בִּיַר
אַחַ " ב . ְבּ דַַע צְַדּ
הֶ ם סִ מָּ נָבּ
your hand , and the horrific deaths of first-born Egyptian children . Or , were they so astounded by God ’ s wrath and power , a power with which they weren ’ t that familiar during 400 years of slavery , that they were cowed and fearful , or vengeful and even angry over the calamitous events ?
The ten plagues , and the long-term effects which they must have had , including crop and cattle collapse which surely must have led to financial instability for rank-and-file Egyptians , then followed by ill health from boils , vermin , and the death of the first-born children , always seemed like more than enough punishment for the Egyptian people .
During the reading of the Haggadah , the recitation of the plagues are accompanied by dipping one ’ s finger into wine , one dip for each plague , a sort of ritual bloodletting to accompany the violence that the plagues begot . That retelling is followed by Rabbi Yehuda ’ s acrostic , a seemingly playful but nonsensical way of remembering the plagues .
ִים : |
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י ְהוּדָ ה הָ יָה " 9 " שׁ
נוֹתֵ ן
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“ Rabbi Yehuda was accustomed to giving [ the plagues ] mnemonics : Detzach [ the Hebrew initials of the first three plagues ], Adash [ the Hebrew initials of the second three plagues ], Be ’ achav [ the Hebrew initials of the last four plagues ].” 13
13
Haggadah , Sefaria Edimon used throughout this armcle
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