The Ten Plagues

The ten plagues can be interpreted

according 

to the classical Ten Sefirot model

in reverse.

Seven in Parshat Va'eira -  וארא

from Malchut to Chesed

(the modalities of the emotions)

Three in the following Parshat Bo

from Bina to Keter.

(the modalities of

the intellect and beyond)

The Plagues come to attack and rectify

the bad and evil energies trapped

in the Ten Sefirot of Impurity

by Pharaoh in Hebrew פרעה

whose letters can spell הערף

"the back of the neck"

and certainly apply to our own

יצר הרע or evil inclinations,

which is why we are called

"a stiff-necked people"

כִּי עַם קְשֵׁה עֹרֶף אַתָּה

still dominated by the

mind sets and mental slavery

of Mitzrayim and the Galut.

The First Plague - Blood  -

דָם - Malchut

The belief that Nature
(especially the Nile River)
can be controlled and "engineered"
 embodied the source of the Egyptian
arrogant confidence and security
and was therefore deified
as a power in and of itself
and revered as
the very source of life.
The bloody "slaughter"
of this concept
opened up the pagan mind
to the presence
of a Higher Master.


This arrogance
can also apply to those
fine liberal people יפי נפש
who love to imagine
they are drinking
from the cool clear
intellectual waters
of a creed of humanism
without God.
The plague reveals the "bluff"
of what is really behind all this -
their hot blood of anger,
particularly with whoever
disagrees with them.

The Second Plague - Frogs -

צְפַרְדֵעַ -  Yesod

The plague of the Frogs
attempted to rectify
the fallen sephira of Yesod
caused by the
the debauched habits
of the Egyptians.
The frogs' cold slimy bodies
covered every inch of the land
and entered their houses
and even the bedrooms,
"cooling off" their lust
and sexual ardour
which was their raison d'etre.

The Third Plague - Lice - כִּנִים
   Hod (Acknowledge)

 

The Sixth Plague - Boils -

שְּׁחִין - Gevurah

The plague of boils,
unlike the others,
came without a mitigating warning
and applied to all of the Egyptians
wherever they were and
who were made numb from the pain.
indicating a
terrible gevurah or severity
from which very few recovered.
That is why we must pray
daily to be protected
from debilitating illnesses
which put us into a condition
where we are unable to beg
for salvation.

The Seventh Plague - Hail - 

בָּרָד - Chesed

polymer emulsions on canvas
  27 1/2" x 19 1/2" (70 x 50 cm)

The Ninth Plague - Darkness -

חֹשֶׁךְ - Chachma

acrylics on canvas
37" x 37"  (94 x 94 cm)

There was a thick darkness
in all the land of Egypt
three days;
they saw not one another,
neither rose any from his place;
but all the children of Israel
had Light in their dwellings.
(Exodus 10: 21-24)
The Light in the Darkness
(of the Mind)
is the kabbalah analogy
to the sephira of
Chachma- חכמה

The Tenth Plague - The First Born -

בכורות - Keter

This terrible plague
can be understood
within the basic Biblical context of
"measure for measure"
מידה כנגד מידה
(How you mistreat others,
so will be the retribution.)
God declared that
"Israel is My first-born"
(Exodus 4:22) בְּנִי בְכֹרִי יִשְׂרָאֵל

Yet Pharaoh wished
to enslave them
 for all eternity, thus it is fitting
that God would punish him
by killing
all of Egypt's first-born sons.



See also Sefer Yetzira
SeferYetzira.html

Jewish Holidays
Holidays.html

Living with the Parsha
Parsha.html


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