Passover 5778 - Part 1

Makkos Trivia

Some interesting trivia on the 10 makkos:

• Blood:
• Pharoh was not personally affected by this as a reward for letting Moshe grow up in his house (Mesecha Chochma, Midrash HaGadol, Mishnas Rabbi Eliezer). Same applied to the last Makkah (Bechoros) - Pharoh did not die while his firstborns did.
• According to some opinions, the Egyptians dug around the river to get drinking water as opposed to buying it (Ibn Ezra, see here)
• Frogs - according to some opinions these were crocodiles (Rabbeinu Chananel and Malbim, see here)
• Lice - Rashi explains that the magicians were not able to replicate these due to the way magic works (through a demon). The Ramchal also explains in his sefer Derech Hashem other ways it works (through incantation and names of Hashem).
• Plague - the death of animals also affected people who work in close contact with the animals
• Boils - some learn that this was not done through dust but through smoke (Rabbeinu Avraham ben haRambam)
• Locusts - Ibn Ezra cites an opinion that this was done through some sort of magic by having the locust tied to the staff
• Hail and Darkness - these did not last the entire 7 days like others, and the extra days were saved for later (the Sea or time of Joshua).

The Date of the Counting of the Omer
There is a famous disagreement documented between the Sadducees and the Chazal during the times of the Second Bais Hamikdash regarding counting of the Omer (this also applies to Samaritans, Karaites and other groups that don't follow the Oral Torah). The Torah tells us the following (Lev. 23:15):

And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete:

The disagreement revolved around the definition of which Shabbos this referred to.  According to Chazal, this refers to the first day of Pesach, thus resulting in the counting of the Omer starting from the second night of Pesach and Shavuos being 50 days later. However, Sadducees interpret this to be the first Shabbos following the first day of Pesach with the Omer always starting on the first Sunday after the beginning of Pesach. This results in the counting of Omer and the date of Shavuos being off by as much as a week.

However, this year being that the first day of Pesach falls out on Shabbos, the counting of the Omer starts on the second night of Pesach which is Motzoi Shabbos and is the same.

(The Essenes would start counting on the Sunday after Pesach finished, and some years the date of Pesach itself would be different as well according to groups that don't follow the Oral Torah)