Middos of Hakaros Hatov and Controlling our Anger in Parshas Vaera

Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they made their demand on Pharaoh.

Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water (Exod. 7:14). Thus the Lord said: Through this (water) you shall cause him to know that I am the Lord. I will smite the water of the Nile with the staff that is in your hand, and it shall turn to blood. Why were the waters turned to blood first? Because Pharaoh and the Egyptians worshipped the Nile, and the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Smite his god first and then him, as in the popular aphorism, “Strike the gods and the priests will be frightened.” And the Lord said unto Moses: “Say unto Aaron: Stretch out thy hand, and smite” (Exod. 7:19). Smite the water of the Nile, the roots of the plants in the rivers, and indeed, every source of their water, even that which is in their ladles. And blood appeared in the wood and stone, and even the spittle of the Egyptians turned to blood.

And ה׳ said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Take your rod and hold out your arm over the waters of Egypt—its rivers, its canals, its ponds, all its bodies of water—that they may turn to blood; there shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.”

אמר אל אהרן SAY UNTO AARON — Because the river had protected Moses when he was cast into it, therefore it was not smitten by him neither at the plague of blood nor at that of frogs, but it was smitten by Aaron (Exodus Rabbah 9:10).

And ה׳ said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Take your rod and hold out your arm over the waters of Egypt—its rivers, its canals, its ponds, all its bodies of water—that they may turn to blood; there shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.”

Then ה׳ said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Hold out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, and it shall turn to lice throughout the land of Egypt.”

אמר אל אהרן SAY UNTO AARON — The dust did not deserve to be smitten by Moses because it had protected him when he slew the Egyptian, for “he hid him in the sand”; and it was therefore smitten by Aaron (Tanchuma; Exodus Rabbah 10:7).

“The Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Extend your staff, and strike the dust of the earth, and it will become lice throughout the land of Egypt” (Exodus 8:12).
“The Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Extend your staff, and strike the dust of the earth” – Rabbi Tanḥum said: The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘It is not proper that the dust that protected you when you killed the Egyptian will be stricken by you.’ Therefore, they were stricken with these three plagues by means of Aaron.
“They did so; and Aaron extended his hand with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice upon man, and upon beast; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout the land of Egypt” (Exodus 8:13).
“Aaron extended his hand with his staff” – why did He bring lice upon them? It is because they designated [the Israelites] as sweepers of the streets and the marketplaces; that is why their dust turned into lice. They would dig a square cubit but there was no dust there, as it is stated: “All the dust of the earth became lice.”
“The magicians did so with their spells to bring out the lice, but they could not; and there were gnats upon man, and upon beast” (Exodus 8:14).
“The magicians did so with their spells to bring out the lice, but they could not” – Rabbi Elazar said: From here you learn that a demon is unable to create something smaller than a barley-bulk. The Rabbis say: They cannot even create something the size of a camel; rather, this it can gather and this it cannot gather.
“The magicians said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of God; but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not heed them, as the Lord had spoken” (Exodus 8:15).
“The magicians said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of God” – when the magicians saw that they were unable to produce the lice, they were immediately aware that the actions were the actions of God and not the action of demons, and they no longer sought to compare themselves to Moses and produce the plagues.

ותעל הצפרדע AND THE FROGS (lit. frog) CAME UP — Really there was only one frog, but when they struck at it, it was split into many swarms. This is a Midrashic explanation of the usage of the singular noun here (cf. Sanhedrin 67b; Exodus Rabbah 10:4). But as a literal explanation one must say that the swarm of the frogs is denoted by the singular form. Similar is, (v. 14) “and there was the כנם” — the swarm of insects, in old French pedulier; i. e. a swarm of lice. So, too, here, ותעל הצפרדע means: and there came up a grenouillière (old French) i. e. a swarm of frogs.

ה׳ became angry with Moses and said, “There is your brother Aaron the Levite. He, I know, speaks readily. Even now he is setting out to meet you, and he will be happy to see you.

Rabbi Abbahu says: With regard to anyone who causes another to engage in a matter of a mitzva, the verse ascribes him credit as though he performed it himself, as it is stated: “And the Lord said to Moses…and your rod, with which you struck the river, take in your hand and go” (Exodus 17:5). And was it Moses who struck the river? But isn’t it written explicitly (see Exodus 7:19–20) that Aaron struck the river? Rather, that verse serves to say to you: Anyone who causes another to engage in a matter of a mitzva, the verse ascribes him credit as though he performed it himself.