashi gives two peshatim, but one peshat is that they shouldn't be able to say that it is not the God of the Jews that is taking revenge in the Egyptians because of what they did to the Jews, it's God, our God, taking revenge for putting us in jail. So to make sure that no one will be able to make that mistake, Hashem made their firstborn die too. The same thing here, Hashem made it happen to the Jews also, so no one could have any excuse or any way of saying that God is not, Hashem is not 100% powerful. And concerning כינים, it is a similar reason why it could happen to the Jews. And that is because כינים was the first makkah, the first plague, that the חרטומים, the Egyptian magicians, were started admitting that it's אצבע אלוקים היא, it came from Hashem. Till then, they were able to do the same, and they said that what Moshe and Aharon are doing is all through black magic. Came to כינים, that was the first makkah that Hashem wanted them to understand that it's the hand of Hashem. So therefore, the makkah of כינים also had to not be limited. The moment it's limited, the power of Hashem that the makkah is supposed to show will be a limited one, too, because they will say, \"Well, Hashem, it's takeh from Hashem, but not 100%, He can't do everything, He's limited.\" In order to show that Hashem is not limited at all, Hashem made the makkah happen to all the people that are there. And it's starting from the fourth makkah of ערוב, that's where Hashem said, \"I will make a separation between the Jews and the Egyptians,\" and the makkot only came to the Egyptians, not the Jews. That's a general point concerning the makkot. What I would like to do is get a little bit into the details of only a few of the makkot, and as I said before, not to explain the technicalities of it, but more the spiritual explanation behind what the makkot represent and what they were supposed to show. And obviously, we're going to pick a few, we'll pick the first and the last. So let's start with the first. The first is, as we said, we know, מכת דם, that the water turned into blood.

Water, we know, has a nature of being cold. That's the nature of water. You could have warm water if you warm it up, but if you leave water water without doing anything to it, the nature of water is wet and cold. Blood is the complete opposite. Blood represents warmth. The blood of the person is his life, that's the heat, blood represents warmth, water represents cold. The worst thing that a Yid could have is if the Yid is cold. If a person is cold to Yiddishkeit, if a person is cold to things which are proper, that is the worst of everything. That's why we find a halachah which we mentioned many times. It says when you're davening Shemoneh Esrei and עקרב כרוך על על רגלו, if you have a scorpion, a first it says about a snake, נחש כרוך על רגלו, if you have a snake on your foot and you're davening Shemoneh Esrei, don't stop. But if עקרב כרוך על עקבו, but if you have a scorpion there, you have to stop. And the reason is because the venom of a snake is not we mentioned it other time the venom of a snake is not is warm. And the venom of a snake is not poisonous. But the venom of a scorpion is cold, and it's poisonous. And what it says in sefarim, that means that the snake, as much as a snake represents evil, we know that, the source of all evil comes from the snake, the נחש הקדמוני, the first snake. But nevertheless, even though it's evil, but if it's warm, there is warmth there, then it's not so bad, it's not poisonous, it's not dangerous. But the scorpion, which is also in the same family family. But there the venom is cold, that's what the Gemara says, that עקרב ארסה קר, its venom is cold. That is poisonous. And what it means is that when a person gets overcome with indifference, with being cold, that is the worst thing. That's what Amalek is. We know that Amalek the Torah says אשר קרך בדרך. Amalek cooled everything off. The Midrash gives a mashal, this is for the technical part of Amalek. When the Jews came out of Mitzrayim, the first one that started up with them was Amalek. All nations were afraid when they heard what happened by קריעת ים סוף. They were afraid to start up, as much as they would like to, but they