Among the more puzzling segments of the Haggadah is the section dedicated to contrasting the number of plagues (although here “beatings” or “pummelings” might be a better fit than “plagues”) that God brought upon the Egyptian nation and on its army on land and at sea. Surely those who added this tannaitic discussion to the Seder text had more in mind than a quick multiplication quiz.¹ Not all haggadot had this segment. The Rambam’s haggadah goes straight from Detza’ch Ada’sh Beacha’v to “Pesah, Matza U’maror,” as does Rav Natronai’s haggadah and other versions. The counting of the makkot on the sea is found in the haggadot of Rav Saadya and Rav Amram. The recounting by the three tannaim was apparently added to the Seder, presumably at one of the Babylonian yeshivot, along with the ever popular “Dayyenu” during the Geonic period.² 

If the makkot at the Yam Suf (Sea of Reeds) was going to be included — and certainly if they were to be contrasted with those makkot in Egypt itself — then the discussion clearly needed to be placed precisely where we find it, following the enumeration of the ten plagues. The debate between Rabbi Yossi, Rabbi Eliezar and Rabbi Akiva assumes that there were makkot at Yam Suf, a fact they derive homiletically from Exodus 14:31

וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה אשר עשה ה' במצרים. 

And Bnai Yisrael saw the great hand that Hashem had performed against Egypt. (Robert Alter translation). 

We will discuss this argument later on. 

As we attempt to understand what relationship existed between the plagues God inflicted on Egypt and the destruction of its army at sea, we are interested in understanding how the tannaim read the Biblical chapters, what lessons they drew and why the passages in Mekhilta were incorporated into the Haggadah. 

The makkot were inflicted by God to punish the Egyptians for how they treated their Jewish guests — for the slavery (avdut) and the affliction (inui)³ — and to force Pharaoh’s hand to free them. Beyond that, though, the Torah makes clear that there was also an educational component for Jews and Egyptians to learn about Hashem. Both needed to learn who God was and about the extent of His power and His requirements for humankind. Bnai Yisrael had to further recognize the special providence He was providing them in preparation for developing the covenantal relationship promised to Abraham.

What did each population know, or not know, about Hashem prior to the makkot? Let’s look at what both know prior to the makkot.

When God first tells Moshe to return to Egypt and free the children of Israel, Moshe’s response is that they (Bnai Yisrael) don’t even know Your name (Ex. 3:13) and they won’t believe that You sent me to rescue them (Ex. 4:1). 

When Moshe and Aharon first appear in front of Pharaoh and demand the freedom of the people in the name of God, the monarch asks (Ex. 5:2): 

מי ה' אשר אשמע בקולו.

Who is God that I should listen to His voice?

The people of Egypt will, over time, learn about the God of Israel; the enslaved Jews will also learn bit by bit about the power of God. The first few makkot reveal God as the Creator of the World (the plagues of Blood, Frogs and Lice); those that follow show that God is involved in what happens in this world (the plagues of Wild Animals,⁴ Pestilence, and Boils); the next three show Him as having the ultimate power (the plagues of Hail, Locust and Darkness).

The educational journey of Pharaoh involves him repeatedly taking one step forward and a step or two backwards. We see him bend a bit but keep returning to his starting point that the people of Israel must remain his slaves. It is only after the tenth plague in which his citizens are being struck down that Pharaoh orders that Bnai Yisrael leave immediately (Ex. 13: 31), possibly rushed into the decision by his understandably panicked advisors. He allows them to worship their God as they requested and asks to be blessed as well. But even at this point, we do not see clear proof that Pharaoh (or the Egyptians) have fully learned who God is. Just a few days later, when he thinks that the Israelites are lost in the desert, (a sure sign in his mind that their God is fallible), Pharaoh wastes no time in chasing after them to bring them back to servitude. The ultimate lesson is yet to be learned by Pharaoh and his army.

The educational journey of Bnai Yisrael is not so clearly outlined.

Bnai Yisrael were certainly aware that as the makkot progressed, the Egyptians were being targeted while they were being spared. That could well have been a powerful lesson of God’s justice and mercy. As the makkot reached their apex, Bnai Yisrael show a willingness to bravely tie a lamb to their doorposts, slaughter the animal, and paint the lintels of their house with blood as the cries of their Egyptian neighbors are heard. They pack their bags and, in the light of day, march across the land and out of the country as Pharaoh’s soldiers stand down.

Their commitment — or at least their confidence — does not last long. With their backs to the sea, Bnai Yisrael are terrified as the chariots of Pharaoh roar toward them. Not for the last time, they insist to Moshe that this has all been a serious mistake and demand to be taken back into enslavement. 

This is apparently the point that the tannaim in the Mekhilta were focused on, and the reason that their teaching was incorporated into the Haggadah. Clearly, the education of both the Egyptians and the Israelites was not complete and needed a final demonstration to seal the lesson. That is why the miracles — and the makkot — of kriyat Yam Suf (the splitting of the sea) were needed and why the rabbis stressed the ongoing connection between the plagues in Egypt and the battle at sea . But just what did the two peoples learn?

Pharaoh sees how God saved his former slaves, and, at this juncture, finally acknowledges mi khamokha ba-eilim Hashem, who is like You, Hashem (Exodus 15:11)? The Israelites perceive the yad ha-gedolah, the mighty hand of God, and finally reach the point where it can be said that they believe in Hashem, va-ya-aminu ba-Shem, and also in Moshe, His servant (Exodus 14:31).

That phrase becomes the textual justification for the tannaim who compare the events on the sea to the plagues.

וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה. 

