[Avodah] Wack-a-Frog

[Eliyahu Grossman]

In last week's parshah we read of the frog, in the singular, coming up and
covering the land. The first half of Rashi brings forth a Midrash that has
Rabbi Akiva saying that they wacked the frog and it multiplied, with Rabbi
Elazar ben Azariah rebutting, telling R' Akiva to go back to what he's good
at, that R' Akiva got it wrong. There was one frog, he whistled, and they
came. Period.

I have not been able to find this exact Midrash anywhere else. In Mesechet
Sanhedrin 67b, which is repeated in Midrash Rabbah Shemot 10:4. The Midrash
is there, with the exception of the frog wacking. I searched through other
earlier sources and found nothing, although Midrash Tanchuma does have the
first half, but without Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah being mentioned (he wasn't
pertinent to the discussion at hand there). So it appears that this frog
wacking is form a later source, and either Rashi was using a complete
Midrash from a later period that I have yet to find, or he combined a couple
to make this new one.

Granted, it's an interesting add-on, and one interpretation could be that
the enemies of the Jews will hasten redemption through their oppression,
while Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah says that it is only when the Mashiach comes,
when will call and it is then that we will make aliyah (come up) that there
will be redemption. That's one interpretation. Although the wacking appears
to sidetrack from Rabbi Akiva's message in such an interpretation.

But I was interested in seeing what Chazal's intent was, and so I have put
aside the frog wacking part of the Midrash for now (I am sure that Rashi had
his reasons, and that would take a while to get into), and it's placement in
Mesechet Sanhedrin is also fascinating. Unless there is another version of
the Rashi where he does not mention frog wacking, and it was an editorial
insert. That's also possible, and equally interesting.

My question, though: has anyone on this list ever come across a source for
wacking the frog exactly as Rashi brings up? Or a version of the Rashi
without the frog wacking? 

Thanks.

Eliyahu Grossman
Efrat, Israel