were afraid. Amalek was the first one. So the Midrash says a mashal, a mashal of a hot bath, very hot. Everyone was afraid to go in, because they would get burned. Came one person, jumped in. This person that jumped in burned himself, but he cooled it off in the eyes of others. Now everyone saw, nisht gefarlech, you could jump in. The same thing here, what Amalek did, he cooled off the greatness of the Yidden in the eyes of the world. Everyone was afraid, and he cooled it off. And that's what the pasuk says, אשר קרך בדרך, that he cooled you off on the way. But in Chassidus it says, also in Mussar sefarim, that Amalek represents karirus, being cold. Cold which means indifference, not caring. If a person is warm, so even if he's not 100% in the right direction, but as long as there is heat there, there is warmth there, then this person could change positions, change direction, and he'll change to the right path. But if a person is cold, doesn't care, that's the source of all evil. That's why Amalek it says is ראשית גוים עמלק. Amalek is the beginning of all nations. There's even an argument, we know there are 70 nations, so there's even an argument, some hold that Amalek is included in the 70, he's number one of the 70, and some hold that there are 70 besides Amalek. He's not even counted amongst all the nations. He is the ראשית, he is the top. He is the source, the shoresh, the root of all evil. Why? Because Amalek represents karirus, being cold. I always tell the story, and I'll repeat it again, and like the going out of Mitzrayim I'll repeat it again, the story with the Toldos, who was one of the students, the major, main students of the Baal Shem Tov. And he heard by the Baal Shem Tov that everything that you see and hear in the world, you should know is a lesson to your serving of Hashem. And then he came home, and this was the middle of the winter. Middle of the winter you have the goyishe season of their holidays. The custom in his city called Polnoye was that on that day of their holiday, middle of the winter, they would walk, a parade would go to the river, and they would chop out from the ice a cross, and they would walk back, march back throughout the whole city holding that cross in front of them. And he was sitting in his window and he happened to see it, and he wondered, what kind of a lesson in service of Hashem can I get by watching this parade carrying the cross? And he couldn't figure it out. So right away he took his wagon, drove to the Baal Shem Tov, and came to the Baal Shem Tov and asked him. The Baal Shem Tov said to him, the lesson is that when you get cold, you could be so come so bad, you could even turn into a cross. What happened was this ice, because it was cold, now it could even become a tzelem. In other words, he was telling him that this is the worst thing. Becoming cold, indifferent, that is the worst thing. Now the truth is when we talk about being cold, there are two types of being cold. You could be cold to inyanim of kedushah, you could be cold to holy matters and that, as we said, is the worst. But there's another type of being cold, being cold to physical matters, not caring about worldly matters, about materialistic things. That is not bad. As a matter of fact, that's how a Yid should be. The cold that was here, the water that represents the cold that we're talking about in Mitzrayim, was the water of the Nilos. And as we said before, this is coldness that comes from avodah zarah, so it's not cold to the materialistic things. It represents being cold to good things, to godly things, because it was the water of the Nilos, and the Nilos was the avodah zarah of was their idol. Why was the Nile their idol? As I explained it once before, the Nile was the source of their livelihood. We know that in Mitzrayim it doesn't rain. It never rains. Even up to, I don't say never, but very seldom does it rain. The Nile overflows once a year, and that irrigates all the fields. The people make canals. The water comes to all the fields, and that's how the water irrigates the fields. And that's how they make their livelihood. That's how they get their food. This is nature. The Egyptians worshipped nature. They did not believe in Hashem who's