Benefiting from the Makos: Reconciling Jewish Wealth with the Prohibition Against Profiting from Miracles

The shiur addresses a question posed by the Acharonim regarding how the Jewish people could have profited from the miracles of the Ten Plagues. Chazal tell us that during Makas Dam (the plague of blood), when the Egyptians had no water, they purchased water from the Jews, making the Jewish people wealthy. The Gemara (גמרא) elsewhere relates a story about someone who saw angels converting dirt into flour on a boat and wanted to sell it, but was told this was forbidden because one may not benefit from miracles (ein neheneh m'maaseh nisim). The fundamental question emerges: if benefiting from miracles is prohibited, how could the Jews have been permitted to profit from selling water during Makas Dam, which was clearly a miraculous plague? This appears to be a direct contradiction.