Avodah Mailing List

Volume 30: Number 20

Mon, 16 Apr 2012

• 1. Re: Transition From Aramaic To Hebrew (Jay F Shachter)
• 2. Re: Transition From Aramaic To Hebrew (Simon Montagu)
• 3. Re: Transition From Aramaic To Hebrew (Micha Berger)
• 4. Re: Fwd: Rabbi Hershel Schachter - True Freedom (Micha Berger)
• 5. Re: Transition From Aramaic To Hebrew (Zev Sero)
• 6. Re: Transition From Aramaic To Hebrew (Jay F Shachter)
• 7. Re: Transition From Aramaic To Hebrew (Lisa Liel)
• 8. Stopped learning Nach? (Joseph C. Kaplan)
• 9. Re: The 8th Day of Pesach in Golus (kennethgmil...@juno.com)
• 10. Re: The 8th Day of Pesach in Golus (Akiva Blum)
• 11. The 8th Day of Pesach in Golus (Prof. Levine)
• 12. Re: The 8th Day of Pesach in Golus (T6...@aol.com)
• 13. Re: No Simcha on Pesach? (Daas Books)
• 14. Re: Transition From Aramaic To Hebrew (Micha Berger)
• 15. Re: Kama Maalot Tovot Lamakom Aleinu? (AES)
• 16. Re: Kama Maalot Tovot Lamakom Aleinu? (David Wacholder)

Akiva Miller <kennethgmil...@juno.com> wrote on Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:37:25 GMT:

>
> Could you be more specific about these words? You seem to be using a
> very different text than me.
>
> I am looking at three different siddurim (Otzar Hatefilos,
> ArtScroll, and Sacks/Koren/OU) and they are virtually identical,
> except for some vowelling changes.  In all three of them, the "vadai
> Aramaic" stops six words from the end, not five, and in all three
> siddurim, those words are: "lanu ul'chol yisrael hadarim ba'ir
> hazos".
>

I have "... lana ulkh(ol/al) yisrael haddarim ba`ir hazzoth".  In my
text, the sixth word from the end is "lana", which is unquestionably
Aramaic.  The last two words are unquestionably Hebrew (in the
original posting, I stated that the last three words were Hebrew, but
you have suggested that "haddarim" could be Aramaic).  That leaves two
(or, according to you, three) words that could be either Hebrew or
Aramaic.  Thus, in my text, there is a region which is unquestionably
Aramaic, followed by a 2- or 3-word region of indeterminate language,
and ending with a region which is unquestionably Hebrew.  The question
was: where, in this indeterminate region, does the text transition
from Aramaic to Hebrew?  The practical significance of the question
involves the correct pronunciation of the word which follows "lana"
and which precedes "yisrael".  If that word is Hebrew, the qamatz
underneath the khaf is a qamatz qatan, and the word should rhyme with
"tall".  If it is Aramaic, there is no qamatz qatan in Aramaic, and
the word should rhyme with "Mikhail Tal".

In contrast, in your texts, the sixth word from the end is "lanu", not
"lana".  If your texts are correct, then (barring the unlikely
possibility that the text moves from Aramaic to Hebrew to Aramaic to
Hebrew), the transition from Aramaic to Hebrew occurs prior to the
word in question, which should therefore unquestionably be pronounced
with a qamatz qatan, because it is unquestionably Hebrew.  But if the
sixth word from the end is "lana", not "lanu", then the question
remains open.


                        Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter
                        6424 N Whipple St
                        Chicago IL  60645-4111
                                (1-773)7613784   landline
                                (1-410)9964737   GoogleVoice
                                j...@m5.chicago.il.us
                                http://m5.chicago.il.us

                        "Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur"

On Sun, Apr 15, 2012 at 6:37 PM, kennethgmil...@juno.com
<kennethgmil...@juno.com> wrote:
> If you're using the text I think you are, then the 3rd word from the
> end is "hadarim", which you think is definitely Hebrew. This surprises
> me. In my Mandelkern, I was unable to find any Hebrew uses of "dalet
> resh" as a verb. In contrast, Mandelkern does show a few places in
> Daniel 2-4 where this shows up as an Aramaic word. (My guess is that
> this word is not from Biblical Hebrew, but entered Rabbinic Hebrew
> from the Aramaic, and is found in Rabbinic phrases such as mezuza
> being a "chovas hadar", an obligation of the resident.)

