modern plagues for a modern Seder

Ancient and Modern Plagues
(adapted from Rabbi Chava Bahle, Rev. Dr. Mark Belletini & Reb Seth Castleman)

Dam, the river turned to blood
the blood of devastating wars, choking the lifesprings that could nurture the world

Tzfardeyah, frogs
the extinction of many species – as many as 30,000 per year, rivaling the Great Extinctions of the past

Kinim, lice
the horror of great poverty

Arov, wild beasts
humans acting like beasts, animal passions inflamed in a hyper-sexualized world

Dever, blight
healing and health available on the basis of wealth

Sh’hin, boils
additives in our food, unnaturally fattening cows and unhealthfully fattening us

Barad, hail
soot and chemicals from factories and cars vomited into the sky, returning as acid rain & smog

Arbeh, locusts
six million foreclosures—our wealth being consumed by banks which pay NO income tax

Hosheh, night instead of day
long before the plagues, the Egyptians had trouble seeing what was going on around them—they refused to see the humanity of the slaves around them. We, too, often choose to not see. We ignore the exploitation of domestic workers. We scoop up cheap consumer goods without asking by whom they are made, in what conditions. We close our eyes to the tens of millions of people living in conditions of slavery in our world today (from Rabbis for Human Rights, North America)

Makat B’horot, death of the first-born
our children’s future hangs in the balance