Commentaire de citation sur Les Psaumes 78:47

את כל מגפותי, “all my plagues.” According to the plain meaning of the text the reason G’d referred to the plague of hail as “all My plagues” is that this plague contained within it most of the plagues that man and beast suffer from. This is why the Torah added the words מאדם עד בהמה, “from man to beast” in verse 25 when the impact of the plague is being described. All the trees were broken by the hail, not to mention any crops which were ready or close to harvesting. The ice, i.e. the cold which accompanied the phenomenon of this hail froze all plants which were already above ground. We find confirmation of this thought by Assaph in Psalms 78,47 “He killed their vines with hail, their sycamore with frost.” The word חנמל in that psalm is a variety of hail. It is a strong frost which breaks the blossoms of the trees and dries out their moisture. Shemot Rabbah 12,4 explains that the reason why this kind of hail is called חנמל is because when it came נח מל, “it settled on the trees and cut them (as if ‘circumcised’) a cut which does not grow back and regenerate itself.” This hail which contained destructive fire within it was even more damaging.

The likes of which never had been and never would be. Ramban and Re”m explain Rashi at length, but I say that Rashi’s own words elsewhere explain his intention. Rashi says on Sefer Yoel (2:2): “But the species of Arbeh on its own was not like that of Egypt.” This supports Re”m who said that the Arbeh of Moshe was greater than the Arbeh of Yoel, while the plague of Yoel was greater because of the multiple species it included. (Nachalas Yaakov) Some object and say that also the plague of Moshe had three species, as it is written (Tehillim 78:46) “Arbeh, Chasil,” and (105:34) “Yelek.” We could answer that the multiple terms in Tehillim are only for rhetorical purpose [while in truth there was just Arbeh]. Similarly [we find multiple terms used rhetorically]: “He killed with hail their vineyards, and their sycamores with hail-stones” (ibid. 78:47). And likewise, “He trapped their cattle by the hail, their herds by the plague.”(ibid. v. 48)

And because this sin was with the tongue, and it is known that the sin of the tongue magnifies sins equivalent to the three cardinal sins, which are idolatry, sexual immorality, and murder, and the entire Torah in general. For anyone who acknowledges idolatry is like one who denies the entire Torah. Therefore, it is appropriate that the one who sins with their tongue should be judged with all forms of capital punishment, because the punishment for idolatry is stoning, as is the punishment for blasphemy, and the punishment for murder is beheading, and the punishment for general sexual immorality is strangulation, and for a priest’s daughter who commits harlotry it is burning. Thus we find that all four forms of execution by the court apply to these three cardinal sins. Therefore, it is appropriate that one who sins with their tongue should be judged with all these plagues, for it is equivalent to all of them. This is what is meant by For this time I will send all My plagues, because we find in the plague of hail examples of all four forms of capital punishment by the court: Stoning with stones — corresponding to this, hail descended upon them along with hailstones, and he shall surely be stoned. Burning — as it says, fire went along the ground. Beheading — as it says He killed their vines with hail (Psalms 78:47), and the term “killing” is not normally used with vines, but rather it alludes to their important people who are compared to vines, as it says You removed a vine from Egypt (Psalms 80:9). And strangulation — this refers to the abundance of water that fell with the hail, for perhaps some of them drowned in the field in the rain of the hail, for anyone who is liable to strangulation will drown in a river, etc. (Ketubot 30b).