Chassidut sobre Êxodo 8:18

... The issue of the seven plagues in this sidra. They correspond to the verse "those six Ad-nai hates, seven are an abomination to God's essence" (Prov. 6:16) [Add: And you should know that all the punishments that happen in the world, including for the idolaters, as when they make a government fall and put a different one, all come from the bad characteristics mentioned in this verse.] [King] Solomon thought to order the sins, and that's why the verse begins with the least serious and proceeds in order of seriousness. And when the Egyptians were punished for all these sins that were engrossed in their hearts, [the punishment] began from more serious to less. The plague of blood corresponds to "one who incites brothers to quarrel", because the essence of distancing from the Holy One of Blessing is anger. Even though appetites might distance one from the Holy One of Blessing, it is possible to find goodness in them. But anger is what most distances [a person] from God. Corresponding to "a false witness testifying lies" is the plague of frogs. This is because the Egyptians were testifying lies regarding Israel. The expression yafiach [testifying/blackening] means that all small things are blackened and made larger. Regarding Israel, the rule is that if one saw his/her fellow sin, but there are no other witnesses, it is actually forbidden for him/her to say "Tuviah sinned in such and such way" (Pesachim 113b), and the reason is that, if there are no witnesses to the thing, it is clearly the Holy One of Blessing's desire that the sin be not publicized, and that it be hidden in this world, and therefore it is forbidden to publicize it. But the Egyptians publicized everything, an so the plague of frogs came upon them, and they croaked and grunted, and so the Egyptians could not listen to each other's voices. And corresponding to "feet quick to run to evil" was the plague of lice. Regarding Israel it is written "and justice slept there" (Isaiah 1:21), which means that they would sleep it over even when they knew that their side was in the right, they would not run [to judge] because they wanted to find other merits [to the other side]. The Egyptians did the opposite and ran to oppress Israel, but the Holy One guarded them and they weren't able to accomplish anything with their haste. And it is against this [attitude] that the plague of lice came about, since in this small creature you find haste of movements, and with all this haste it accomplishes little, since it is a little creature. And corresponding to "a heart that hatches evil plots" was the plague of wild animals. This was due to their hatching evil plots against Israel, and this is why the plague of wild animals was a mixture of wild animals which was a symbol of the mixture of evil thoughts that was present in their hearts. Regarding this plague is said "I will set apart the region of Goshen, where My people dwell, so that no wild animals will be found there" (Exodus 8:18) meaning that the Holy One of Blessing made clear that in Israel no mixture [of evil plots] should be in their thoughts. And corresponding to "hands that spill innocent blood" was the plague of pestilence [of livestock]. And corresponding to "a lying tongue" was the plague of boils, because they gathered themselves around lying words, therefore they were ashamed as it is written "the magicians could not stand up to Moshe" (Exodus 9:11). And corresponding to "haughty eyes", which is their self-aggrandizement due to all the good that was showered on them, came the plague of hail. This is due to the fact that the goodness flow in this world is rain, and see how the rain that came in your side is hail, and this is why this plague came through the hands of Moshe our teacher peace be upon him, as it is written "extend your hand" (Exodus 9:22), since Moshe otpbu"h was excellent in this charcater trait, as it is written "and the man Moses was very humble etc" (Numbers 12:3)

Exodus 7,3-4. “but I will harden the heart ‎of Pharaoh, etc.” “Pharaoh will not listen to ‎you.” The Or Hachayim, in his ‎commentary on this line questions why G’d had to ‎repeat this statement in verse 4 when He had already ‎said in verse 3 that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart? ‎In order to answer this problem satisfactorily it is ‎important to examine the plague of frogs. Before ‎decreeing this plague Moses had said to Pharaoh that ‎if he were to refuse to let the Israelites go, G’d would ‎smite his entire country with a plague of frogs which ‎would invade even the most private parts of his ‎bedroom, including the houses of all his servants. ‎‎(Exodus 26-28) After the plague did strike and Pharaoh ‎asked Moses to bring it to an end, Moses tells him that ‎he will do so at a time of Pharaoh’s choosing, so that ‎he would learn that there is no G’d like the G’d of the ‎Israelites. (8,5) Later on when the wild beasts have ‎been let loose in urban areas, Moses adds that Pharaoh ‎should now learn that G’d’s domain is also the dry land ‎of the earth. (8,18) The reason why two different ‎domains of G’d’s power are mentioned on those two ‎occasions is that two different types of miracles were ‎involved. One basic miracle applying to all the plagues ‎was to demonstrate G’d’s power in His universe; the ‎other miracle was that G’d could, if He wished, ‎dominate man’s willpower so that he would foolishly ‎self destruct in spite of the evidence before his eyes ‎how his obstinacy would lead to his and his people’s ‎ruin.‎