These are the Plagues that the holy one, blessed be he, brought upon Egypt.

 “Blood, and fire and pillars of smoke…”

“Before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, I will set wonders in the sky and on the earth… blood, fire and pillars of smoke: The sun shall turn to darkness and the moon into blood.” Joel 3:3

Another interpretation of Deuteronomy 26:8 is: “strong hand” indicates two plagues; “out-stretched arm” indicates two more plagues; “great awe” indicates two plagues; “signs” indicates two more plagues because it is plural; and “wonders” two more plagues because it is in the plural. This then is a total of Ten Plagues.

These are the Plagues that the holy one, blessed be he, brought upon Egypt.  We drop a “finger” of wine onto our plate as we reduce our joy that others suffered in the wake of our salvation.

Blood | Dom | דָּם    

Frogs | Tzfardeyah | צְפֵרְדֵּע        

Lice | Kinim | כִּנִים   

Beasts | Arov | עָרוֹב

Cattle Plague | Dever | דֶּבֶר   

Boils | Sh’chin | שְׁחִין 

Hail | Barad | בָּרד

Locusts | Arbeh | אַרְבֶּה

Darkness | Choshech | חשֶׁךְ  

Slaying of First Born |Makat Bechorot | מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת

Rabbi Yose the Galilean says: How does one derive that, after the ten plagues in Egypt, the Egyptians suffered fifty plagues at the Sea? Concerning the plagues in Egypt the Torah states that “the magicians said to Pharaoh, it is the finger of God.” However, at the Sea, the Torah relates that “Israel saw the great hand which the Lord laid upon the Egyptians, and the people revered the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.” It reasons that if they suffered ten plagues in Egypt, they must have been made to suffer fifty plagues at the Sea.

Rabbi Eliezer says: How does one derive that every plague that God inflicted upon the Egyptians in Egypt was equal in intensity to four plagues? It is written: “He sent upon them his fierce anger, wrath, fury and trouble, a band of evil messengers.” Since each plague was comprised of 1) wrath, 2) fury, 3) trouble and 4) a band of evil messengers, they must have suffered forty plagues in Egypt and two hundred at the Sea.

Rabbi Akiva says: How does one derive that every plague that God inflicted upon the Egyptians in Egypt was equal in intensity to five plagues? It is written: “He sent upon them his fierce anger, wrath, fury and trouble, a band of evil messengers.” Since each plague was comprised of 1) fierce anger 2) wrath 3) fury 4) trouble and 5) a band of evil messengers, they must have suffered fifty plagues in Egypt and two hundred and fifty at the Sea.


haggadah Section: -- Ten Plagues