beyond nature. They believed in nature as being the God. So that's why they worshipped the Nile. They worshipped the Nile, which to them was the epitome of their natural income, and that's why they worshipped it as a God. So the water of the Nile, which is cold, represents the coldness that's there to God, not the coldness that's there to worldly matters. It's cold, a coldness that comes from a source of avodah zarah, which means being cold to God. And that is the worst. And that was the main problem that the Egyptians had, their not caring about God, they didn't care. And the problem was further that not only they were that way, but because of them, the Jews also were influenced to think that way. This is basically what Paroh meant when he said, \"Throw the children into the Nile.\" He meant to throw the children, the Jewish children, in this philosophy of what the Nile stands for: the philosophy of believing in nature and not believing in Hashem. And the Jews were influenced, as the famous peshat in the Haggadah, when it says וירעו אותנו המצרים, which simple peshat means the Mitzrayim were bad to us. And the Frierdiker Rebbe טייטשט, and I think it's taken from the Shlah, וירעו אותנו המצרים means the Mitzrayim made us bad. וירעו אותנו, they made us bad. They influenced us to also become bad. So we were influenced, the Jews in Mitzrayim were influenced with this philosophy that the Nile is the God, which means they believed in the strength of nature and forgot about the strength of Hashem, and became cold to Hashem and all things that come from Hashem. As we know, it says that the Yidden were in מ״ט שערי טומאה, they were already in the 49 gates of tumah, of impurity. And if Hashem would have left them for another moment, another second, they would have gone into the 50th gate, then they would never be able to get out. So obviously what it means is that they were pretty low. As it says, when they came to the Yam Suf, when they came to cross the sea, and Hashem wanted the Yam Suf to split, and He spoke to the שר, the מלאך, the angel that's appointed over the ים, and He said, \"Split it for the Jews and let the Egyptians drown,\" the Yam Suf answered, \"Why should I do that? אלו עובדי עבודה זרה ואלו עובדי עבודה זרה. These people worship idols, and these people worship idols,\" because the Jews at that time were influenced. So when Hashem sent the makkah of Dam, which was the first makkah to destroy their avodah zarah, it wasn't only to destroy their avodah zarah, but it was supposed to show the Egyptians and the Jews, which fits to the opinion that the Jews also had the makkah, to show the Jews and the Egyptians that you have to change the water of the Nile. The water of the Nile, which means the indifference, the coldness that you have, you have to change it to blood. Blood is warmth. You have to change it to become warm. And when you have warmth, that itself is a connection to God. Warmth is life, and life is Hashem, and Torah, and mitzvot, and Yidden. There's a Midrash that says עשרה נקראו חיים, there are ten that are called life, alive. Hashem is the first one, there's a pasuk that says השם אלוקים חיים, Hashem the God is alive. Yidden, it says in the פסוק ואתם הדבקים בה׳ אלקיכם חיים, you are connected to Hashem and you're alive. And he quotes more pesukim for different things, for Torah, Torah is called תורת חיים. So it's all life. So Hashem showed them the first makkah, which was the beginning of the downfall of Mitzrayim. And it doesn't only mean the downfall of the nation Mitzrayim or the country Mitzrayim, the empire of Mitzrayim, the downfall of the philosophy of Mitzrayim, which was the dominating philosophy at that time in the world, which was believing in nature and not caring, and being indifferent to Hashem. The Mitzrayim, they worshipped the Nile being nature. They worshipped, it says, the sun, which represents nature. They even worshipped Pharaoh as a God. It says in Rashi, because Pharaoh was the greatest human being, in their eyes at least, that lived at that time. So he was the epitome of nature as it is manifest itself in a human being. And that was their avodah zarah. So Hashem said the first makkah is going to be to change the water into blood.

