[Avodah] Wack-a-Frog

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 07:41:49AM +0200, Eliyahu Grossman wrote:
: 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...

In fact, the peshat in R' Aqiva appears to be that the frog multiplied
through reproduction.

Sanhedrin: tzefardeia achas haysah, umal'ah kol Eretz Mitzrayim.

Shemos Rabba: ... vehi hishritzah umal'ah...

Similarly, Yalquv Shim'oni.

Ramban (citing Shemos Rabba): ... hishitza umal'ah ...

Seikhel Tov (Buber): ... vehishritzah umal'eis kol Eretz Mitzrayim.

(With thanks to Bar Ilan CD.)

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The mind is a wonderful organ
micha at aishdas.org        for justifying decisions
http://www.aishdas.org   the heart already reached.
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