<div class="gmail_quote">Hi all,<br>Has anyone seen an interesting commentary on the following?<br>
<ul><li>Dam</li><ul><li><span></span>The Lord said to Moses,
"Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and <b><u>stretch forth your hand </u></b>over the
waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, over their
ponds, and over all their bodies of water, and they will become blood,
and there will be blood throughout the entire land of Egypt, even in
wood and in stone.' "</li><li><span></span>Moses and Aaron did so,
as the Lord had commanded, and he raised the staff and <u><b>struck the water
</b></u>that was in the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of
his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood.</li><ul><li>There was no command to "smite"</li></ul></ul><li>Tzefardea</li><ul><li><div>
<div><span> </span>The Lord said to <span>Moses</span>, "Say to <span>Aaron</span>,
<b><u>stretch forth your hand </u></b>with your staff over the rivers, over the
canals, and over the ponds, and bring up the frogs on the land of
Egypt."</div></div></li><li><a name="11f438143ed5d7d8_11400"></a><div>
<div><span> </span>And Aaron <b><u>stretched forth his hand </u></b>over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.</div></div></li><ul><li>Directions followed exactly. Stretching only.<br>
</li></ul></ul><li>Kinim</li><ul><li><div>
<div><span> </span>The
Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, '<b><u>Stretch forth your staff and strike
</u></b>the dust of the earth, and it shall become lice throughout the entire
land of Egypt.' "</div></div></li><li><a name="11f438143ed5d7d8_11411"></a><div>
<div><span> </span>They
did so, and Aaron <u><b>stretched forth his hand with his staff and struck
</b></u>the dust of the earth, and the lice were upon man and beast; all the
dust of the earth became lice throughout the entire land of Egypt.</div></div></li><ul><li>Directions followed exactly. Stretching and striking.</li></ul></ul><li>Arov</li><ul><li>No action by Moshe and Ahron</li></ul><li>
Dever</li><ul><li>No action by Moshe and Ahron</li></ul><li>Shchin</li><ul><li><div>
<div><span> </span>The Lord said to Moses and to <span>Aaron</span>, "Take yourselves handfuls of furnace soot, and Moses shall cast it heavenward before Pharaoh's eyes.</div>
</div></li><li><a name="11f438143ed5d7d8_11435"></a><div>
<div><span> </span>And
it will become dust upon the entire land of Egypt, and it will become
boils, breaking out into blisters upon man and upon beast throughout
the entire land of Egypt."</div></div></li><li><a name="11f438143ed5d7d8_11436"></a><div>
<div><span> </span>So
they took furnace soot, and they stood before Pharaoh, and Moses cast
it heavenward, and it became boils breaking out into blisters upon man
and upon beast.</div></div></li><ul><li>Directions followed exactly. Just hand.</li></ul></ul><li>Barad</li><ul><li><div>
<div><span> </span>The
Lord said to Moses, "Stretch forth your hand heavenward, and hail will
be upon the entire land of Egypt, upon man and upon beast and upon all
the vegetation of the field in the land of Egypt."</div></div></li><li><a name="11f438143ed5d7d8_11449"></a><div>
<div><span> </span>So
Moses stretched forth his staff heavenward, and the Lord gave forth
thunder and hail, and fire came down to the earth, and the Lord rained
down hail upon the land of Egypt.</div></div></li><ul><li>Directions followed exactly. Just hand.</li></ul></ul><li>Arbe</li><ul><li><div>
<div><span> </span>The
Lord said to Moses, "<u><b>Stretch forth your hand </b></u>over the land of Egypt for
the locusts, and they will ascend over the land of Egypt, and they will
eat all the vegetation of the earth, all that the hail has left over."</div></div></li><li><a name="11f438143ed5d7d8_11474"></a><div>
<div><span> </span>So
Moses <u><b>stretched forth his staff </b></u>over the land of Egypt, and the Lord
led an east wind in the land all that day and all the night. [By the
time] it was morning, the east wind had borne the locusts.</div></div></li><ul><li>Used staff when he was told to only use hand.<br></li></ul></ul><li>Choshesh</li><ul><li><div>
<div><span> </span>The
Lord said to Moses, "Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, and
there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, and the darkness will
become darker."</div></div></li><li><div><div><a name="11f438143ed5d7d8_11483"></a></div>
</div><div>
<div><span> </span>So Moses stretched forth his hand toward the heavens, and there was thick darkness over the entire land of Egypt for three days.</div></div></li><ul><li>Directions followed exactly. Just hand.<br>
</li></ul></ul><li>Makat B'chorot</li><ul><li>No action by Moshe and Ahron</li></ul></ul>This week's Parsha:<br><ul><li><span>17:5
</span>And the Lord said to
Moses, Pass before the people and take with you [some] of the elders of
Israel, and <u><b>take into your hand your staff, with which you struck the
Nile</b></u>, and go.</li><li><span>17:6 </span>Behold, I shall stand
there before you on the rock in Horeb, <b><u>and you shall strike the rock,
</u></b>and water will come out of it, and the people will drink <u><b>Moses did so
</b></u>before the eyes of the elders of Israel.</li><ul><li>All the Meforshim I saw comment about how the reason this command to take the staff is given is to show that the same staff that was used for puraniyot can also be used for good.</li>
</ul></ul>My Questions:<br><ol><li>Why didn't Moshe listen exactly during Dam and Arbe?</li><li>Is it possible that the message Hashem is giving Moshe when telling him to take the staff in this week's parsha is: "Follow my directions exactly. This time I want you to strike the rock, but in the future I will want you to do something different. You already "messed up" with the Nile, so don't do so again"?</li>
<li>Why did hashem ask for striking of the dirt during Kinim when it wasn't in front of Pharoh?</li><ol><li>Why does he specify striking for kinim when he only mentions stretching forth for Dam and Tzefardea?<br></li>
</ol><li>Why wasn't the staff used for Schin and Barad?</li><li>Why was there no action for Arov and Dever?<br></li><ol><li>This question doesn't need to be asked for Makat B'chorot</li></ol></ol><br><br><br>
All text from JudaicaPress. <a href="http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/63255/jewish/The-Bible-with-Rashi.htm" target="_blank">http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/63255/jewish/The-Bible-with-Rashi.htm</a><br>
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