Difference between revisions of "Patterns in the Plagues/1/en"
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<p>רבי יהודה היה נותן בהם סימנים: דצ"ך עד"ש באח"ב. </p> | <p>רבי יהודה היה נותן בהם סימנים: דצ"ך עד"ש באח"ב. </p> | ||
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| − | <p>What is the need for and significance of R. Yehuda's teaching?<fn>See the formulation in the Haggadah commentary of R. Yeshayah MiTrani: "תימה, מה סימן נתן ר' יהודה? וכי אין אדם יודע ליקח מכל תיבה אות ולעשות סימן?", and similarly in the Haggadah commentary attributed to Rashi: "זיל קרי בי רב הוא".</fn> Is he simply providing a mnemonic to facilitate keeping track of all of the miracles,<fn>See R. N"H Wessely who suggests exactly that, and see R. Yehuda b. Yakar, Ritva, and R. Shimon b. Tzemach Duran in their commentaries on the Haggadah who note that R. Yehuda offers a mnemonic also in a different context in <multilink><a href="BavliMenachot96a" data-aht="source">Bavli Menachot</a><a href="BavliMenachot96a" data-aht="source">Menachot 96a</a><a href="Bavli" data-aht="parshan">About the Bavli</a></multilink>.</fn> or is he attempting to convey a more profound understanding of how to categorize and comprehend the relationships between the various plagues?</p> | + | <p>What is the need for and significance of R. Yehuda's teaching?<fn>See the formulation in the Haggadah commentary of R. Yeshayah MiTrani: "תימה, מה סימן נתן ר' יהודה? וכי אין אדם יודע ליקח מכל תיבה אות ולעשות סימן?", and similarly in the Haggadah commentary attributed to Rashi: "זיל קרי בי רב הוא".</fn> Is he simply providing a mnemonic to facilitate keeping track of all of the miracles,<fn>See <multilink><a href="RNHWesselyShirei3" data-aht="source">R. N"H Wessely</a><a href="RNHWesselyRuachChen12" data-aht="source">Ruach Chen 12 (pp.210-224)</a><a href="RNHWesselyAvot5-5" data-aht="source">Yein Levanon Avot 5:5</a><a href="RNHWesselyShirei3" data-aht="source">Shirei Tiferet, Intro. to Vol. 3</a><a href="R. Naftali Herz Wessely" data-aht="parshan">About R. Naftali Herz Wessely</a></multilink> who suggests exactly that, and see R. Yehuda b. Yakar, Ritva, and R. Shimon b. Tzemach Duran in their commentaries on the Haggadah who note that R. Yehuda offers a mnemonic also in a different context in <multilink><a href="BavliMenachot96a" data-aht="source">Bavli Menachot</a><a href="BavliMenachot96a" data-aht="source">Menachot 96a</a><a href="Bavli" data-aht="parshan">About the Bavli</a></multilink>.</fn> or is he attempting to convey a more profound understanding of how to categorize and comprehend the relationships between the various plagues?</p> |
<h2>Multiple Divisions</h2> | <h2>Multiple Divisions</h2> | ||
Version as of 10:54, 31 July 2019
Patterns in the Plagues
Introduction
R. Yehuda's Acronyms
A very famous set of acronyms for the Ten Plagues is cited in the Passover Haggadah1 in the name of R. Yehuda:
רבי יהודה היה נותן בהם סימנים: דצ"ך עד"ש באח"ב.
What is the need for and significance of R. Yehuda's teaching?2 Is he simply providing a mnemonic to facilitate keeping track of all of the miracles,3 or is he attempting to convey a more profound understanding of how to categorize and comprehend the relationships between the various plagues?
Multiple Divisions
Regardless of R. Yehuda's personal intent, his acronyms have inspired many commentators, even some who do not ordinarily engage in structural analysis, to search for patterns among the plagues and to attempt to understand their ordering. While some suffice with showing how the Plagues form a cohesive linear progression, others split the larger series into pairs, triads, pentads, and hextads, each unified either in purpose or by certain common characteristics.
