The sixth and seventh plagues “Boils and Hail” represent the Sefirot of “Gevurah and Chessed” ( Justice and Love), finishing here the seven emotional attributes we possess.
BOILS was a plague in which the Egyptians developed boils in their skin which felt hot and itchy. This is the symbol of REJECTION.
In Kabbalah Fire embodies the emotion of rejection, the soul’s capacity to refuse a person or thing. Like a burn from fire, rejection is a very painful emotion in which a person feels alienated and awkward. The connection between fire and rejection lies in the fact that fire surges upward, moving away from earth. Yet there is also healthy rejection and that is when we are able to move away and reject unhealthy relationships or things that harm us. However, when our inner capacity for rejection turns into hate, bitterness and cruelty, like boils it becomes a destructive force that infects our lives and those around us.
The seventh plague HAIL and the last one in this Parasha of Va’eira represents “frozen love” and selfishness.
If fire symbolizes rejection, water embodies the qualities of love and kindness according to Kabbalah. Water is always trickling down nourishing what it comes into contact with. This is why Torah is compared to water.
Yet a person who finds himself in the Egyptian bondage knows only icy love- a love that is based only on self seeking motives. This person’s love becomes frozen like hail. This manifests when we love others because of what they give to us and not for who they are. A sincere love is the one in which we put the other before us.
Shabbat Shalom
Excerpts taken from “Ten Ways To Destroy Your Life” by Rabbi Yossi Y Jacobson
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