שמעתי בשם מורי ענין עשר מכות לפרעה, כי השכחה נקרא פרעה, ומכות ד"ם שהוא שם מ"ה חסר א' הוא מכה לפרעה שהיא השכחה, מה שאין כן לישראל היה מים שם מ"ה מים שאין להם סוף וכו', וכן צפ"ר דע"ה, כי צפר לשון צפרא נהיר (תרגום אונקלוס פ' מקץ בפסוק הבוקר אור), ודעה הוא היפך השכחה הנקרא פרעה לכשך היה זה מכה לפרעה מה שאין כן לישראל היה צפר דעה והבן ודפח"ח: (תוי"י בשלח דנ"ג ע"ג).
I heard in the name of my Master the nature of the Ten Plagues in regard to Pharaoh. The plague of “blood” (דם) has [the numerical value of] one less than the Name Mah (מ"ה). 5When the Tetragrammaton is spelled out in full, using the letter aleph, as follows: יוד-הא-ואו-הא, it has the numerical value of 45, “Mah” in Hebrew.Thus, it was a plague for Pharaoh, who is forgetfulness,6In parashas Bo, R. Jacob Joseph explains that Pharaoh is the aspect of the “neck” (oreph), and both share the same letters (פרעה – עורף). Kabbalistically, “neck” and “face” are spiritual opposites. “Face” represents Divine illumination, as in the verse: “May G-d shine His face upon you and be gracious to you” (Numbers 6:24), just as on the human level, a person’s face reveals the light of his soul. The neck, on the other hand, is behind the face and lacks all illumination. Furthermore, the neck is the narrow junction between the head and the heart; i.e. between the realization that G-d exists and the integrations of that knowledge into one’s life. Moses was the aspect of Da'at, for he sought to reveal Divinity in the world, to unite the “head” with the “heart.” Pharaoh opposed that revelation. Thus, according to the Midrash, Pharaoh sought to cut of Moses’ head. However, a miracle occurred and Moses’ neck turned into marble, signifying that his Da'at was unbreakable. whereas for Israel, it was water without limit.7The Midrash says that the plague of blood only affected the Egyptians; the Jews had water. Likewise, tzefar-deah (i.e. the plague of frogs8The Hebrew word for “frog” is tzefardeah. The Baal Shem Tov divides the word into two, as he will explain.). For the word tzefar means “light,”9In Aramaic. and deah (“wisdom”) is the opposite of forgetfulness, which is Pharaoh.10Deah means thought or wisdom, and usually refers to “Da'at” which means mystical knowledge of G-d. Thus, it was a plague to Pharaoh, but for Israel it was “the Light of Wisdom.” Toldos Yaakov Yosef, Beshalach
שמעתי בשם מורי ענין עשר מכות לפרעה, כי השכחה נקרא פרעה, ומכות ד"ם שהוא שם מ"ה חסר א' הוא מכה לפרעה שהיא השכחה, מה שאין כן לישראל היה מים שם מ"ה מים שאין להם סוף וכו', וכן צפ"ר דע"ה, כי צפר לשון צפרא נהיר (תרגום אונקלוס פ' מקץ בפסוק הבוקר אור), ודעה הוא היפך השכחה הנקרא פרעה לכשך היה זה מכה לפרעה מה שאין כן לישראל היה צפר דעה והבן ודפח"ח:
(תוי"י בשלח דנ"ג ע"ג).
I heard in the name of my Master the nature of the Ten Plagues in regard to Pharaoh. The plague of “blood” (דם) has [the numerical value of] one less than the Name Mah (מ"ה). 5When the Tetragrammaton is spelled out in full, using the letter aleph, as follows: יוד-הא-ואו-הא, it has the numerical value of 45, “Mah” in Hebrew.Thus, it was a plague for Pharaoh, who is forgetfulness,6In parashas Bo, R. Jacob Joseph explains that Pharaoh is the aspect of the “neck” (oreph), and both share the same letters (פרעה – עורף). Kabbalistically, “neck” and “face” are spiritual opposites. “Face” represents Divine illumination, as in the verse: “May G-d shine His face upon you and be gracious to you” (Numbers 6:24), just as on the human level, a person’s face reveals the light of his soul. The neck, on the other hand, is behind the face and lacks all illumination. Furthermore, the neck is the narrow junction between the head and the heart; i.e. between the realization that G-d exists and the integrations of that knowledge into one’s life. Moses was the aspect of Da'at, for he sought to reveal Divinity in the world, to unite the “head” with the “heart.” Pharaoh opposed that revelation. Thus, according to the Midrash, Pharaoh sought to cut of Moses’ head. However, a miracle occurred and Moses’ neck turned into marble, signifying that his Da'at was unbreakable. whereas for Israel, it was water without limit.7The Midrash says that the plague of blood only affected the Egyptians; the Jews had water. Likewise, tzefar-deah (i.e. the plague of frogs8The Hebrew word for “frog” is tzefardeah. The Baal Shem Tov divides the word into two, as he will explain.). For the word tzefar means “light,”9In Aramaic. and deah (“wisdom”) is the opposite of forgetfulness, which is Pharaoh.10Deah means thought or wisdom, and usually refers to “Da'at” which means mystical knowledge of G-d. Thus, it was a plague to Pharaoh, but for Israel it was “the Light of Wisdom.”
Toldos Yaakov Yosef, Beshalach