Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal's 2022 Passover Message

There is an amazing section that takes place in our Seder between the spilling of wine for each of the ten plagues and the singing of Dayanu.

Growing up, it was one of those sections that we regularly skipped as the whining from the kids (me) and other guests increased, demanding, “When are we going to eat!?” It is the story of four Rabbis who question the number of plagues that came upon the Egyptians.

It begins with Rabbi Judah, who offers an acronym for remembering the ten plagues – D’tzach, Adash, B’achav. Then Rabbi Yose from Galiel argues that it was ten plagues in Egypt and 50 by the sea.

Rabbi Eliezer expands that number claiming that the actual intensity of the plagues was felt four times more, increasing the number to 240 plagues (4 x 10 + 4 x 50 = 240). Rabbi Akiva finishes the discussion by adding another 60 to the final count, claiming that the intensity wasn’t four times but really five times (5 x 10 + 5 x 50 = 300).

For me, this section highlights just how many steps it took to get us to this place in life. We often honor the highlights: finished school, got married, raised a family. But if we took the time to break each step down, remembering the sung and unsung heroes of the many moments in our lives, we might finally see how our life today is due to countless miracles along the way.

Laurence Rosenthal is senior rabbi of Ahavath Achim Synagogue and immediate past president of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association.