And this is also the meaning of the second makkah, because we said before that the first two makkot was to start up, to punish, to destroy their god. But what I'm saying now, we don't only destroy the god, but to destroy the philosophy of what their god influenced and the way the Mitzrayim felt. So the second makkah was also connected to the יאור, connected to the river, for the same reason. What happened in the second makkah? The second makkah we had the צפרדעים, we had the frogs. Frogs are creatures of the water. The water represents being cold, and the creatures of the water also represent cold. And it's an interesting midrash, not concerning the makkot, but interesting. The midrash says if a scorpion wants to cross the river, what does he do? He goes on top of a frog, and the frog crosses the river, he goes along. So the scorpion, which we said before represents coldness, because the scorpion, it says the venom of the scorpion is cold, and that's the most terrible thing that could be. That's why in middle of Shemoneh Esrei, if you feel a scorpion, which represents that there is a certain coldness you get, you better stop and take care of it. That scorpion rides on top of the frog. So the frog also represents coldness, and the frog lives in the water. The difference between the frog and the water itself is like this. We know that the world is divided into four categories: דומם, צומח, חי, מדבר. The objects that are standstill, inanimate objects, you have the plant life, you have the living, the animal life, and you have the human being. Water represents being cold in the דומם. Water has no life, and water doesn't grow. The צפרדע represents the water, too, coldness, too, but coldness in the level of חי. It's already a living thing. Now the level of חי is a much higher level, and in the level of חי, you also have the concept of being cold. And this represents the same idea as the water itself, even worse, because דומם is the lowest level, so there, if it's cold, it's not as bad as when we reach a higher level and there you're cold. So what Hashem did was He brought a makkah to show that we have to change that. So what happened? He brought the צפרדעים, the frogs, and He told the frogs to go into the ovens. ובכה ובתנוריך, it'll go into your oven. What does that mean? That the coldness, when you put something cold into the oven, it warms up. And that's what Hashem wanted to show with the second מכה, too. That this coldness that comes in connection to the Nile, which represents the avodah zarah, which is being cold to Godly matters, you have to warm it up. That's the first thing that you have to do. So the first two מכות, which we said before came to destroy the avodah zarah, had this idea behind it. And that's why the first two מכות were by the Jews also, because as I said, the Jews also had this problem of this philosophy, not to really care about Hashem, which is connected to many other things that we learn in Chassidus, that galut, exile, especially the exile of Mitzrayim, is compared to pregnancy. And the geulah, the redemption, is compared to birth. Why? Because during pregnancy, when the child is inside, the child is hidden, it's not revealed. At the time of galut, the truth is not revealed. The Yidden feel the truth not, the truth of Hashem not being revealed. The geulah means that the child is born, it comes out into the open. But anyway, I'm not getting into that, that's a separate issue altogether, but the idea I'm trying to bring out, these are the first two מכות.

Then we get, we said we're going to go through the מכות, but not all, the first and the second, and let's go to the last מכה, which is מכת בכורות. In מכת בכורות, when Hashem killed all the firstborn, we find something different than we find in the previous מכות. In the previous מכות, it doesn't say in the Torah exactly when it happened, what time of the day. By מכת בכורות, when Moshe Rabbeinu spoke to Paroh, and he told him when this is going to happen, he said, you should know, כחצות הלילה, it's going to happen at midnight. He just used the word כחצות with a כ, at midnight, not the second of midnight, because he was afraid that they will miscalculate and they will claim that Hashem didn't keep his word, didn't come to the second he said he would. So he said כחצות. But when השם came, it says ויהי בחצי הלילה, came at the split second of חצות, of midnight. That's when it happened. Now, why does the Torah tell us the exact moment when מכת בכורות happened? What difference does it make if it happened at midnight, or if it happened 3:00 in the morning or 3:00 in the afternoon? The Torah doesn't just tell us just to know the fact, because why doesn't it tell us by other מכות? And there is no reason. The Torah only tells us things which have a meaning to us. So this must have a meaning. That's number one. Number two, we find other thing by מכת בכורות that Hashem said, in order for you to be protected from מכת בכורות, you have to put up a sign on the door. You have to have דם מילה and דם פסח. You have to have the