HUMILITY WELCOMES HUMILITY
Before bringing the seventh plague of Borod, hailstones, on the Egyptians, in which HaShem sent down from heaven fire within hailstones, Moshe warned Pharaoh, “This time I will send all My plagues upon your heart and on your servants and on your people so that you will know that there is none like Me on the entire earth.” Why does Moshe refer to this single plague as “all My plagues” it was only one of ten?
Borod was a unique plague in that it came with instructions how to minimize one’s losses. Moshe informed Pharaoh that if anyone wishes to avoid the onslaught of the hail they should stay indoors and keep their animals and slaves indoors. If the purpose of Borod was to mete out punishment to the Egyptians why would HaShem offer them a way to save themselves? Evidently, the purpose of Borod was to teach humility and submission to the Egyptians. The suffering from this plague was limited to those who stood tall in face of HaShem’s Power. All that one needed to do was to pay attention to HaShem’s instructions.
Even the vegetation that was struck was limited to those plants that stood tall and strong. The plants that were soft and supple survived the plague. “The flax and the barley were struck because the barley was already standing up and the flax was on its stalk, but the wheat and the spelt were not struck for they ripen later.” The implication is that since they were not yet ripe they were still supple and were able to bend before the hail.
Behold! The punishment of Borod was limited to those who stood tall and strong in the face of HaShem. All others were spared.
HaShem has no interest in punishing His creatures. He does only good for them. The hardship that is brought by HaShem is only to bring His creatures closer to Him. The only path for a creature to come close to his Creator is through humility. So long as the creature considers himself an equal to his Creator there is no path to approach. The reason HaShem expects obedience from us is not because He wants to be bigger but because He wants us to have a path by which we will be able to approach Him. It is HaShem’s humility to be close to us which demands humility from us.
Perhaps Borod is called ‘all my plagues’ to teach us that all of HaShem’s plagues, from those that He delivered in Egypt to those that we suffer from today, are only to instruct us to submit to His Will.
Have a very safe and very wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind