Hey, wait a minute! It’s Moshe’s
commandment to go before Pharoh, it’s Moshe’s staff, and it’s
Moshe’s neck on the line if these plagues don’t work. So why is
Aharon, Moshe’s brother, pressing the plague button on the rod?
It’s a lesson in Hakorat Hatov - showing appreciation.
The first plague, the plague of DAM, turned the water
to blood. The plague of TZFARDAYA, caused frogs to
emerge from the Nile river. But to get these first two plagues
going, Moshe would have to hit the water with his staff - the
same water upon which he floated to Pharoh’s palace in a basket
some 80 years before.
The plague of KINIM, turned the sand of Mitzrayim
to yucky lice! That same sand had once covered up the body of
a Mitzri (Egyptian) task-master slain by Moshe.
Now, everybody knows that water and sand have no feelings!
Even so, this story teaches us how much more we must show Hakorat
Hatov to our friends, parents, rabbayim, teachers,
and most of all, Hashem.
