Fire in the hail

    The seventh plague against the Egyptians in the time of the Bible was hail. “Throughout the entire land of Egypt the hail struck all that was in the field…… and it broke all the trees of the field”  “There was hail, and fire blazing inside the hail…”. Finally Pharaoh proclaims, “I have sinned this time. G-d is the righteous One. I and my people are the wicked ones.”

    There is a rule that G-d does not bring miracles in vain. The hail was sent to break all that was in the field. So, why was it necessary to have fire blazing inside the ice? Also, how and why did Pharaoh all of a sudden recognize he was wrong, and G-d was right?

    The stories of the Torah-Bible are lessons from an eternal G-d for all people and for all places. As a matter of fact, there is a commandment in the Bible that we remember the exodus and the freedom from the confinement of Egypt every day of our lives! Egypt and its’ confinement relate to the slavery, bondage and limitations one submits to in their own lives. Every day we must liberate ourselves from the limitations of yesterday.

    In Egypt the outlook to life was that we don’t need a G-d and or Creator because we are self-made and self-dependent. We don’t look upward to G-d or to the unseen and or the unknown for blessings or help because we are self-sustained with the waters of the Nile right here in our own backyards.

    Sending a child to college, preparing our kids with tools to earn a living is all that is needed and we can, and we will, take care of ourselves.

    Our faith confidence and reliance is to the Nile that supplies us with irrigation growth and sustenance.  King Pharaoh himself proclaimed, “I don’t need anything from “above” because I have the Nile for all my needs.” The attitude was, nature, and what we see and what is here on this earth is what we depend on.

    When a person sees the world as an end in itself, a closed and sealed circle, this is all there is, this attitude will develop into a dog eat dog way of thinking.  They will eventually become insensitive to the needs of others and mainly and mostly concerned with their own advancement. After all, “if not me then who (will be) for me?” This person ultimately is left alone with himself in a very small dark world.

    The plague of hail came to demonstrate to the Egyptians, it is impossible to ignore the input and influences of heaven in our daily lives. With just one hail storm, earthquake, tsunami or heart attack, life will never again be like it was. The fire inside the hail came as a reminder, that it is the heat and excitement for oneself to the exclusion of others, the self-centeredness, that gives birth to the conduct of cold towards others. This ultimately breaks the earth and all that is good on it.

    The plague of hail in our lives, every once in a while, serves as an important reminder, in our freedom from the Egypt mentality. The Pharaoh begins to realize, not to take lightly the fact that there are outside influences, and it is up to a person by recognizing it comes from G-d,  that it will remain  merciful, soft and a generous blessing, rather than a cold crushing experience.

    The world is provided with good from a merciful G-d, and the more we are connected with G-d who commands us to be connected and concerned with others, the better it is for each one and all of us.