Midrash teaches that, while watching the Egyptians succumb to the ten plagues, the angels broke into songs of jubilation. God rebuked them, saying "My creatures are perishing, and you sing praises?" As we recite each plague, take your strawberry and spill a drop of chocolate from your cup, a reminder that joy in liberation will always be tarnished by the pain visited upon the Egyptians. Feel the loss as if you were in Egypt as if you had watched the plagues.

אֵלּוּ עֶשֶׂר מַכּוֹת שֶׁהֵבִיא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עַל הַמִּצְרִים בְּמִצְרַים , וְאֵלוּ הֵן

Eilu eser makot sheheivi hakadosh baruch hu al hamitzrim b'mitzrayim, v'eilu hein:

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

דָּם וָאֵשׁ וְתִימְרוֹת עָשָׁן

   Dam V’eish V’tim’ro ashan  
 “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

דָבָר אַחֵר: בְּיָד חֲזָקָה - שְׁתַּיִם, וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה - שְׁתַּיִם, וּבְמֹרָא גָּדֹל - שְׁתַּיִם, וּבְאֹתוֹת - שְׁתַּיִם, וּבְמֹפְתִים - שְׁתַּיִם

Davar acheir. B'yad chazakah sh'tayim. Uvizroa n'tuyah sh'tayim. Uv'mora gadol sh'tayim. Uv'otot sh'tayim. Uv'mof'tim sh'tayim.

(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.)

:אֵלּוּ עֶשֶׂר מַכּוֹת שֶׁהֵבִיא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עַל הַמִּצְרִים בְּמִצְרַים , וְאֵלוּ הֵן

Eilu eser makot sheheivi hakadosh baruch hu al hamitzrim b'mitzrayim, v'eilu hein:

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

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

Shekhinah, soften our heart and the heart of our enemies. Help us to dream new paths to freedom, so that the next sea-opening is not also a drowning; so that our singing is never again their wailing. So that our freedom leaves no one orphaned, childless, gasping for air. 


haggadah Section: -- Ten Plagues