Even-Shoshan lists 2 (under the heading dalet-vav-resh): Psalm 84:11
and Ezekiel 24:5 (which seems to have a different meaning anyway).
Both of these seem to be the infinitive "dur" used as an abstract
noun, so I guess your statement that it isn't used "as a verb" can
stand.

BDB connects "dor" to the same root, as in "the set of people living
at the same time" (my paraphrase)

On Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 06:41:51PM -0600, Jay F Shachter wrote:
: I just finished reciting the standard text of the `Eruv Tavshilin,
: which, like the Qaddish, like the Ha Laxma `Aniya, begins in Aramaic,
: and ends in Hebrew.

You lost me on your two comparisons:

Ha Lachma Anya ends in Hebrew?
Qaddish ends with a quoted pasuq, but other than that, what Hebrew does
it have?

: What makes it interesting is that, precisely in the region where the
: text switches from Aramaic to Hebrew, there are two words of
: indeterminate language, words that could be either Aramaic or Hebrew.

It would seem from subsequent conversation that there is only one word
that is definitely Hebrew, "be'ir" in the closing "be'ir hazos", rather
than "karta".

"Be'ir hazos" is an expression found 3 times in Tanakh:
Shemu'el I 9:6:
    Vayomer lo: Hinei na ish E-lokim be'ir hazos...

Yirmiyahu 38:2:
    Ko amar H': Hayosheiv be'ir hazos yamus becherev, bera'av ubedever...

Yechezqeil 11:2:
    ... Eileh anashim hachoshevim aven, vehayo'atzim atzas ra ba'ir
    hazos.

In the latter two cases, the point is along the lines of "Oy lerashah
ve'oy leshecheino", the problems of being in "ir hazos". As Yechezqeil
puts it (v 3), "hi hasir va'anchanu habasar". Looking at the 22 peraqim
in which we find "ha'ir hazos" (the only other kind of match on the BI
CD for "*ir hazos"), the theory seems to hold for the vast majority of
the cases.

And it's usually a reference to Y-m, often (including the uses in
Melakhim, Yeshaiah) in promises of it being spared. The power of safety
of being in the right city.

So, what do we do with the exceptions, where the pasuq isn't blatantly 
speaking about the fate of the citizens of a city as a unity? It would
require saying that in Shemu'el (e.g.), Shaul is not only seeking out
Shemu'el, but that Shemu'el's presence is a motivation for Shaul not
to leave the city just yet just to be "ba'ir hazos" with the chozeh.
It's derushy, I admit. But in any case, all but two or three uses are
clearly of the corporate kind.

So, it could be an intentional switch to a biblical reference to emphasize
the unity of being of the same city, a notion necessary for this clause
to work. The reference could well be to Yirmiyahu 17:24-25 in particular,
as it refers to shemiras Shabbos protecting the city. IOW, that eiruv
tavshilin ends "... hadarin 'be'ir' hazos'" in quotes.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 9th day, which is
mi...@aishdas.org        1 week and 2 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Gevurah sheb'Gevurah: When is strict justice
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            most appropriate?

On Sun, Apr 15, 2012 at 09:06:16PM +0300, Doron Beckerman wrote:
: Why was RHS so stunned? If the high school in question takes metzuyonim
: only (and if he is referring to Nachalas Haleviyim, then it pretty much
: is), then the goal of that high school is to produce people who will sit
: and learn for a very long time, no less than the goal of an Air Force cadet
: school is to produce Air Force pilots....

Only if you think that a yeshiva's most elite sort of product is one who
toraso umnaso. But what if the elite yeshiva isn't an "air force academy",
and the whole assumption that the "pilots" are the elite is false?

I think that's what he was questioning. R' Simcha Zissel Ziv was the
chavrusah of R' Kalman Zev Wissotzky. Can you say which was Rav Yisrael's
greater success: Was it the Alter of Kelm? Or the billionare tea magnate
who used his privileged position outside the Pale of Settlement to
surreptitiously smuggle Judaism (sedarim, occasional minyanim, etc...) to
the Cantonists. A man who earned all his money honestly, meticulously,
and after 120 could answer "Nasata venata be'emunah?" without flinching,
and who learned in Volozhin to the point where he could be a future RY's
chavrusah, while still running a growing corporation?

Perhaps elite balebatim are needed from these elite yeshivos no less
than rashei yeshiva, rabbanim and posqim?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 9th day, which is
mi...@aishdas.org        1 week and 2 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Gevurah sheb'Gevurah: When is strict justice
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            most appropriate?

On 15/04/2012 11:46 PM, Jay F Shachter wrote:
> I have "... lana ulkh(ol/al) yisrael haddarim ba`ir hazzoth".

Which siddur is that?

> The practical significance of the question
> involves the correct pronunciation of the word which follows "lana"
> and which precedes "yisrael".  If that word is Hebrew, the qamatz
> underneath the khaf is a qamatz qatan, and the word should rhyme with
> "tall".

Is it?  AFAIK that is only true in Modern Ivrit.  AIUI, Sefardim say
"kal nidrei", not "kol".

-- 
Zev Sero        "Natural resources are not finite in any meaningful
z...@sero.name    economic sense, mind-boggling though this assertion
                  may be. The stocks of them are not fixed but rather
                 are expanding through human ingenuity."
                                            - Julian Simon

> 
> So, it could be an intentional switch to a biblical reference to
> emphasize the unity of being of the same city, a notion necessary
> for this clause to work.  The reference could well be to Yirmiyahu
> 17:24-25 in particular, as it refers to shemiras Shabbos protecting
> the city. IOW, that eiruv tavshilin ends "... hadarin 'be'ir'
> hazos'" in quotes.
> 
> Tir'u baTov!
> -Micha
> 

For this to be true (and it may be), you must be working with a third
text, one that neither I nor R' Akiva Miller has.  You must have
"lana", which I have but R"AM has not (he has "lanu"), and you must
have "haddarin", which neither I nor R"AM have.  Both of us have
"haddarim", with a mem at the end, not a nun.  But if the proper text
is "haddarin" with a nun, and if your theory is correct, then the
qamatz underneath the khaf is unquestionably an Aramaic qamatz, and
the word should be pronounced so as to rhyme with "doll".


                        Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter
                        6424 N Whipple St
                        Chicago IL  60645-4111
                                (1-773)7613784   landline
                                (1-410)9964737   GoogleVoice
                                j...@m5.chicago.il.us
                                http://m5.chicago.il.us

                        "Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur"

On 4/16/2012 9:17 AM, Micha Berger wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 06:41:51PM -0600, Jay F Shachter wrote:
> : I just finished reciting the standard text of the `Eruv Tavshilin,
> : which, like the Qaddish, like the Ha Laxma `Aniya, begins in Aramaic,
> : and ends in Hebrew.
>
> You lost me on your two comparisons:
>
> Ha Lachma Anya ends in Hebrew?
> Qaddish ends with a quoted pasuq, but other than that, what Hebrew does
> it have?

Actually, it interweaves Hebrew and Aramaic.

Hashata hacha - Aramaic
L'shana haba'ah - Hebrew
B'Ar'a d'Yisrael - Aramaic
Hashata avdei - Aramaic
L'shana haba'ah - Hebrew
Bnei chorin - Hebrew

But Ha Lachma is a riddle, so you'd expect it to do some weird stuff.

Lisa

"It seems to me that it wasn't the Christians who "stole" Tanach  from us by 
memorizing portions that few frum Jews study.  It was actually  the 
Haskalah, the Documentary Theory and all that -- turning Tanach into a field  of 
secular academic study -- that "stole" it from us, because the response of  
the yeshiva world was to look askance at anyone who had too deep an  interest 
in Tanach.  In the same way and for the same reason, the study of  Hebrew 
language and dikduk was "stolen" from us."

While it's always easier to blame others for problems ("they" made me do
it), it's often more adult to take at least some personal responsibility. 
In this case, ISTM that no one "stole" Tanach or its study or that of
Hebrew/dikduk from us.	If we no longer have it or no longer cherish it
properly, then it's most probably our fault to a large extent, and the way
to perhaps solve this is through introspection rather than pointing fingers
at others.

Joseph Kaplan  
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R' Yitzchak Levine asked:

> Dare one say that yesterday it was preferable to be in Golus
> given the combination of the kedusha of Shabbos and the
> d'rabbonim kedusha of the 8th day of Pesach?

You forgot about the kedusha of being in Eretz Yisrael. If that is d'rabanan, then one could argue for a tie.

But my recollection is that the kedusha of Eretz Yisrael is d'Oraisa, and
that the reason for certain mitzvos hateluyos baaretz (such as terumah)
being only d'rabanan is the lack of certain other criteria (such as bias
kulchem). If so, then being in Eretz Yisrael would be a clear winner,
having two d'Oraisa kedushas (Shabbos and Eretz Yisrael).