And Bnai Yisrael saw the great hand. 

During the makkot, Hashem used his “finger” as the Egyptian magicians comment (Ex. 8:15). The “hand” of God, understand the tannaim in the Mekhilta passage, is five times as potent. And even though the word yad appears yad Hashem hoya be-miknecha, Hashem’s hand is on your cattle (Ex. 9:3) it is not yado ha-gedolah, His great hand, and doesn’t achieve the same results.

From an educational perspective, kriyat Yam Suf also provides the next step for Bnai Yisrael’s educational journey, what in education is called the “Gradual Release of Responsibility.”⁵ The goal is for students to move from observing the direct instruction of the teacher, to guided practice with the teacher, to independent work and application. In a classroom setting, a teacher will demonstrate a new skill or technique, model and outline the various steps, and then give students opportunities to practice, first with the teacher’s help and then on their own. They have seen, they have listened, and then they have practiced. The students become active participants in the learning process rather than passive observers.

In Egypt, God did everything for Bnai Yisrael and they watched and learned about His Power and how He cared for them. Bnai Yisrael were, in fact, passive observers. At the Yam Suf, God is still doing most of the work, but Bnai Yisrael now must do something — they have to enter into the water. This was not an easy feat since they had no knowledge of when the water would return to its former strength and possibly drown them. According to the midrash, some of them had to enter the water before the water began to split.⁶ The process underway proceeds slowly but inexorably. As they continue in the journey in the desert, they will gain more independence. When Amalek comes to attack, the Israelites fight a battle and win, assisted by the uplifted hands of Moshe in prayer. When they fight against Og and Sichon at the end of the 40 years, more of the responsibility has been shifted over to the people. 

The redemption of the Bnai Yisrael from slavery was intended to have a broader significance — not merely freedom “from” (from the inhuman conditions imposed upon them by their slave-masters) but freedom “to” (to become the people of God with a mission to become a holy nation, a nation of priests). Leaving the land of Egypt was the fulfillment of “freedom from.” Crossing the Yam Suf a week later with the Egyptian army drowned before their eyes opened the possibility of a new reality for the people, a freedom to do what they want, to believe in what they want to believe. 

At the Yam Suf, Bnai Yisrael learned many things. They learned God was there for the long haul and would continue to support them even as they learned to be more independent. They were to use this new independence and maturity to deepen their connection to God. 

They learned to acknowledge what had been done for them and began to sing the praises of Hashem (Az Yashir, Ex. 15:1-22). And even as they sang, they learned about nuance. They recognized the miracle and appreciated that it came with a cost, the loss of life. And to this day, the death of the Egyptians at the sea is marked in our prayers; full celebration of our freedom is not possible in light of the massive destruction inflicted on the Egyptian, and so only “half” Hallel is recited on the Seventh day of Pesah (and on the days of Hol Hamoed as well). 

The tannaim in the Mekhilta therefore felt it important to see the events at sea as a series of makkot — unique and terrible — overwhelmingly more deadly than the plagues in Egypt itself. And, significantly, they saw a direct connection between the events in Egypt culminating in Makkat Bekhorot (the killing of the first born) and the makkot at sea.

The latter makkot in Egypt were quite severe and unusual. But even they paled when compared to the enormity of what took place at the makkot at the sea. While all the plagues propelled the Jews to a new level, a level of trust and faith, the makkot at the sea constituted a culmination of all of the events that took place in Egypt. The exponential intensification of the battle at sea which involved the beginning of initiative by the Jews themselves reflected a new beginning. A nation was created, forged out of the crucible of slavery. The process is not uncomplicated and there were defeats and setbacks along the way. But by stepping into the sea, the Jews displayed the fortitude needed to justify God’s faith in them. Just a few short weeks later, God will concretize His promises to the Avot by giving them the Aseret HaDibrot and making them His nation.

Thus, the enigmatic tannaitic discussion of makkot at the sea show us how much our forefathers learned from the experience at the Yam Suf, lessons of gratitude and nuance, lessons of fortitude and independence, and lessons of bravery and belief — lessons that we still learn from today.

Endnotes

1. The competing views of Rabbi Yossi, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva are set out in the midrashim: Mekhilta (Horovitz-Rabin) Va-Yehi parasha 6, p. 114, and Mekhilta de-Rashbi (Epstein-Melamed) Beshalah 14:31, p. 69. The Haggadah skips the citation from Ex. 14:31 and the opening comment: “And Israel saw the great hand”: severe beatings and beatings one more unsusual than the next, and unusual deaths and deaths one more severe than the next.” Interestingly, a parallel source in Shemot Rabbah substitutes Rabbi Yehoshua, a contemporary of Rabbi Eliezer’s, for Rabbi Yossi, who was a student of Rabbi Akiva. 

2. S. and Z. Safrai, Haggadat Haza”l (Jerusalem: 1998), p. 148. 

3. See Tanchuma Va’erah 14; Shemot Rabbah 9, 10; and Eliyahu Rabbah 8.

4. Makkat Arov can be translated as a plague of wild animals (the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda in the Tanchuma) or a swarm of insects (Rabbi Nechemiah in the Tanchuma) or swarms of birds (Resh Lakish in Bereishit Rabbah).

5. A phrase coined by Pearson & Gallagher (October 1983), “The Instruction of Reading Comprehension” in Contemporary Educational Psychology. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Center for the Study of Reading.

6. Sotah 37a. Rabbi Yehuda discusses how while the different tribes were refusing to enter the water, insisting that one of the other tribes go first, Nachshon ben Aminadav, the prince of Shevet Yehuda jumped into the waters and the water split.