ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף חבקוק 3:5

How did the plagues teach the Israelites about God's existence and the emptiness of Egypt's gods? The sages teach us that earthly beings are connected with heavenly beings. Each influences the other, particularly in matters of productivity. Each nation has a heavenly power (mazal) above who watches over it, and influences it. The heavenly power of the Egyptians was the ram, which the Egyptians honored and worshipped. We see this in what Moses said to Pharaoh: “It would not be right for us to do this, for what we sacrifice to the Lord our God is untouchable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice that which is untouchable to the Egyptians before their eyes will they not stone us?” Because the Egyptians revered the ram, the Israelites also honored and worshiped it as well and practiced pagan cultic practices while they were slaves. God therefore sent Moses to heal the people of these abominations and bring them back to the faith of their ancestors.

LEST HE FALL UPON US WITH PESTILENCE. “Moses and Aaron wanted to say [to Pharaoh], ‘Lest He fall upon thee,’ but they showed respect to royalty.” Thus the language of Rashi. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained: “‘Lest He fall upon us; that is, including us Israelites, also you Pharaoh and all Egypt.’ Therefore when the Egyptians saw the slaying of the firstborn, they said, ‘We are all dead men,’³²⁰Further, 12:33. for the words of Moses now became clear to them when he said, Lest he fall upon us with pestilence, and therefore they drove them to go to sacrifice [to G-d].”
This explanation of Ibn Ezra is not correct, for Moses and Aaron were not commanded to say that Israel too would share in the punishment of pestilence or sword if they would not sacrifice [to G-d],³²¹Only the Egyptians were to suffer that punishment if they failed to permit the Israelites to go to worship the Eternal. and Moses and Aaron would by no means change anything in the mission of G-d.
By way of the Truth, [the mystic lore of the Cabala], this is the secret of the offerings,³²²See Ramban on Genesis 4:3 (Vol. I, p. 88, and Note 423). as they constitute a redemption from punishment, for before Him goeth the pestilence.³²³Habakkuk 3:5. This explains the verse here: Let us go…and sacrifice… lest He fall upon us with pestilence. Ramban then proceeds to explain the end of the verse: or with the sword.
Or with the sword, this means the harsh [attribute of justice]. Moses said this because the Holy One, blessed be He, had commanded them, saying, And you shall say unto him: ‘The Eternal, the G-d of the Hebrews hath met with us. And now let us go … that we may sacrifice to the Eternal our G-d.’³²⁴Verse 1. and they said to Pharaoh, Thus saith the Eternal, the G-d of Israel: ‘Let My people go.’³²⁴Verse 1. Now Pharaoh was indeed a very wise man. He knew [of the existence of] G-d and acknowledged Him, as he — or his predecessor³²⁵This is a reference to the difference of opinion among the Rabbis of the Talmud (Sotah 11 a) regarding the verse, Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph (above, 1:8). One Rabbi said that he was really a new king; the other said that it was the same king but he decreed new edicts, and comported himself as though he did not know him. — said to Joseph: Forasmuch as G-d had shown thee all this;³²⁶Genesis 41:39. a man in whom the spirit of G-d is.³²⁷Ibid., Verse 38. But Pharaoh did not know the Proper Name of G-d, [i.e., the Tetragrammaton],³²⁸See above, Note 84. and accordingly, he answered, I know not the Eternal.³²⁹Verse 2. Therefore they replied and said to him, as they were commanded, The G-d of the Hebrews hath met with us,³³⁰In Verse 3 before us. mentioning to him only the G-d of the Hebrews, which is equivalent to E-il Sha-dai. They said, He hath met with us, relating to Pharaoh the exact language of the message they were commanded to bring him, and they explained to him that in this meeting which they would have [with G-d], it would be necessary for them to sacrifice before Him, lest the meeting be with pestilence, or with the sword. In a similar vein did Scripture set forth in connection with Balaam, as it is said, And G-d met Balaam, and he said unto Him: I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.³³¹Numbers 23:4.

ונזבחה לה' אלוקינו פן יפגענו בדבר או בחרב, “and we will bring offerings to the Lord our G’d lest He strike us dead with a plague or the sword.” In this verse we hear something about the mystical dimension of animal sacrifice, i.e. that it may atone for people guilty of death. Chabakuk 3,5 spells out that plague is a punishment by G’d when he said: “Pestilence marches before Him, and plague comes forth at His heels.” The reason Moses added death by the sword as an alternative is connected to Isaiah 66,16: ”For with fire will the Lord contend, with His sword, against all flesh.” You are aware that the שכינה represents the attribute of Justice. This is the source of the powerful fire which consumed the Israelites’ offerings on the altar in the Temple. This is what the Torah referred to when it wrote: (Leviticus 9,6) “so that the glory of the Lord will appear to you (and consume the sacrifice).” Immediately after that (verse 24) the Torah reports that “fire descended from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offerings and the fat parts.” This is also the reason the שכינה describes the daily public offerings (Numbers 28,2) as קרבני לחמי, “the offerings of food due to Me.” G’d added the word לאשי, “to be consumed by My fire.” This is why at the beginning of this verse Moses had spoken of G’d as אלוקים as it is this attribute which receives and responds to animal sacrifice. Only subsequent to mentioning this attribute did he spell out the need for the Israelites to offer sacrifices He also mentioned the attribute Hashem, as though the sacrifice is offered to the attribute of Justice, the intent behind it is the great name of G’d, and this is what David had in mind when he said (Psalms 50,14) “sacrifice a thank-offering to G’d and pay your vows to the Most High.” The mechanics are that the sacrifice is presented to the attribute of Justice but the idea behind is is recognition of the Most High, i.e. י-ה-ו-ה. [If this were not so the sacrifice would be no more than an attempted bribe. Ed.]