Akiva Miller


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On 15-Apr-12 5:39 PM, Prof. Levine wrote:
> Yesterday in EY was just Shabbos,  whereas here it was both Shabbos 
> and the 8th Day of Yom Tov.  Therefore, it seems to me that there was 
> more kedusha here yesterday than in EY.
>
Yesterday, EY had the additional kedusha - of EY.

Today, EY has the kedusha of EY, whereas there, there is none.

Tomorrow...

Akiva

At 09:41 PM 4/15/2012, Rn T. Katz wrote:
>
>On every yom tov sheni shel galuyos we have yom tov when those in E'Y do
>not.  We have that extra day because of sefeka deyoma, i.e., BECAUSE we are
>in galus.  What you are suggesting is that it is in general better to be in
>galus than in E'Y because our doubt as to what day it is somehow increases
>kedusha!  Needless to say this seems prima facie absurd to me.
>Additionally, it is only on yom tov that the day approximates the 
>level of  kedusha
>that is present in E'Y every day of the year, which is why we only have
>duchening on yom tov while they duchen in E'Y every day.

First of all,  I believe that some "real" Sefardim duchan every 
Shabbos in Chutz L'Aretz.  Secondly, IIRC R. Noson Adler instituted 
duchening everyday in his minyan in Frankfurt.  (I may be wrong about 
this and it may have been just on Shabbos.) Thus, I do not exactly 
see the connection between duchening and kedusha in EY.

Be this as it may,  the kedusha of EY might well be a "double edged sword."

Many years ago I asked Rabbi Dovid Kronglass, ZT"L, who was the 
Mashgiach of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel,  about moving to Eretz Yisroel. 
After all, I said, Orthodox Jews are interested in doing mitzvahs, 
and one can certainly do more mitzvahs in Israel. He responded by 
pointing out that the mitzvahs that one can do in Israel are only of 
rabbinical origin at this time. Furthermore, he went on, one has to 
keep in mind the following.

The land of Israel has a special Kedushah (holiness). Therefore, if 
one does a mitzvah there, one gets more reward than if one does the 
exact same mitzvah here. However, if one does something wrong, G-D 
forbid,  in Israel, it is much worse than if one does the same wrong 
here. "You just don't go to Israel," he told me. "You have to be on 
the right spiritual level before you go."

Based on this I conclude that for those people who are not on the 
right spiritual level it is "better" for them to remain in Golus.

For the record,  I have no idea what the "right spiritual level" is.  YL


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In a message dated 4/16/2012 7:21:13 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
llev...@stevens.edu writes:

>>Many years ago I asked Rabbi Dovid Kronglass, ZT"L, who was the  
Mashgiach of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel,  about moving to Eretz Yisroel. After  all, I 
said, Orthodox Jews are interested in doing mitzvahs, and one can  certainly do 
more mitzvahs in Israel. He responded by pointing out that the  mitzvahs 
that one can do in Israel are only of rabbinical origin at this time.  
Furthermore, he went on, one has to keep in mind the following.

The  land of Israel has a special Kedushah (holiness). Therefore, if one 
does a  mitzvah there, one gets more reward than if one does the exact same 
mitzvah  here. However, if one does something wrong, G-D forbid,  in Israel, 
it is  much worse than if one does the same wrong here. "You just don't go to 
 Israel," he told me. "You have to be on the right spiritual level before 
you  go."<<

 
>>>>>
 
 
Maybe his answers were tailored to his questioners, based on his insights  
into the person asking the question. Most likely this answer was just for 
you.  It is certainly not the normative Orthodox hashkafa, for frum Jews to 
/davka/  remain in chutz la'aretz and leave the running and settling of Eretz 
Yisrael  davka to secular Israelis and to the occasional, rare, tzaddik 
gamur. As a  general rule, frum yet imperfect Jews who go to E'Y, either to 
learn for a few  years or to live there, find that their spiritual level becomes 
more and more  elevated there.


--Toby Katz
=============
Romney -- good  values, good family, good  hair


------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 


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Here?s a related Q

Why does the Passuk by Pesach say (16:3), ?so that you will remember...?
(lmaan tizkor) - what is this end of the passuk modifying? The eating of the
matza, or the departing in haste?

Rashi says it?s the eating of the matza. How is eating matza in April going
to help me remember in November?
Sforno agrees that it?s eating the matza, and he connects it to the
springtime requirement, which will require us to adjust the calendar and
therefore always be cognizant. But according to this, the goal of
remembering every day only applies to the Sanhedrin and by the way, there is
no reason to worry about it every day, because they only had to start
worrying about the calendar in Adar.