blood of the circumcision, he told them to circumcise, and the blood of the קרבן פסח, put the blood of the קרבן פסח at the doorposts, which he didn't say by the other מכות. By no other מכה did he say, in order for you to be protected, you have to do something to show that you are not part of the Egyptians. Why is this different? We find another thing here. By the מכת בכורות, Hashem said, ואתם לא תצאו איש מפתח ביתו כל הלילה, you should not leave your house all night. By the other makkos, it doesn't say Hashem said, don't leave your house. Even at מכת ערוב, when the wild animals were running around, Hashem didn't say, well, you stay in your house and you'll be protected. Well, obviously the Egyptians who tried to stay in their houses didn't help them, cuz the lions and the tigers and they all came into the house. But a Jew, maybe, if Hashem would say, he'd be protected, but he didn't say it. Obviously they were protected wherever they were. They were standing outside and these wild animals might be running around, didn't touch them. Why here Hashem said don't walk out of your house? The answer is מכת בכורות was a makkah that was not limited. Every other makkah was limited to what it was. This was lice, this was dever for the animals only, this was every makkah had a limit. The מכת בכורות was that the firstborn was limited to the being the firstborn, but Hashem did not say how they would die. Wasn't limited. That's called ניתנה רשות למשחית. Since there is no limit, so then it's possible that it should go to anybody. Why would it go to anybody? Because we said before that the Yidden at that time were in a low level. As we said, the malach over the yam had said, הללו עובדי עבודה זרה והללו עובדי עבודה זרה, these worship idols and these worship idols. So then if the Jews also were at that level, as we said before, who did not have the proper behavior, so then in a makkah like this, it could have gotten to them. So Hashem said don't walk out of your house. Because if you walk out of your house, that means that the משחית, the destroyer, who is not limited, will come to you. But before I explain all of this, let me ask a question. So why did it not come to the Jews? If it was an unlimited makkah, and the Jews were also at the time in a level that, it's hard to say this, deserved it too, then why didn't it come to them? The answer is that if you look at it from a lower level that is limited to the behavior of the human being, then you would say, yes, they also didn't behave properly. But then there is a level which is called למעלה מהשתלשלות. There is a level of Godliness, the way Hashem is beyond being נתלבש, being put into this world with the limitations of this world, being put under the limitations that he put himself of this world. Looking at it from that perspective, no matter how a Jew behaves, he is a Jew, and therefore he is protected. And that's what happened at the time of מכת בכורות. Hashem revealed to the Jews, down here, but it was a revelation to the Jews, the level of the way he is beyond השתלשלות. I'm using this term, this kabbalistic and chassidic term, השתלשלות means a chain. השתלשלות refers to all the levels that one level of Godliness goes down to a lower level, it creates this world and that world, and this sefirah and that sefirah, and it goes on. All those are levels with certain limitations. God who are you going to go to? How are the people who you're coming to, how do they behave? But from a level beyond השתלשלות, which is the way Hashem is in essence, so there, a Jew and Hashem are one. And no matter how a Jew behaves, he is still a Jew. As the Gemara says, ישראל אף על פי שחטא ישראל הוא, a Yid, even if he sins, is a Yid. And from that perspective, a Yid could not be harmed. Just like we say, a father and a child, just to use that as an example, that a child, no matter how he behaves, is still a child. And the Yidden are like that, too. The Gemara says, בין כך ובין כך בני הם, Rabbi Akiva says this, whether they're this way or that, whether they're my children. And Hashem behaves to them like a father behaves to children, that no matter what it is, he will protect his child. If that level is not revealed, like in a father, if the father doesn't get the fatherly feeling, or the mother doesn't have that motherly feeling, then we got a problem. Then sometimes, you know, unfortunate things happen that even a parent could do things to a child and hurt the child. But if there is that feeling, that fatherly or motherly feeling that's revealed, it'll never happen. And at that time, this fatherly feeling of Hashem, אבינו שבשמים, was revealed, and that's why by מכת בכורות it didn't happen, because there was the revelation of what we call Hashem's love to us למעלה מהשתלשלות, beyond any השתלשלות. This was the reason why it happened at midnight. According to Kabbalah and Chassidus, midnight, the split second of midnight, is a split second when there is the revelation of Hashem the way he is למעלה מהשתלשלות, beyond השתלשלות. It says that midnight is an et ratzon, that says in all