Kabbalah Library

“Live Dagim [fish]” means he has Daagot [concerns] about work, but he is alive. That is, he has the power to work and find ways to mitigate his concerns. But dead fish means his concerns cause him death, meaning that all his powers to work have died and he has no vital spirit, having no strength to work and find solutions. This is called “dead fish.”

In Egypt, when the Klipa [shell/peel] of Egypt was on the Jews, they ate live fish, but the quality of Egypt is called “dead fish,” as it is written, “The fish that were in the Nile died,” unlike the fish of the Jews, which are alive.

If the concerns are in order to achieve the aim to bestow, this is the concern of Israel, who is concerned over why he is not in the quality of Israel. This is unlike the concerns of the Mitzrim [Egyptians], for Tzar [narrow] means that he is under the rule of the Tzar, meaning the quality of mercy. This is the meaning of “The fish that were in the Nile died,” meaning that these Daagot [concerns] yield death, the death of the powers, and he cannot do anything.