By Rabbi Moshe Mayerfeld
One morning when Pharaoh woke in his bed, there were frogs on his head and frogs on his bed…
This famous song actually has a biblical source. “And the frogs will come into your homes, your bedrooms, and in your beds, and in the home of all your subjects, in your ovens and in your gates. (Exodus 7:28)
The Midrash tells us that the frogs were rewarded for their total dedication to cover every area of Egypt. The commentaries ask- what was so great about what they did!? God commanded them to infest the land - and they did so. Animals have no free will - so where was the greatness of their act?
Our rabbis teach that we have a lot to learn from these animals. It was both the unity and the self sacrifice of the frogs that led them to this great reward. No one fought about their exact role in the task. EVEN the ovens were full! If I had to chose Pharoah’s jacuzzi or his oven- I think I may have gone for the swim. Nevertheless the frogs didn’t argue, they each did what needed to be done and got the job done. Together as a unit- they fulfilled the words “frogs, here, frogs there, frogs were jumping everywhere".
