Rashi and most other Meforshim agree that Kri'as Yam Suf (the Splitting of the Sea) was five times the makkos of the Makkos (Plagues). I never found any discussion of why 5, why not 7, 6, 40, whatever. Below is a chiddush as to maybe why 5:
Perhaps the Makkos were middah keneged midda (measure for measure) punishment for enslaving the 20% of the Jews in Egypt who wound up being redeemed at Sinai (80% were killed by Hashem during the 9th Plague, Darkness). However, the Egyptians were so evil that they persued the Jews after the Makkos, Hashem decided to punish them for that transgression midda-keneged-midda for all of the Jews in Egypt, including the 80% killed during the Darkness, thus creating the 5x comparison.
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In the Haggada the source for this 5x is found. The torah states that g-d took us out with a strong hand. Since the makkos were only a fraction of g-d's might 'Ezbah' (finger) we can deduce that at Yam Suf there were 5x as much. (A hand has 5 fingers....)
ReplyDeleteIt still doesnt answer why not 6..., but I wonder what would a six fingered hand look like :)