The plagues God visited on the Egyptians in Egypt seem to be a parade of people’s greatest fears, a mythological show of the power of the living versus primal fear.

Starting from the blood of birth and of death, through primal human fears of small creatures (lice) and large ones (wild beasts), fear of financial ruin (locusts), fear of the dark (losing direction and meaning), we face the greatest fear: the fear of our children’s lives – loss of the future. Tonight, a night to commemorate the past, we seek the mercy of God’s protection, look out from our places at a world full of fears and dangers – and pray for another quiet year.

Shai Zarchi, Israeli educator at "HaMidrasha" and a reciepient of the Liebhaber prize for the Promotion of Religius Tolerance.

*HaMidrasha promotes Jewish renewal in Israel by using the Israeli-Zionist experience as a platform for reconnecting to Jewish heritage.


haggadah Section: -- Ten Plagues
Source: Shai Zarchi.