The first week in March was reminiscent of the eighth plague from the Passover story as locusts swarmed into Israel from Egypt in biblical proportions.
The country was put on locust alert as the bugs, sometimes bird-like in size, crossed the Egyptian border in droves. The swarms of insects first appeared in Cairo on March 2nd and have been passing through to Israel ever since. The locusts first hit Qadesh Barnea, the site where the Jews encamped after they left Egypt. Israel’s Negev desert was most heavily attacked, but the locusts have traveled with the wind and reached central and northern Israel, even as far as Herzliya, Caesarea, and the Golan Heights.
The agricultural devastation is the foremost concern. Farmers are most concerned about the effect that the locusts can have on their crops, potentially causing millions in damage. The Agriculture Ministry immediately sent employees to spray pesticides to kill the locusts both by air and by ground in an effort to prevent any further damage. Hotlines have been set up for farmers to report swarms and address any questions they have about dealing with the insects and all of the repercussions for their harvests. In the Sinai Region, both Egypt and Israel are concerned with the aftermath of the infestation. “One swarm of locusts can gobble up 100,000 tons of crops,” projected Nader Noureddin, an agricultural expert in the area, which is “an amount sufficient to feed 500,000 people for a whole year.” While the pesticides should be a beneficial preventive measure, many fear the heavy spraying will adversely affect the wildlife in the process.
However, while many see the locusts as a timely second wave of a plague, others have been enjoying the insects as edible delicacies. Eccentric chefs and locust enthusiasts have argued that the bugs are kosher and have been serving them up in obscure, gourmet dishes such as salads, risottos, and pastas. Many Rabbis have spoken out against the recent trend claiming that although there is precedent in Jewish texts that locusts were once eaten, the practice is controversial because there is no confirmation that these are the same insects from that time. “We are not familiar with their names and marks and have no clear tradition regarding it,” Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said on Wednesday. “Communities with a tradition of eating locusts allow it but most of the people in Israel don’t and we cannot rely on the marks, even when it’s called locust.”
While the Agriculture Ministry has reassured all farmers and citizens of the affected areas that everything is under control, many still cannot fathom the irony of the timing and geographic details of the locusts swarms. With Pesach approaching, many may read the Haggaddah and feel disconnected from the events that occurred. As the commandment goes, “one must see himself as though he left Egypt.” It is most definitely hard to imagine slavery, wild frogs, and intense darkness, but the locusts currently invading Israel may help many fulfill this commandment at their seder by vividly experiencing an element of the eighth plague.