5780 - bpipn mdxa` [email protected] 1 c‡qa HALACHIC AND HASHKAFIC ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY 181 - EXOTIC CREATURES AND KASHRUT PART 4 - LOCUSTS OU ISRAEL CENTER - SUMMER 2020 1. East Africa is seeing its worst swarms of locusts in many decades. How can these ravenous pests be stopped? ..... The locust invasion that swept over farms in rural Kenya from December 2019 has left farmers .... not only counting crop losses, but struggling with emerging environmental and health problems. The swarms have been the worst seen in Kenya for 70 years, and experts are concerned that swarms later in the year will be even larger. Desert locusts, or Schistocerca gregaria, have often been called the world’s most devastating pest, and for good reason. Swarms form when locusts’ numbers increase and they become crowded. This causes a switch from a relatively harmless solitary phase, to a gregarious, sociable phase. In this phase, the insects are able to multiply 20-fold in three months and reach densities of 80 million per square kilometre. Each can consume 2g of vegetation every day – combined, a swarm of 80 million can consume food equivalent to that eaten by 35,000 people a day. In 2020, locusts have swarmed in large numbers in dozens of countries1, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea, India, Pakistan, Iran, Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia. When swarms affect several countries at once in very large numbers, it is known as a plague. The Biblical locust plagues of 2020, David Njagi 7th August 2020, bbc.com2 A] THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS IN SHEMOT iM²¦ (c) :ip¦c«ªa§ r©i©e§ i­O¦ r© g¬©NW© ®i¨pR¨n¦ zŸp­r¨¥l Y¨p§`©½ n¥ i´z©n¨Îcr© mix½¦a§ r¦ d«¨ i´d¥Ÿl`¡ Æ'd x³n©`¨ÎdŸM« ei¨lÀ `¥ Ex´n§ `ŸIe© d¼Ÿrx§R©Îl`¤ »oŸxd£`©e§ d´W¤ Ÿn `Ÿ¸a¨Ie© (b) 2. l´k©`¨e§ ux¤®`¨d¨Îz`¤ zŸ`´ x§l¦ l­k©Ei `¬Ÿle§ ux¤`¨½ d¨ oir´¥Îz`¤ ÆdQ¨ k¦ e§ (d) :L«¤laªb§A¦ d­A¤x§ `© x²g¨n¨ `i¬a¦ n¥ i¸p¦p§d¦ i®O¦ r©Îz`¤ g©´¥NW© l§ d­Y¨`© o¬`¥n¨Îm`¦ i´Y¥a¨E L»ic¤a¨£rÎlk¨ i´Y¥a¨E LiY¤¹a¨ E`¸ l§ n¨E (e) :dc«¤V¨ d©Îon¦ m­k¤¨l g©¬n¥ŸSd© ur¥½ d¨ÎlM¨Îz`¤ Ælk©`¨e§ cx½¨A¨d©Îon¦ Æmk¤¨l zx¤³`¤ W§ P¦d© dh¨À ¥lR§ d© xz¤´¤iÎz`¤ ...... :dŸr« x§R© mr¬¦n¥ `­v¥¥Ie© ot¤¬I¦e© d®G¤d© mŸe´Id© cr­© dn¨½ c¨`£d´¨Îlr© Æmz¨Ÿeid¡ mŸeIÀn¦ Liz¤½Ÿa`£ zŸea´ `£e© ÆLiÆz¤Ÿa`£ E`³x¨Î`Ÿl« xW¸¤ `£ m¼i¦x©v§ n¦ Îlk¨ x¬W¤ `£ÎlM¨ z²`¥ ux¤`¨½ d¨ aU¤ r´¥ÎlM¨ Îz`¤ Ælk©`Ÿie§ mi¦®x¨v§ n¦ ux¤´`¤ Îlr© lr©­i©e§ dA¤½ x§`©A«¨ Æmi¦Æx©v§ n¦ ux¤³`¤ Îlr© L¹c§¨i dh¸¥ p§ dW¤À ŸnÎl`¤ 'd¹ xn¤`Ÿ¸Ie© (ai) Æg©EÆxe§ d¨i½d¨ xw¤ŸA´ d© d¨l§®i¨Nd© Îlk¨e§ `Ed­d© mŸe¬Id©ÎlM¨ ux¤`¨½ A¨ Æmic¦w¨Îg©Ex« b³d©p¦ 'dÀ «e© m¼i¦x©v§ n¦ ux¤´`¤ Îlr© »EdH¥ n©Îz`¤ d´W¤ Ÿn h¸¥Ie© (bi) :cx«¨A¨d© xi­`¦ W§ d¦ ÆdA¤x§ `© o³k¥ d¨id¨¸Î`Ÿl ei¨pt¨l§  cŸ`½ n§ c´a¥M¨ mi¦®x¨v§ n¦ lEa´ B§ lŸk­A§ gp©¾¨Ie© mi¦x½©v§ n¦ ux¤´`¤ ÎlM¨ lr©µ dA¤À x§`©d«¨ lr©´I©e© (ci) :dA«¤x§`©d¨Îz`¤ `­U¨ ¨p mic½¦T¨d© x¬W¤ `£ ur¥½ d¨ ix´¦R§ ÎlM¨ Æz`¥e§ ux¤`¨À d¨ aU¤ r´¥ÎlM¨Îz`¤ lk©`ŸI¹e© u¼x¤`¨d¨ K´W© g§ Y¤ e© u»x¤`¨d¨ÎlM¨ oir´¥Îz`¤ qkº©i§e© (eh) :oM«¥Îd¤id§ i«¦ `Ÿ¬l ei­x¨g£`©e§ EdŸn½ M¨ iz¦ `h²¨ g¨ xn¤`ŸÀIe© oŸx®d£`©l§ E« d´W¤ Ÿnl§ `Ÿx­w§ l¦ dŸr½ x§R© x´d¥n©i§e© (fh) :mi¦x«¨v§ n¦ ux¤¬`¤ Îlk¨A§ d­c¤V¨ d© aU¤ r¬¥a§ E ur²¥A¨ w¤x¯¤iÎlM¨ xz¸©ŸepÎ`Ÿle§ c®x¨A¨d© xi­z¦ Ÿed mr´¦n¥ `­v¥¥Ie© (gi) :d«G¤d© z¤e¬O¨d©Îz`¤ wx­© i©l½ r¨n«¥ Æxq¥¨ie§ m®k¤id¥Ÿl`¡ 'd´ ©l Exi­Y¦ r§ d©e§ mr©R©½ d© K´`© Æiz¦ `H¨ g© `³¨p `´U¨ dY¨À r©e§ (fi) :m«k¤¨le§ m­k¤id¥Ÿl« `¡ 'd¬ ©l lEa¬ B§ lŸk­A§ cg¨½ `¤ d´A¤x§`© Æx`©W§ p¦ `Ÿ³l sEQ® dO¨´¨i Edr­¥w¨z§ I¦e© dA¤½ x§ `©d´¨Îz`¤ Æ`V¨ I¦e© cŸ`½ n§ w´f¨g¨ Æm¨iÎg©Ex« 'd³ KŸt¸ d£©Ie© (hi) :'d« Îl`¤ x­Y©r§ ¤Ie© dŸr®x§R© :mi¦x«¨v§ n¦ i wxt zeny The first, and most famous, appearance of locusts - arbeh - in the Torah is as the 8th of the 10 Plagues. Key points in this account are: • the total devastation they wreak on plant life as they swarm into the land. • the statements that there had never been such a swarm of locusts in Egypt in the their past, and there would never be again in the future! • they came from the East on the back on a east wind, and were carried back to the East by west wind, and dumped into the Red Sea. 1. In 1954, a swarm flew 5,000 km (3,000 miles) from Mauritania to the Caribbean in just 10 days. 2. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200806-the-biblical-east-african-locust-plagues-of-2020 To download more source sheets and audio shiurim visit www.rabbimanning.com 5780 - bpipn mdxa` [email protected] 2 c‡qa ..... dzid ziaxrn zinexca mixvny ecbpk `ay itl ,dax`d z` `yp zigxfn gex - micwd gexe (bi) 3. ,l`xyi ux` ly gxfna mbe zinexc gex lk cbpk axrna ezvwn did seq miy ip` xne` - seq dni :iaxrn gex - mi gex (hi) :.ecbpk seq dnia dax`l erwz mi gex jkitl my i"yx In terms of the direction of travel of the locusts, Rashi explains that Egypt is to the south-west of the Red Sea but the Red Sea is both to the east and to the west of Eretz Yisrael. ik .dyn lyn cak didy epcnl ,m½¨lŸerd´¨Îon¦ Ædi¨d§«¦p `Ÿl³ EdŸ nÀ M¨ (a:a l`ei) xn`py ,l`ei inia didy eze`e - ok didi `l eixg`e (ci) 4. did `l edenke ,cg` oin ly `l` did `l dyn ly la` .mfb ,liqg ,wli ,dax` - cgi eidy daxd oipin ici lr did l`ei ly eze` :didi `le my i"yx Rashi raises the plague of Yoel Chapter 2, which says that there was never such a plague before! The reconciliation is that the plague in Shemot was of one species - arbeh, but the plague of Yoel was of four - arbeh, yelek, chasil and gezem. B] THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS IN YOEL i¬n¥iA¦ m­`¦ e§ mk¤½ in¥iA«¦ Æz`ŸG dz¨i§³d¨d¤ ux¤®`¨d¨ i´a¥W§ Ÿei lŸM­ Epif½¦`£d«©e§ mip½¦w¥G§d© Æz`ŸfÎErn§ W¦ (a) :l`«¥EzR§ ÎoA¤ l­`¥ŸeiÎl`¤ d¨i½d¨ x´W¤ `£ Æ'dÎxa©C§ (`) ` wxt 5. xz¤´¤ie§ w¤l®¨Id© l´k©`¨ d­A¤x§`©d¨ xz¤¬¤ie§ dA¤½ x§`©d«¨ l´k©`¨ Æmf¨B¨d© xz¤³¤i (c) :xg«¥`© xŸec¬l§ m­d¤i¥pa§ E md¤½ i¥pa§ l¦ Æmk¤i¥pa§ E Ex®R¥q© m´k¤i¥pa§ l¦ d¨­i¤lr¨ (b) :m«k¤iz¥Ÿa« `£ EWi´a¦Ÿd (`i) :xd«¨v§ i¦ l¬©ln§ `ª WŸex­iY¦ Wi¬a¦Ÿed ob¨½C¨ c´C©Wª iM¦µ d®n¨c¨`£ d­¨la§ `¨ dc½¤U¨ c´C©Wª (i) ..... 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