After the Hebrews crossed the sea, the water fell back into place, drowning the army of Mitzrayim. When the Hebrews began to cheer, God rebuked the Hebrews, telling them that they should not cheer the deaths of other humans. To remind us of their anguish, we recite the ten plagues sent to Mitzrayim and spill away a drop from our cup.

Dip a finger or a spoon into your glass for a drop for each plague, or otherwise count each of the plagues.

These are the ten plagues that God brought down on Mitzrayim.

Blood                                      Dam                                                    דָּם

Frogs                                       Tzfardeiya                                           צְפָרדֵּעַ

Fire                                          Kinim                                                  כִּנִים

Beasts                                      Arov                                                    עָרוֹב

Cattle Disease                         Dever                                                  דֶּבֶר

Boils                                        Sh’chin                                                שְׁחִין

Hail                                         Barad                                                  בָּרָד

Locusts                                    Arbeh                                                  אַרְבֶּה

Darkness                                 Choshech                                            חֹשֶׁךְ

Death of the Firstborn             Makat B’chorot                                   מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת

As we remember these plagues inflicted in our name, we must also consider the plagues being inflicted in our names today. Dip a finger or a spoon into your glass for a drop for each modern plague, or otherwise count each of the plagues.

Election Fraud
Erasure
Racial Profiling
Theft of Resources
Separation of Families
Institutionalized Oppression
Incarceration
Police Violence
War Crimes
Climate Change

Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar son of Azarya, Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Tarfon were in Bnei Brak discussing the Exodus from Mitzrayim. They discussed it all night, until their students came to them to say, “Our teachers, the time has come for saying morning prayers!”

This story of studying the story of the Exodus is a story of resistance: Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar, Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Tarfon’s discussion took place during a rebellion against Roman occupation. The rabbis’ students stood guard, ready to warn the rabbis to disband and avoid being caught.

When Rabbi Akiva was asked, “Which is better, study or action?” His response was, “Study — if it leads to action.”


haggadah Section: -- Ten Plagues
Source: HaggadahOfOurOwn.com