If however we say that the ?in order? is going on the leaving in haste, then
it makes sense - ?I made you leave in haste in order that you would remember
every day of your life? - and indeed, that event made such an impression
that when we mention it in our daily prayers and Shabbos Kiddush etc one has
a very strong memory of it.

This is not necessarily going against Rashi. Maybe Rashi means eating matza
etc. as part of the annual re-enactment that we do in order that we should
revitalize that memory and enable our daily memory of it to remain fresh.

If so, then this may also answer Micha?s question. When I am reliving the
Exodus, there is no greater joy than that! This memory is what gives my life
meaning! No commandment needed. The other two holidays don?t have the
reliving-the-Exodus aspect. They are commemorations, but not re-enactments.
After all, the first passuk of Dayenu is ?If He had only taken us out of
Egypt? - so that?s the starting point of appreciation.

My 2-bits, as my grandfather would have said.

Alexander Seinfeld


On 4/15/12 9:41 PM, "avodah-requ...@lists.aishdas.org"
<avodah-requ...@lists.aishdas.org> wrote:

> From: Micha Berger <mi...@aishdas.org>
> 
> I noticed something odd about the leining for the 8th day of Pesach.
> (Devarim 16).
> 
> Pesach and Matzos are not called a chag, nor is there any mention
> of simchah. Shavuos is "chag Shvuos" (v 9) and "vesamachta lifnei H'
> E-lokekha" (v 10). Similarly "chas haSukos" (v 13) and "vesamachta
> bechagekha" (v 14). But Pesach is just about the qorban, matzah and
> chameitz. No notion of holiday or of joy -- although there is in Emor.
> Why not?
> 

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On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 10:10:24AM -0400, Zev Sero wrote:
>> The practical significance of the question
>> involves the correct pronunciation of the word which follows "lana"
>> and which precedes "yisrael".  If that word is Hebrew, the qamatz
>> underneath the khaf is a qamatz qatan, and the word should rhyme with
>> "tall".

> Is it?  AFAIK that is only true in Modern Ivrit.  AIUI, Sefardim say
> "kal nidrei", not "kol".

What is your "that"? The qamatz qatan of "kol"? Or are you suggesting that
Israeli Hebrew has the near-cholam of qamatz qatan, but Sefaradim do not.

I do not think either is true. IOW, I do think that "kol" was noted as
having a qamatz qatan even back in Ben Asher, and is pronounced almost
like a cholam by many [most?] Sepharadi qehillos and Eidos haMizrach.
(And, I have a suspicion, even among many who spoke Galitzianish for the
qamatz qatan to be like the qamatz of other East Europeans. It's hard
to tell nowadays, when intermingling of accents reduced the number of
consistent Galitznianish speakers.)

And, FWIW, everything I said above for qamatz qatan also applies to
chataf-qamatz, as that is a qamatz *qatan* which is chatufah. (Or more
accurately, a sheva na that sounds qamatz-qatan like.)

The case I recall from other internet discussions (RMP?) is from the
Michlol 73a, where the Radaq says that Chazal did not say to stop in
Shema between bekhol and levavekha when it lists words that one should
be careful not to run into each other. (The two words are connected
with a maqaf.) The Radaq recommends splitting the two, but doing so
"balashon", which is something I do not understands, but different than
the usual inter-word pause. That in itself is worth a thread. But what's
relevent here...

The Radaq's sevara is that if Chazal had told us to pause, it would mean
that they would have turned the vowel in "bekhol" to a cholam. Which
implies that a qamatz qatan (a term I think he coined, BTW) did sound
much like a cholam, and not a patach.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 9th day, which is
mi...@aishdas.org        1 week and 2 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Gevurah sheb'Gevurah: When is strict justice
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            most appropriate?

>>>In the Hagaddah, we go through the math of how many makkot there were in
mitzrayim and at the yam suf. We say that since each maka in mitzrayim was
an "etzba" and at the yam suf it was a "yad" that there were 5X as many
plagues at the yam than in Egypt.>>>

==================================================
This reminds me of the following question that I heard from R'
Reisman:  a finger is not one-fifth of a hand, because a hand includes
the palm - so, in reality, a finger is probably closer to only
one-tenth of a hand - so why is the Haggadah talking about a finger
being one-fifth of a hand?

IIRC, R' Reisman answered in the name of the Chasam Sofer that when
chazal speak about a "yad," they are really only referring to the
fingers and not the palm.  We see this from the fact that one is
yotzei netilas yadayim when one washes only the fingers (and not the
palm) (as we do on Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur) and from the fact that
we call what the kohanim do during duchening as "nesias kapayim" and
not "nesias yadayim" since they lift their fingers *and* their palms
when they duchen.

