The Purpose of a Mosquito—A Snakebite, Egoism, and Queen Vashti

The Mosquito (the Most Insignificant Creature)—A Snakebite, Egoism, and Queen Vashti

Our Sages, of blessed memory, teach us that anyone whom the Almighty appoints as an emissary—even a snake, even a mosquito—will fulfill his purpose. Nothing was created without a purpose. The Babylonian Talmud describes an incident involving the Roman Emperor Titus, who destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. After Titus captured Jerusalem, he began mocking Heaven and boasting: — “I defeated the G-d of Israel in His very own house, and He was powerless to stop me or prevent me from doing everything I wanted!” He entered the desolate Temple courtyard in triumph and ordered his servants to gather all the sacred vessels and load them onto a ship to be sent to Rome. When the servants had carried out Titus’s orders, he boarded his magnificent, lavishly decorated ship—his joy and pride knew no bounds. One day, the sea became turbulent. A huge wave rose up and nearly sank the ship. But even then Titus remained true to himself—he became enraged, seized the railing so as not to be thrown into the sea, stood up to his full height, and shouted: — “I see that the G-d of the Jews is powerful only at sea! He punished the generation of the Flood with water, and the Egyptians also drowned in the sea. When I was in His house, He was powerless to defeat me. Now that I am at sea, He has come to fight me! If He is truly a hero, let Him come onto dry land—and we shall see who will win!” The Almighty said: — “Wicked one! I will not repay you with a storm or tempest, but with the most insignificant creature of all those I created in My world!” The Almighty signaled to the sea, and it grew calm. When Titus arrived in Rome, the entire nation came out to greet him in festive clothing, carrying musical instruments: — “Great Emperor! Victor!” When the Romans saw the silver and gold sacred vessels from the Temple, whose beauty was unmatched in the world, they rejoiced even more. They danced and celebrated, carrying them through the city streets in a triumphal procession. Meanwhile, a special bath had been prepared for the emperor, and Titus entered it to wash and refresh himself after the long journey. He then put on his finest imperial garments and went out to receive the greetings of the aristocracy and the people. At that moment, Titus considered himself the ruler of the entire world—who could compare with him? Excellent wine was served to him in a shining goblet. Titus raised the goblet to his lips, and then, at that very moment, when he saw himself exalted above all creatures, the Almighty sent him the smallest of mosquitoes. The mosquito flew into Titus’s nose and entered his brain. At first, Titus barely felt the tiny mosquito. Later, he began suffering from headaches and became increasingly sad and gloomy. The larger the mosquito grew, the more forcefully it pounded inside Titus’s head. The pain left Titus unable to find rest, day or night. The finest physicians were summoned, but they could not help him. — “We have never seen such an illness before,” they said, “we do not know its cause or how to treat it.” But Titus himself knew the cause of the illness. He understood that it was repayment for his arrogant words spoken in the Temple and at sea. Yet even now his stubborn heart did not yield: he neither asked G-d for forgiveness nor did good for the people of Israel in an effort to atone, even partially, for his crime. He sought only diversions to ease his suffering. One day, he was walking past a blacksmith’s shop when the powerful blows drowned out the pounding of the mosquito in his head. He rejoiced at having found relief, but after 30 days the pain became even worse. Titus then summoned physicians and ordered them to open his head. The physicians carried out his order and found a mosquito inside Titus’s head, now as large as a pigeon chick. And when they removed the mosquito from his head, the wicked man died.  

The Purpose of the Mosquito

Our Sages teach that all creatures in the world, including those that may seem useless, such as mosquitoes, were created by the Almighty for the benefit of humanity—to heal disease. This is indicated by the fact that the words for creation, “briyah”, and health, “briut”, are derived from the same root in the language of the Torah; that is, a certain healing power is concealed within every creation. The Sages teach that the serpent-tempter, the Nachash, was embodied in the wicked Titus. It is said of the mosquito that it was created to heal a snakebite. We find an allusion to this in the fact that the gematria of the word יתוש - “yetush” (mosquito) is 716, which equals twice the gematria of the word נחש - “nachash” (snake), 358. On a spiritual level, this means that a mosquito’s bite contains something twice as powerful as a snakebite. Interestingly, 716 is also the gematria of the word מסירות - “mesirut” (devotion), familiar from the expression “mesirut nefesh” (self-sacrifice). By rearranging the letters of the word “yetush” (mosquito), we obtain the word “yeshut” (egoism). The word “yeshut” consists of the same letters as the name of Queen Vashti, the wife of King Achashverosh. Her death paved the way for the appearance of a new queen in the palace—Esther—and for the miraculous salvation of the entire Jewish people on Purim. This is alluded to in the blessing of Benjamin: “And toward evening you shall divide the spoil”—as is known, Esther was a descendant of Benjamin. As we can see, the Almighty endowed the mosquito with a power that opposes such negative concepts as the serpent-tempter, egoism, and Vashti. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov says an interesting thing in his work “Sefer HaMiddot”: “A wife’s love for her husband can be judged by the flies and mosquitoes in the home—whether they torment him or not.” (Based on the Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 56b, and the book “Body, Mind, and Soul” by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh)