Iran hit by plague of… crocodiles

April 21, 2024

By ADAM ELIYAHU BERKOWITZ

Reprinted from Israel 365 News

Iran has been hit by extreme flooding, and at least 18 people have died in flash floods that have swept the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchestan. Several villages were destroyed, and power and water were cut to around 300 more. Landslides that have blocked critical roads and communication routes. Government sources have indicated damage to water facilities in 289 villages and six cities.

Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday that heavy rains and flooding also hit the provinces of Bandar Abbas, Kerman, Sistan, and Baluchistan. Rivers overflowed, and residents were warned by the Department of Environment, highlighting concerns about “short-nosed crocodiles” being forced out of their natural habitats.

“Due to the floods, especially in the south of the province, in the Baluchestan region, short-snouted mugger crocodiles may get out of ponds.”

The statement asked the people to avoid approaching wildlife habitats.Residents were told to avoid unnecessary travel near the Bahu Kalat riverbanks, wetlands, marshes, and the peripheries of wildlife habitats until the floodwaters have fully receded and conditions stabilize.

The mugger crocodile is a medium-sized broad-snouted crocodile, also known as a marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from southern Iran. It can reach a body length of 16 feet and is a powerful swimmer, but also walks on land in search of suitable waterbodies during the hot season.

According to Jewish esoteric sources, the crocodile warning comes in time for Passover. The second plague in Egypt, normally identified as an infestation of frogs, was a scourge of crocodiles. This is the opinion of the 15th-century Portuguese commentator, Rabbi Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel who gives two logical reasons why tzfardeya means crocodile. The first reason is that the Egyptians worshipped a crocodile god. Understanding that the plagues came not only to harass but also to educate and to attempt to uproot the idolatry and decadence prevalent in Egypt, it would be consistent with Divine punishment to attack their deity. Abarbanel also cites a verse in Psalms that describes the tzfardeya as tools of destruction, a description somewhat difficult to ascribe to frogs.

He inflicted upon them swarms of insects to devour them, frogs to destroy them. Psalms 78:45

The Midrash Hagadol, citing Rabbi Yitzchak, notes that Moshe prayed that the tzfaradeya return to the waters of the Nile and not disappear completely (Exodus 8:7). “Every year these beasts emerge and kill people.”

In the 14th century, Rabbeinu B’chaye (Exodus 10:19) offers a similar description: “sometimes it comes out of the Nile where it lives, rising onto the river’s edge and swallowing whatever it finds, even two or three humans at a time. Neither spear nor arrow can overcome its body, unless aimed for its belly. Physicians say it is venomous and that touching its body, even after its death, is harmful to man.”

The heavy rains brought another plague along with them. Videos surfaced showing blood-red rainwater flowing on the island of Hormuz. While the phenomenon is not unknown, the event’s timing caused many to comment.

Just a few days ago, Iran launched a massive attack, targeting Israel with over 350 drones, ICBMs, and cruise missiles. Miraculously, the attack was largely ineffective.

Jews will read about the plagues on Monday night at the Passover seder. According to Jewish tradition and based on a verse in Micah, the ten plagues will reappear before the Messiah.

I will show him wondrous deeds As in the days when You sallied forth from the land of Egypt. Micah 7:15

Jewish sources predict that all of the plagues will reappear in the final Redemption but in even more powerful forms. It is written in Midrash Tanchuma, homiletic teachings collected around the fifth century, that “just as God struck the Egyptians with 10 plagues, so too He will strike the enemies of the Jewish people at the time of the Redemption.”

Nahmanides, a prominent 12th-century Torah scholar from Spain, wrote in his commentary on the plagues that the primary reason God punished the Egyptians was not for enslaving the Israelite people, but for dismissing God and his influence in their lives.

This concept was explained by Rabbi Bahya ben Asher, a 13th-century Spanish commentator, who wrote, “In Egypt, God used only part of His strength. When the final redemption comes, God will show much, much more of His power.”

Iran has been hit by extreme flooding, and at least 18 people have died in flash floods that have swept the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchestan. Several villages were destroyed, and power and water were cut to around 300 more. Landslides that have blocked critical roads and communication routes. Government sources have indicated damage to water facilities in 289 villages and six cities.

Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday that heavy rains and flooding also hit the provinces of Bandar Abbas, Kerman, Sistan, and Baluchistan. Rivers overflowed, and residents were warned by the Department of Environment, highlighting concerns about “short-nosed crocodiles” being forced out of their natural habitats.

“Due to the floods, especially in the south of the province, in the Baluchestan region, short-snouted mugger crocodiles may get out of ponds.”

The statement asked the people to avoid approaching wildlife habitats.

Residents were told to avoid unnecessary travel near the Bahu Kalat riverbanks, wetlands, marshes, and the peripheries of wildlife habitats until the floodwaters have fully receded and conditions stabilize.

The mugger crocodile is a medium-sized, broad-snouted crocodile, also known as a marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from southern Iran. It can reach a body length of 16 feet and is a powerful swimmer, but it also walks on land in search of suitable waterbodies during the hot season.

According to Jewish esoteric sources, the crocodile warning comes in time for Passover, which identify the second plague in Egypt, customarily identified as an infestation of frogs, as a scourge of crocodiles. This is the opinion of the 15th-century Portuguese commentator Rabbi Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel, who gives two logical reasons why tzfardeya means crocodile. The first reason is that the Egyptians worshipped a crocodile god. Understanding that the plagues came not only to harass but also to educate and to attempt to uproot the idolatry and decadence prevalent in Egypt, it would be consistent with Divine punishment to attack their deity. Abarbanel also cites a verse in Psalms that describes the tzfardeya as tools of destruction, a description somewhat difficult to ascribe to frogs.

He inflicted upon them swarms of insects to devour them, frogs to destroy them. Psalms 78:45

The Midrash Hagadol, citing Rabbi Yitzchak, notes that Moshe prayed that the tzfaradeya return to the waters of the Nile and not disappear completely (Exodus 8:7). “Every year these beasts emerge and kill people.”

In the 14th century, Rabbeinu B’chaye (Exodus 10:19) offered a similar description: “Sometimes it comes out of the Nile where it lives, rising onto the river’s edge and swallowing whatever it finds, even two or three humans at a time. Neither spear nor arrow can overcome its body unless aimed at its belly. Physicians say it is venomous and that touching its body, even after its death, is harmful to man.”

The heavy rains brought another plague along with them. Videos surfaced showing blood-red rainwater flowing on the island of Hormuz. While the phenomenon is not unknown, the event’s timing caused many to comment.

Just a few days ago, Iran launched a massive attack, targeting Israel with over 350 drones, ICBMs, and cruise missiles. Miraculously, the attack was largely ineffective.

Jews will read about the plagues on Monday night at the Passover seder. According to Jewish tradition and based on a verse in Micah, the ten plagues will reappear before the Messiah.

I will show him wondrous deeds As in the days when You sallied forth from the land of Egypt. Micah 7:15

Jewish sources predict that all of the plagues will reappear in the final Redemption but in even more powerful forms. It is written in Midrash Tanchuma, homiletic teachings collected around the fifth century, that “just as God struck the Egyptians with ten plagues, so too He will strike the enemies of the Jewish people at the time of the Redemption.”

Nahmanides, a prominent 12th-century Torah scholar from Spain, wrote in his commentary on the plagues that the primary reason God punished the Egyptians was not for enslaving the Israelite people but for dismissing God and his influence in their lives.

This concept was explained by Rabbi Bahya ben Asher, a 13th-century Spanish commentator, who wrote, “In Egypt, God used only part of His strength. When the final redemption comes, God will show much more His power.”