We start in this week’s parsha and finish next week with a magnificent arsenal of plagues. The Egyptians’ first punishment was that all the water will turn to blood. But why start this illustrious lineup of showing G-d’s power with turning water into blood? Why did the water have to fall victim to be the lead off hitter?
We learn the main target was the Nile River, which the Egyptians misused for their idol worship. It was a source of bracha; the Nile would overflow and provide them with irrigation. Furthermore, the blood represented the blood they spilled for their actions, degradation, torture, and murder of the Israelites. The water was taken away from them because it’s a source of life. Water is very special and it was chosen, first, to teach the Egyptians a lesson. If you disregard the source of life, the source will be taken from you.
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan z’l teaches us how important water is. He begins by saying, in order for the world to exist; both liquid and solid are needed. Water’s characteristic is such that it involves change; it never stays in one place. Solid, on the other hand, is the opposite; it involves no change, dead state. If the world would exist with just solids, there would be no movement at all in the world. However, if there were only liquids, although there is the capability of change, it would not be able to hold any shape or form and there would exist instability. Therefore, solids need liquid and liquid needs solid in order for life to progress. In the world we live in, there is a constant change but it still retains its identity; a person constantly changes whether physically and spiritually and yet remains the same person. This is because of the co-existence of solid and liquid. Man needs water; without it you are like dust in the ground and that’s where you shall return. No water is mentioned in death because water represents change; change is life; change is development; development is fulfilling G-d’s purpose.
G-d has given us certain tools in this world through the Torah so we can elevate and progress ourselves. One of those tools is “mikvah”. When a person immerses himself in a mikvah, in the spiritual sense, his status changes; it’s a form of renewal, a rebirth because that’s the spiritual concept of water. Aharon and sons would immerse themselves in a mikvah not because they were impure, but to change their status to a higher level, so their prayers go through. This is the reason why we go to a mikvah before Yom Kippur. It’s the same with women; they change their status when they enter the mikvah. G-d warms up to them because of the power of the water. Their prayers are heard now because of their changed higher status.
Now we see the powerful tool G-d has given us – water.