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Arov (Wild Animals) ‐ Gaby Bentolila (10th Grade)

From the story of Pesach, we learn that Hashem sent ten plagues as a consequence of Pharaoh’s refusal to let his
people go. When reviewing the explanation behind the 4th plague, Rashi notes that Hashem created the plagues
based on tactics of war. He explains the process and steps of war and indicates that after hails of arrows are
thrown (similar to the lice that Hashem inflicted upon the Egyptians), foreign mercenaries are sent against them.
The foreign mercenaries are comparable to the wild beasts, Arov, that Hashem brings upon them. Therefore, the
following question arises: if all the plagues can be compared to acts of war, how come Rashi only brings it up
when discussing the fourth plague? One possible answer to this question is that the plagues that came before
wild animals did not result in the death of any of the Egyptians.

From this we learn that Hashem gave Pharaoh time to change his mind and let the Jews go. Only once Hashem
realized Pharaoh wasn’t going to change his mind did He send a plague that inflicted pain, death, and distrac-
tions upon the Egyptians. Just like Hashem did with Pharaoh, in life we should always give people the chance to
do the right thing, even if you think they aren’t going to.

Does the Word Arov Refer to Bugs or Wild Beasts? – Isaac Gateno (9 grade)
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If you are like me, you might have imagined the fourth plague as a brutal horde of wild animals, such as lions
and bears. However, a closer translation of the text proves the word arov to mean, quite simply, “mixture.” Two
prominent interpretations of the phrase include those of Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Nehemiah. Rabbi Judah claims
that the plague refers to a mixture of wild animals, while Rabbi Nehemiah suggests a variety of insects. Less
predominantly, Rashbam argues that the plague refers to wolves, or other nocturnal creatures, due to the simi-
larity between the words arov (mixture), and erev (night). While this might be interesting to note, it is not an im-
portant detail when making a case on behalf of either Rabbi Judah or Rabbi Nehemiah.

While less popular in Western culture nowadays, Rabbi Nehemiah’s opinion seems to appear more favorable in
the eyes of scholars before our time. While Rabbi Nehemiah’s opinion might seem out of the ordinary, looking
at the evidence proves otherwise. The first of which is context; sifting through the details helps to shed light on
the matter at hand. As it is written: “I will send forth arov against you and your servants and your people and
your houses; the houses of the Egyptians, and the very ground that they stand on shall be filled with
arov.” (Exodus 8:17). After looking at the text, it appears far more likely that insects are the culprit at hand; for
how would the land they stood on be “filled” with wild beasts? “Second, in Isaiah 7:18, the prophet uses the He-
brew word zevuv, ‘fly,’ to refer metaphorically to Egypt.” (Rendsburg 23). This connotation is obviously not an
unusual one for its time; ancient peoples stereotypically associated these pesky insects with Egypt, due to the
abundance of the flies near the river Nile. Lastly, an association can be seen between arov and the plague of
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kinim, “lice.” As pointed out by Umberto Cassuto, a great scholar of the 20 century, every pair of plagues
seem to share a common ground. For example, our first and second plague, blood and frogs, both originate from
within the Nile. Our seventh and eighth plague, hail and locusts, both originate from the sky. As this pattern
continues, it would only bring us to the logical conclusion that our third and fourth plagues, lice and arov, must
share a common ground as well. As such, both lice and a variety of insects happen to fall neatly under the cate-
gory of “pests.”

As the evidence stacks in Rabbi Nehemiah’s favor, it appears as though Rabbi Judah has lost the debate; alt-
hough who truly knows what God had conjured to terrorize the Egyptians? The great arov mystery might forev-
er stay a mystery, and perhaps it was wolves after all.