It wasn't just a few gnats buzzing around, was it? It was… well, let's take a look at one of them, the plague of boils, and see how the tradition amplifies the already incredible story.
The Torah itself describes the plague of boils in stark terms (Exodus 9:8-12). But the Legends of the Jews, that magnificent collection of rabbinic lore compiled by Louis Ginzberg, really fleshes it out. It's not just a plague; it's a cosmic event, practically.
So, how did it happen? According to Ginzberg's retelling, Moses and Aaron didn't just wave their hands and poof, boils. They teamed up for a truly miraculous act. First, each of them took a handful of ashes from a furnace. Now, picture this: Moses then takes both handfuls, combining them into one. He holds this mound of ash in the palm of his hand.
And then?
Then he sprinkled those ashes… toward heaven.
But here's where it gets epic. This wasn't just a toss. The ashes flew so high that they reached the kise hakavod, the Divine Throne itself! Can you imagine that image? This seemingly insignificant handful of ash, making its way all the way to the very seat of God's glory?
Then, the ashes turned around, returning earthward. And they didn't just fall locally. Oh no. They scattered across the entire land of Egypt, covering an area of four hundred square parasangs. Now, a parasang is an ancient unit of distance, and four hundred of them? We're talking a vast, vast area. That’s a lot of ash!
And what happened when these ashes landed? Leprosy. And a particularly nasty kind of blain, soft inside but dry on top. A truly unpleasant affliction. The small dust of the ashes produced leprosy upon the skin of the Egyptians, and blains of a peculiar kind, soft within and dry on top.
Why this level of detail? Why this almost unbelievable expansion of the biblical account? Perhaps it's to emphasize the sheer power at play, the complete and utter helplessness of the Egyptians against the will of God. Or maybe it's to show the thoroughness of the Divine judgment. No corner of Egypt was spared. No Egyptian escaped the plague.
Whatever the reason, it's a reminder that these stories, these aggadot (the interpretive stories that expand on the Torah) aren't just simple tales. They're rich, layered, and filled with meaning, inviting us to ponder the depths of the Exodus story and its enduring power. And it all started with a handful of ash. What do you think?