CHASSIDIC PEARLS BY RABBI LAZER BRODY PARSHAS VAEIRA

"And the frogs ascended upon the land of Egypt" (Shmot 8:1). Each of the ten plagues, like everything else Hashem does, conveys its own unique message and an intrinsic lesson in life; the frogs are no different. People usually don't attach significance to a frog. They usually consider it a small ugly creature, an object of disdain or repulsion. At best, folks are willing to tolerate the frogs as long as they limit their croaking to the faraway woods and wetlands. Jewish tradition looks at frogs in a totally different light. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov wrote an entire discourse elaborating on the inner meaning of the frog (see Likutei Moharan I:3). He says they allude to scholars of Torah, the princes of humanity with enlightened spiritual cognizance. The sages of Talmudic times also praise frogs. The Gemara states (Pesachim 53b), that Chanania, Mishael, and Azaria derived the inner strength to throw themselves into a fiery furnace rather than bow to Nebuchadnezzar's idol from a frog! They surmised that if the frogs had the dedication to perform Hashem's will and to throw themselves into the Egyptians' ovens during the time of the Ten Plagues, then they – as creations on a much higher level than a frog – certainly could do so as well. The Midrash says that when Dovid Hamelech (King David) completed the Book of Psalms, he had a feeling of self-satisfaction. He said to Hashem, "Is there any creation in Your world that says songs and praises more than I?" That same hour, Hashem sent a frog that said: "David! Don't be complacent, for I say songs and praises more than you do. Not only that, but three thousand parables are said about every sonnet that I recite, for it is said (Melachim I 5:12), 'And he spoke three thousand parables and his songs were one-thousand and five.' Not only that, but I involve myself in a great mitzvah, and this is the mitzvah that I involve myself with: There's a specie on the beach whose sustenance comes exclusively from (creatures that live) in the water, and when it's hungry, it takes me and eats me. I therefore fulfill the mitzvah of that what is said (Mishlei 25:21-22), 'If your adversary is hungry, feed him; if he's thirsty, give him water to drink, for you shall heap hot coals on his head and Hashem shall reward you. Rather than reading "shall reward you", read "shall make you complete."' The Midrash tells us that more than anything, the croaking of the frogs is what drove the Egyptians out of their minds. If we add Rebbe Nachman's principle that the frogs allude to Torah scholars, then an interesting message is revealed: Egypt is the archetype of evil and Pharaoh is an allusion to the Yetzer Hara, the Evil Inclination. Nothing neutralizes evil and overcomes the Yetzer Hara like the "croaking of the frogs," the sound of scholars learning Torah in their traditional sing-song fashion. In light of the above-mentioned Jewish sources, the frog is grossly underestimated. Why?