sefarim, even in Shulchan Aruch, that midnight is an et ratzon, chatzot is an auspicious time. Midnight down here, even though by Hashem there is no such thing as time, so what's the difference between 8:00 and 10:00 and 12:00 and midnight? There is no time there. But the way Hashem manifests himself into this world through the levels of time, midnight is the time that represents that מדרגה. Why? Because what is midnight? In truth, if you start thinking about it, there is no such thing as midnight. There is no such point as midnight. There is or first half of the night, and then starts the second half. Is there such a thing as a point called midnight? It's just when the two halves meet. The Rogatchover says there's no such thing as a corner. There is this wall and that wall, and the place they meet we call it a corner, but there is no point which is a corner, which means it's not the right side, it's not this wall, it's not that wall, it's a corner. It's just the two walls meet, we call it a corner. Midnight is a point which is not this side and not that side really. So it's something that is not tangible, it's a concept which is not tangible in limitations that we could touch and feel and grasp. That second of midnight is a time when there is the revelation down here of Hashem the way he is למעלה מהשתלשלות. למעלה, up there, it's not limited to time. Actually, the Alter Rebbe in Shulchan Aruch asks a very strong question. He starts off in Shulchan Aruch to say that every person should wake up midnight. He says especially midnight, midnight is an auspicious time, and you should wake up to study Torah. And there were actually great tzadikim who used to what we call פראווען תיקון חצות, there's a special special prayers and special Tehillim to say midnight, and midnight was a time they would get up to cry for the חורבן בית המקדש, all kinds of things. Chatzot, chatzot. So the Alter Rebbe asks in Shulchan Aruch, we say that midnight is an auspicious time, isn't every second midnight someplace else in the world? So every second is an auspicious time, because every second in a different area of the world there must be midnight. So he says, true, Hashem is beyond time. What we're saying is that this level that is beyond השתלשלות, he doesn't use those terms in Shulchan Aruch, but that level comes down into this world according to the limitations of time. It's put into the time, and that comes down in the time of chatzot, in each place according to its place, time here. Someplace else it's not, when it's chatzot there, because in truth Hashem is beyond time. So it's not limited to time, but we take it, we relate to it through time. And that's why מכת בכורות was chatzot, because מכת בכורות was the time when Hashem said, \"This is going to be the end of the makot. This is going to be the breaking of Mitzrayim. This is going to be the breaking of the philosophy of Mitzrayim.\" And the problem is that as I said before, the Jews were also influenced by the philosophy of Mitzrayim. So it could have affected the Jews, also. But Hashem said, \"I'm going to reveal my love to them, that no matter who they are or what they are, they're Jews. I will protect them and save them and take them out of Mitzrayim.\" And that's why it took place at the time of chatzot. But even when there is a great revelation of this magnitude like למעלה מהשתלשלות, Hashem wants that we down here should do something to be able to receive it. And when I say, it doesn't mean that we should do something to deserve that level. Why not? Because that's a level that we could never reach. The level of למעלה מהשתלשלות, we could never reach. It's beyond our grasp. It's beyond our reach, as we find in many other cases by Shavuos and other places we find this concept in Chassidus and Kabbalah, it's a level that we with our עבודה, with our work cannot reach. There are lower levels of Godliness in עולמות, in higher worlds, that if we do things, we reach into that level and we bring it down. And then there are certain things which is beyond our reach. Hashem on his own is able to bring it down to us. This is the level of למעלה מהשתלשלות that came here. So we can't do anything to reach it, but on the other hand, we have to do something that Hashem should want to give us that level. It's similar to what the Gemara says that a present, a מתנה, who do you give a present? Somebody who deserves it? If he worked for it and he earned it, then it's not a present. It's a salary. A present means he didn't earn it to work for it that you have to pay him. You give it to him because you want to give him the present. Nevertheless, the Gemara says who does a person give a present? אי לאו דעביד ליה ניחא לנפשיה לא יהיב ליה מתנתא. If you wouldn't make him feel good, he wouldn't give you a present. So here we have a combination of both. It's something that comes from the giver, not from the receiver. He didn't do anything to deserve it, to earn it, but on the other hand, you have to do something that he should want to give you. It's not like a מציאה, that's