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Dam (Blood) ‐ Eliana Roisman (9th Grade)

There were 10 plagues that Hashem caused in Egypt after Pharaoh refused to let the Jews out of slavery. The
very first one was blood ( .(םדAfter Aaron and Moshe warned Pharaoh that Egypt would be plagued, Hashem
had Aaron strike the water, leading it to turn into blood, making it undrinkable. Everybody saw how the fish
died and everybody smelled the offensive smell of the river. They tried to dig deeper and realized that not just
the Nile, but all the water in Egypt was tainted with blood. They had unquenchable thirst for a whole week, and
Pharaoh still did not let them go.

The question that I had about this was: what was the point of turning the water into blood? He could have just
dried it all up, or turned it into dirt, or something, anything, other than blood. But I would like to suggest that
the reason it was blood, is because blood is the life stream to everything. And there was so much blood spilled
over 210 years from our slaves, that Hashem decided to get back at them by using that blood (not their actual
blood, but metaphorically theirs) to make the Egyptians suffer as well.

A lesson of this plague is that everything you do has a deeper effect. Hashem didn’t just put the blood at the
surface of the water, he also went as far as to turn the underground water into blood too. Just like the Egyptians
didn’t just kill us, they killed our descendants too. Just as the water is below the ground too, the murder doesn’t
just kill one person, it kills a whole generation.

Dam (Blood) – The Plague of Blood‐Nathan Lashak (12th Grade)

Hashem said to Moshe, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over
the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be every-
where in Egypt, even in vessel of wood and stone.” (Shemot 7,19)

Why does Moshe tell Aaron to be the one that turns the river to blood? Rashi explains that since the river of-
fered protection for Moshe when he was placed in it by his mother, therefore Moshe could not be the one to
strike the river. This is not the only plague that Aaron initiated for Moshe. For the same reason as the plague of
blood, the plague of frogs, which had to do with the Nile, was initiated by Aaron. The third plague of lice was
also initiated by Aaron, because when Moshe killed the Egyptian, he buried him in the sand. Therefore, Moshe
could not strike the dust of the earth to bring lice over Egypt.

From Moshe we learn that we must appreciate what others have done for us just like Moshe appreciated what
the earth and the water of the Nile did for him.

Maayan Milo—2nd grade