While discussing the plague of arov<\/i>, the mixed multitude of wild animals, the Torah presents a\u00a0pasuk<\/i>\u00a0which at first glance almost defies comprehension. When informing Moshe of the upcoming plague, Hashem says:<\/p>\n
(\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b8\u05dc\u05b0\u05d0\u05d5\u05bc \u05d1\u05bc\u05b8\u05ea\u05bc\u05b5\u05d9 \u05de\u05b4\u05e6\u05b0\u05e8\u05b7\u05d9\u05b4\u05dd \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05d4\u05b6\u05e2\u05b8\u05e8\u05b9\u05d1 \u05d5\u05b0\u05d2\u05b7\u05dd \u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b2\u05d3\u05b8\u05de\u05b8\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05c1\u05b6\u05e8\u05be\u05d4\u05b5\u05dd \u05e2\u05b8\u05dc\u05b6\u05d9\u05d4\u05b8 (\u05e9\u05de\u05d5\u05ea \u05d7:\u05d9”\u05d6 \u201c… and the houses of Egypt shall be filled with the arov<\/i>, and also the ground that they are on\u2026<\/b>\u201d (Shemos 8:17)<\/p>\n
The ground that they are on<\/i>? What does that mean? Of course the animals will fill up the ground that they are on, because, well, they\u2019re on<\/b> it!<\/p>\n
The Torah doesn\u2019t make mistakes. If we can\u2019t understand the possuk<\/i>, it must be that we are the ones missing the boat about something. Perhaps we can piece together a solution by turning to the Mishnah in Kilayim, which deals with one particular aspect of tumah<\/i>.<\/p>\n
A word about tumah<\/i> in general: There are various sources of tumah<\/i>, as well as various ways to impart it to someone or something else. A corpse, the quintessential source of tumah<\/i>, possesses the unique capability of transferring its impurity even without actual contact. This transfer of tumah<\/i>, referred to as tumas ohel<\/i>, occurs when the pure and impure are found together under the same roof. Although animal carcasses can transfer tumah<\/i> via direct contact, only a human body can cause defilement through tumas ohel<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The Mishnah discusses the status of the adnei hasadeh<\/i>, a species of man-like creatures, as it relates to tumas ohel<\/i>. The Mishnah (Kilayim 8:5) states:<\/p>\n
\u05d0\u05b7\u05d3\u05b0\u05e0\u05b5\u05d9 \u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05bc\u05b8\u05d3\u05b6\u05d4, \u05d7\u05b7\u05d9\u05bc\u05b8\u05d4. \u05e8\u05b7\u05d1\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9 \u05d9\u05d5\u05b9\u05e1\u05b5\u05d9 \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05de\u05b5\u05e8, \u05de\u05b0\u05d8\u05b7\u05de\u05bc\u05b0\u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea \u05d1\u05bc\u05b8\u05d0\u05b9\u05d4\u05b6\u05dc \u05db\u05bc\u05b8\u05d0\u05b8\u05d3\u05b8\u05dd.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdnei hasadeh have the (halachic) status of an animal (as opposed to having \u2018human\u2019 status). R\u2019 Yosi says they cause \u2018tent-defilement\u2019\u2014tumas ohel\u2014like a person.\u201d
\nThe Tanna Kamma<\/i> considers the adnei hasadeh<\/i> to be members of the animal kingdom; thus, they could not be catalysts of tumas ohel<\/i>. R\u2019 Yosi disagrees, and considers them similar enough to humans to be able to defile through tumas ohel<\/i>.<\/p>\n
So, what exactly are these adnei hasadeh<\/i> things? The Bartenura explains that they are creatures of the field who possess human-like faces, as well as arms and legs. These creatures are rooted to the ground by a cord which projects from their navels, which renders them stationary. Nevertheless, adnei hasadeh<\/i> are considered extremely dangerous, as they attack anything that comes within striking distance. The only way to subdue an adnei hasadeh<\/i> is by peppering its cord with arrows. Once the cord is severed, the animal expires. (See the Tiferes Yisroel<\/i> for a full and fascinating discussion regarding the reason we do not find such creatures in existence today.)<\/p>\n
Getting back to our discussion of arov<\/i>, Rashi explains that every type of wild creature was brought into Egypt during this plague. In light of Rashi\u2019s statement, the Vilna Gaon (Kol Eliyahu, se\u2019if 51) queries: How could the adnei hasadeh<\/i> be transported to Egypt? They were, after all, rooted to the ground; should their terrestrial umbilical chords be severed, they would not survive. Therefore, concludes the Gaon, it must be that Hashem transported the very earth to which they were connected<\/i>! In other words, with the adnei hasadeh<\/i>, it was a package deal\u2014not only did they themselves enter Egypt, but their \u201cground\u201d came with them!<\/p>\n
The Hafla’ah (Panim Yafos) takes this idea one step further. In reality, animals only function at full strength in their native environment. A polar bear in Egypt, for instance, will lack the drive to operate at regular capacity due to its unfamiliar surroundings. In order for the animals to feel sufficiently comfortable in Egypt to perform their duties of attacking and eating people, they needed to be surrounded by their native conditions.<\/p>\n
For Hashem, obviously, this was no problem; He simply brought the animals\u2019 environments along with them. The polar bears came rolling into Egypt on their ice floes, the tigers with their jungles, and so on and so forth. Needless to say, the sudden influx into Egypt of not only hordes of vicious beasts but foreign habitats as well, had a devastating effect on the Egyptian terrain. (A glacier or tropical rain forest suddenly appearing in a city park or some choice farmland could be rather disruptive.)<\/p>\n
With these insights, the meaning of our seemingly cryptic verse should now be clear. \u201cAnd the houses of Egypt shall be filled with the arov<\/i>, and also the ground that they are on.\u201d The intent of the possuk<\/i> is not to say that the arov<\/i> filled the houses and the ground; rather, the ground<\/b> itself, which had traveled along with the adnei hasadeh<\/i>\u2014or according to the opinion of the Haflo\u2019oh, the ground which traveled with every animal\u2014filled the Egyptian\u2019s houses. Our possuk<\/i> teaches that arov<\/i> and their accompanying terrain shall both<\/b> fill up the Egyptians\u2019 houses, wreaking further well-deserved havoc on the householders.<\/p>\n
This geologic pandemonium which accompanied the arrival of the ferocious fauna into Egypt was but a tip of the iceberg of the miraculous events which Hashem orchestrated at that time. May we merit to witness the Final Redemption whose events will dwarf even those of Mitzrayim<\/i>, as the navi<\/i> tells us (Yirmiyahu 23:7-8): \u201cIn those days, no longer will people refer to \u2018the G-d Who took the Jews out of the land of Egypt,\u2019 but rather to \u2018the G-d Who… returned the… House of Israel… from all of the lands to which I had scattered them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n