a third level, when you go in the street and you find something. You didn't earn it, you didn't even do anything to get it. A מתנה is in between. You didn't earn it, but you have to do something that the person should want to give you. So here also Hashem gave us this level, and that's why he protected us, but he wanted us to do something, too. So therefore he gave us, and I'll finish with this, gave us the two mitzvos, the blood of the Korban Pesach and the blood of milah. These two mitzvos are mitzvos, things that we do that represent the connection to Hashem beyond השתלשלות. And what is why? Bris milah, we know, is the covenant that's sealed into the body of a Jew while the Jew is still a small baby. In other words, this represents the covenant between a Jew and Hashem that's not a result of his understanding, of his שכל. If it would be, it would be limited. Anything that comes as a result of your שכל cannot be stronger than your שכל itself if it comes from the שכל. No effect could be stronger more than the cause. If the cause is your שכל, then the שכל is limited, then that's also limited. Bris milah is a time when it's not for שכל, it's an essential connection that we connect the Jewish child to Hashem. That's why we don't do it when he's a grown up and we ask him, \"Would you like to do it?\" and he understands, \"Yes, I should do it.\" It's done as an essential connection. The Korban Pesach that they brought also represented this idea beyond logic. It came through mesirus nefesh. Hashem told them four days before to take it, and tie the sheep up next to your bed and let the Egyptians ask you what it is, and you'll tell them it's to sacrifice their God, because they worship animals, and see what they'll do. It was a great sacrifice on the Jewish part From the Jews to do this. But they didn't care. They went on mesirus nefesh beyond logic. So doing these two mitzvos was the were the two mitzvos Hashem said that if you do that, then you will be, I wouldn't say deserving, but you will have done something that will make you a vessel to be able to receive this great revelation that took place on מכת בכורות. And by מכת בכורות, at the time of midnight, which is in which is a point of למעלה מהשתלשלות, and בכלל it says in Chassidus that the first half of the night is גבורה, represents גבורה, strength, strictness. The second half of the night represents חסד. That's why the first half of the night keeps on getting darker and darker. The second half of the night keeps on getting lighter and lighter. And the point of midnight is a point where chesed and gevurah are combined. Now, chesed and gevurah are two opposites. The combination of chesed, gevurah could only come when there is a power which is beyond any of the attributes. This is למעלה מהשתלשלות. So at that point of chatzot, Hashem came down to this world, and at the same time he destroyed the firstborn, which was the שבירה, breaking of the קליפה, of the evil of Mitzrayim. And that brought the Jews out of Mitzrayim. And when the Jews went out of Mitzrayim, it doesn't mean only they physically left that land. It means that they were torn out of the way of thinking, the philosophy, the avodah zarah of Mitzrayim. And Hashem took them out, and they recognized כי אני השם, that this is Hashem, he's the one in control, and that's how he led them from there to קריעת ים סוף, which was another great, godly revelation, led them further to מתן תורה, which was a greater revelation. And every year, when the time comes around, the same thing happens over again, that means Pesach time, Shavuot time, but also when we read these parashiyot in the Torah, it happens again. So now we are actually experiencing the makkot of Mitzrayim, which is the the way Hashem teaches us that we should know to become warm to Yiddishkeit, cold to gashmiyut, and we should do everything to be vessels to receive the blessings of Hashem that he gives us as being his children. And we hope that just like there it was Yetziat Mitzrayim, the physical exodus of Egypt, this should be now that we should have the physical exodus from this גלות and go to the גאולה שלימה with משיח צדקנו. Amen. Yes. According to some, many opinions. Yes. It wasn't the Jews who assimilated. It was only, there were many of them, but this was only to those Jews who didn't want to leave. The Jews who did avodah zarah left. We find that the Jews did murder, some Jews you find in the Midrash, some Jews did גילוי עריות, adultery, they all left Mitzrayim. The Jews that didn't want to go, and that's for another reason, because they fought against this concept of Hashem revealing himself to them as a father. They didn't want it, that's why, that's an issue in itself. I think I think I once explained it in one of the classes. But not because they were bad, because other people might have been worse. It's worse to do avodah zarah than just not to want to leave Mitzrayim. But that concept of not wanting to leave Mitzrayim was the worst thing at that time, because that stood against what Hashem was telling them to