Ten Plagues | Passover haggadah by Jill Shuman

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In the Book of Exodus the Plagues of Egypt are ten calamities inflicted on Egypt by the God of Israel, in order to force Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to depart from slavery. The Egyptians were smitten with ten plagues because after each one they were able to come up with excuses and explanations rather than change their behavior.

As we rejoice at our deliverance from slavery, we acknowledge that our freedom was hard-earned. We regret that our freedom came at the cost of the Egyptians’ suffering, for we are all human beings made in the image of God. Therefore, we pour out a drop of wine--a symbol of joy--for each of the plagues as we recite them. Dip a finger or a spoon into your wine glass for a drop for each plague.

These are the ten plagues which God brought down on the Egyptians:

BLOOD | dam | דָּם

BIBLE SAYS: To unleash the first plague upon the Egyptians, Moses struck the river Nile with his staff, turning its waters to blood. At the same time, his brother Aaron performed an identical transformation in the canals, tributaries, ponds and pools throughout Egypt. After the water turned to blood, "the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water," according to the Bible, Exodus chapter 7, verse 21

SCIENCE SAYS: The sudden appearance of red-hued waters in the Nile could have been caused by a red algae bloom, which appears when certain conditions enable a type of microscopic algae to reproduce in such great numbers that the waters they live in appear to be stained a bloody red.

FROGS | tzfardeiya | צְפַרְדֵּֽעַ

BIBLE SAYS:

For the second plague, Moses allegedly conjured vast quantities of frogs that swarmed into people's homes — even finding their way into the Egyptians' beds, ovens and cookware.

SCIENCE SAYS: As it happens, the phenomenon of "raining frogs" has been reported multiple times throughout history and in a range of locations around the world. A report published July 12, 1873 in Scientific American described "a shower of frogs which darkened the air and covered the ground for a long distance," following a recent rainstorm. The account was one of dozens of similar anecdotes collected in "The Book of the Damned" (1919), though its somewhat skeptical author suggested that the frogs may have simply dropped from trees.

And in May 2010 in Greece, thousands of frogs emerged from a lake in the northern part of the country, likely in search of food, and disrupted traffic for days, CBS News reported.

LICE | kinim | כִּנִּים

BIBLE SAYS: The third plague, lice, could mean either lice, fleas or gnats based on the Hebrew word (Keenim).

SCIENCE SAYS: If a toxic algal bloom led to the first plague, and a pile of dead frogs followed, it's not surprising that a swarm of insects of some sort would have followed. nterestingly, both body lice and fleas can theoretically transmit the bacteria that causes bubonic plague, If so, then an infestation with lice could have set the stage for the later plagues, such as boils.

BEASTS | arov | עָרוֹב

BIBLE SAYS: The Hebrew word for the fourth plague, arov, is ambiguous. It roughly translates to a "mixture," and over the years, rabbis had interpreted that word to mean either wild animals, hornets or mosquitoes, or even wolf-like beasts that prowl in the night. Most commonly, people interpret the text to mean wild animals such as venomous snakes or scorpions, or even lions or bears.

SCIENCE SAYS: The fourth plague probable represented a swarm of flies. Bites from these flies could have resulted in the boils that occur later in the plagues.

CATTLE DISEASE | dever | דֶּֽבֶר

BIBLE SAYS: The fifth plague called down on Egypt was a mysterious and highly contagious disease that swiftly killed off the Egyptians' livestock.

SCIENCE SAYS: This biblical scourge is reminiscent of a real plague known as rinderpest, an infectious and lethal viral disease that decimated populations of cattle and other ruminants across Africa and Europe from the 18th through the late 19th centuries. Rinderpest was last diagnosed in Kenya in 2001 and declared completely eradicated in 2010.

BOILS | sh’chin | שְׁחִין

BIBLE SAYS: Shortly after the Egyptians' livestock died off, they were distracted by the sixth plague — an extremely uncomfortable plague of boils that covered their bodies.

SCIENCE SAYS: An outbreak of the highly infectious disease smallpox, which caused distinctive raised blisters, could result in a large number of people simultaneously coming down with rashes and welts. Smallpox is thought to have affected communities in Egypt at least 3,000 years ago, based on evidence of smallpox scars found on several mummies dating back to that period

HAIL | barad | בָּרָד

BIBLE SAYS: The seventh plague brought a heavy hail accompanied by thunder and streaming fire. The chaotic weather struck down people, livestock and trees, although the area of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was spared,

SCIENCE SAYS: A nearby volcanic eruption about 3,500 years ago on Santorini, an island north of Crete in the Aegean Sea, may explain this plague, as well as others. It's possible that the volcanic ash mixed with thunderstorms above Egypt, leading to a dramatic hailstorm,

LOCUSTS | arbeh | אַרְבֶּה

BIBLE SAYS: When the Pharaoh once again refuses to let the Jewish people go, hungry locusts descend as the eighth plague. Moses warns the Pharaoh: "They shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land."

SCIENCE SAYS: The volcanic eruption on Santorini may have created favorable conditions for the locusts. According to one scientist, "The ash fallout caused weather anomalies, which translates into higher precipitations, higher humidity, and that's exactly what fosters the presence of the locusts."

DARKNESS | choshech | חֹֽשֶׁךְ

BIBLE SAYS: According to the Old Testament, a darkness so thick that "people could not see one another" descended on Egypt for three days.

SCIENCE SAYS: The plague of darkness may have been a solar eclipse or a cloud of volcanic ash, both events that have been documented in that approximate geography during that approximate time

DEATH OF THE FIRST BORN | makat b’chorot | מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת

BIBLE SAYS: In the 10th, and last plague, Moses tells the Pharaoh that all the firstborns in the land of Egypt would perish.

SCIENCE SAYS: Perhaps, the algal bloom that turned the rivers blood red released mycotoxins, poisonous substances that can cause disease and death in humans, according to a 2003 review in the journal Clinical Microbiology Reviews. Grain contaminated with these mycotoxins could have been deadly, and could explain the death of the firstborn children, as the young Egyptian men were often those who picked the grain.

haggadah Section: -- Ten Plagues