KT,
Aryeh

While  Rabi Akiva was counting out 250  plagues and 50 on the sea ,  Roman
Emperor Hadrian was terrorizing  the Eretz Yisrael inhabitants, using every
cruel means available to him.  With each new torture or hanging, arose from
the people an outcry for revenge, for rebellion no matter at any costs. He
may have sought to portray the Romans as just another wave of oppression,
which can be waited out and weathered.

Whatever cruel tactics Rome could originate, Par'oh had used similar or
more intimidating tactics. The Haggadah teaches us that not even one of
Par'oh's deeds and plots was overlooked. Every one was noted and punished.
Only a sampling is given in the "Pshuto shel mikra".  Hadrian's punishment
was just as sure to come.

Punishment of the Mirzri nation, were that the only goal,  could have
tarried  decades longer.  The urgent matter was the impending collapse and
assimilation into Mitzrayim of the oppressed Bnai Yisra'el.  Immediate
action  was necessary to preserve their identity and save their mission.

The Guardian of the Jews saw a danger of many of the enslaved Jews
relinquishing their self-image as the noble Inheritors of Avraham Avinu's
mission.  In "my Haggadah" - each and every Jew needed "confidence building
measures"  showing them  that Hashem had not forsaken them before.

By accounting for all the suffering inflicted upon them, punishing each and
every act immediately, Hashem created or strengthened his connection with
them as a caring dependable guide. With a dependable guide, with a recent
track record of visible reward and punishment, Hashem created the
foundation of  trust and mutual confidence necessary for Yetzias Mitzrayim
and Har Sinai's covenant.

It was not sufficient to provide Manna and water in the parched desert -
they were scared that their freedom was but a brief interlude. Par'oh's
armies were still intact.

Possibly, it was necessary to change the Mitzriyish "vox populi", to
convince every Mitzri that  Bnei Yisra'eil should be treated better than
their Ram Gods, as the individual Jews are more powerful.  Rabeinu Yonah al
Hatorah poihts this out - (IMHO) that the gifts of clothing etc. were in
the way of veneration.   That explains why it was predicted so specifically
in Parshas Shmos.

[Texchnical point: Since the veneration was of the One Hashem, venerating
the Jews  was not Avodah Zarah. Also where necessary, a Bitul of the Avodah
Zarah before the gift.  ]

If I am partially or totally correct, that would be effective in making the
enslaved nation into a powerful independent group.  Each visible and
accountable meting out of fair justice, provided confidence in Hashem for
 the individual Jews, and for the entire nation.

If the Mitzrim forsook their Dog Star  and their Rams -  that would give
the Jews great confidence that the Geula was real and reliable. Part of
this individuation and separation - was from hearing their former
oppressors plead with them to leave, to save the Mitzrim further punishment.

Time after time,  they heard the Mirzrim admit that Hashem was all
powerful, and "engaged" - active. Par'oh  and his officials announced that
their idols their Gods - had been futile and of no effect.

Mitzrayim saw that it was futile to resist Hashem. Yisrael saw the Mitzrim
defeated, and the Presence of Hashem and his complete justice.  That gave
them confidence, that whatever evils plots Empires would plot against them,
Hashem would still be watching over them.

An important aspect of this  dramatization was for each evil inflicted by
the Oppressors - receive specific punishment in proper measure. .

Not only the original mild oppression, but also each of the escalations,
were planned to destroy the identity and morale of the Bnei Avraham, who as
yet had no firm identity.  Doubtless there were heiroglyphic manuals for
oppression of slave nations.  All were applied ruthlessly.

 As the Piyut says, Nagof L'mitzraim V'rafo L'yisra'el. The erstwhile
slaves needed to see their former masters admitting they were powerless
before Hashem. - a great turn=around. The proportionate nature of it gave
confidence that even in the darkest times, Hashem was dutifully watching
over them.

Summa cum laude, the highest praise, Hagada  counts even Rabi Akiva's 300
Makos.  Rabi Akiva teaches  that however much doubled and redoubled
destructive measures Rome utilizes, never will they achieve their aim,
never can they destroy the Jewish People.

Par'oh already had used every method and strategy, and it availed him not
at all. He received his full "Four Cups" of punishment.  Hadrian and Rome -
both in Rome and on the seas - could expect that they would soon come to
the same fate.
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