"ובמרא גדל" (דברים כ"ו, ח): גורם ההפחדה במכות מצרים

The story of the plagues in Egypt describes the calamities that came one after another upon the Egyptians. It is most common to focus on the plagues themselves and their physical effect on the Egyptian landscape. This article views the plagues as God’s war against Egypt, which, beyond the physical damage that they caused,included psychological warfare as one of its war tactics.Four aspects of psychological warfare are examined here. The first chapter describes how the build-up of the plagues produced a sense of fear of "what tomorrow will bring." The second chapter discusses the warnings that were given before the plagues, which led to the belief that the noose was tightening around Pharaoh’s neck, even as he tried to evade them. The third chapter presents the factor of delay between the warning and the actual arrival of the plagues,and explains how that led to a constant sense of foreboding. The fourth chapter explains that despite the seemingly accurate warnings given before each plague,certain details – those most critical to Pharaoh – were intentionally left unclear,adding the fear of the unknown to the plagues themselves. These elements of psychological warfare, combined with the practical effects of the plagues,eventually lead to Pharaoh’s surrender and the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt.