Parshat Vaera: Walkthrough
Posted by Jack Kustanowitz on December 30, 2010 | Tags: Va'era
Loyalty to the literal text, with a modern voice [All editorializing in brackets]
Then God spoke to Moses, reintroducing Himself as the God of Avraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom He had promised the last [apparently, He was still trying to sound out the best answer to Moses’s question of what to tell the Israelites when they ask who sent him].
“Tell the Israelites”, God says, “that I will:
1. Take them out of Egypt
2. Save them from their labor
3. Redeem them with might
4. Reclaim them as my nation
[Note: we drink four glasses of wine on Passover to commemorate these four commitments.]
“And finally, I will bring them into the land that I promised their forefathers.”
So this is what Moses told the Israelites, who didn’t listen to him because their nerves were so frayed from all the hard labor.
So God told Moses, “Go try talking to Pharaoh instead.”
Moses replied, “If the Israelites didn’t listen, how is Pharaoh going to? And have I mentioned that I’m a lousy public speaker?”
So Aaron joined the conversation and God again told both of them that it was time to talk to both the Israelites and Pharaoh to get the Israelites out of Egypt.
[We now take a short break for some genealogy, which does fill in some gaps.]
Reuven and Shimon both had their children. Levi had three children, Gershon, Kehat, and Merrari. Kehat had four sons, one of whom was Amram, [who we now learn was the name of the “Levite man” who married a Levite woman (named Yocheved) in last week’s parsha].
So Moses and Aharon’s parents were Amram and Yocheved [Miriam is left out here, leading us to understand that we are learning the names of sons only, not daughters]. Aharon married Elisheva, and they have four sons: Nadav, Avihu, Elazar, and Itamar [who we’ll hear about later].
And Aharon’s son Elazar had a son Pinchas [who we’ll also hear about later].
Back to our story – this Aaron and Moses? You know the two guys God was telling to take the Israelites out of Egypt? The ones talking to Pharaoh king of Egypt? Same Moses and Aaron.
Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, God was talking to Moses in Egypt, told him to talk to Pharaoh, Moses protested that he was a poor speaker, and Aaron was brought in. [OK, we’re back].
God: “So you tell Aaron, and he will do the talking. But in any case, I will harden Pharaoh’s heart making him stubborn, and I will need to do many miracles. And he still won’t listen, so I’ll pull out all the stops. And then they will truly know that I am God.”
So that’s what Moses and Aasron did. Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh.
God told Moes and Aaron that when Pharaoh asks for a sign, Aaron should throw his staff down and it will turn into a serpent, which they did. But then Pharaoh called upon his magicians, who did the same trick. However, Aaron’s staff-snake ate theirs. [Remember Pharaoh’s dream of the skinny cows eating the fat cows?] But God strengthened Pharaoh’s heart and he didn’t listen, just as God had foretold.
[THE PLAGUES]
God told Moses: “Pharaoh is refusing to release the Israelites. So tomorrow morning, go meet him at the Nile, along with the miracle staff. Tell him that the God of the Hebrews sent you to him to tell him to release His nation to worship in the desert, but since he hasn’t listened so far, you will strike the water of the Nile with the staff and turn the water to blood, until all the fish die.”
And so they did, and they turned all the water in the Nile to blood; there was blood everywhere. But then the Egyptian magicians did the same trick, and Pharaoh remained stubborn. And the Egyptians dug wells in the meantime in order to find drinking water. This went on for seven days.
God told Moses: “Go tell Pharaoh to release the Israelites so they can worship Me. If not, I’ll send a plague of frogs all over Egypt. They’ll be in your house, in your bedroom, even in your bed – your servants will have them, they’ll get into the ovens and everywhere.”
And so they did, and waving his hand over the water Aaron brought forth the frogs, which covered the land of Egypt. And the Egyptian magicians did the same with their sticks, bringing even more frogs [which in retrospect, was probably the last thing they needed]
Pharaoh had enough; he called Moses and Aaron and asked them to ask God to remove the frogs, and he’ll let the Israelites go. “When would you like them gone?” Moses asks. “Tomorrow.” “Done – and then you’ll know that there is none like our God.”
So Moses did as promised, and the frogs all died, leaving a great mess. Meanwhile, Pharaoh saw that there had been some relief, and he reneged.
Now God gold Moses, “Tell Aaron to hit the earth with the staff, and the dust will turn to lice, which will then infest both man and beast.”
And so they did, and the lice was everywhere. And the Egyptian magicians tried the same trick, but they weren’t able to replicate it. And did we mention that the lice were everywhere?
At this point, the magicians said, “This is the work of God.” But Pharaoh still did not listen.
God told Moses, “Get up early and catch Pharaoh again by the Nile with the same demand. If the doesn’t listen I will bring wild beasts everywhere in Egypt. Only this time, I will discriminate between Goshen where my nation is living and the rest of Egypt – the beasts will stay out of the Israelite area. Then you will surely know that I am God. This will all happen tomorrow.”
And so it was, and the wild beasts came into Pharaoh’s house and everyone else’s as well, and they did some serious damage.
So Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron back, saying, “Go do your worship.”
Moses said, “Not just worship – we need to sacrifice that which the Egyptians hate [sheep – remember Joseph telling the brothers about this particular dislike the Egyptians had for shepherds and sheep]. If we do it here, they will stone us. We need to be three days distance from Egypt before we try this.”
Pharaoh said, “OK, you can go, just don’t go too far, just pray for me.”
Moses replied, “I will go pray to God and the wild beasts will go away, just stop playing games with us.”
So Moses did as he promised, God listened, and the beasts went away. But Pharaoh still did not send the Israelites out.
God told Moses: “Tell Pharaoh that the God of the Hebrews commands him: Send out My nation so they may worship me. If you still refuse, the hand of God will strike all the domesticated animals with serious disease. And once again He will discriminate between the animals of the Israelites and the Egyptians, and only the Egyptian animals will suffer. All this starts tomorrow.”
And so it was, the next day, all of the cattle of Egypt died, and the Israelites’ cattle weren’t touched. Even after Pharaoh learned of this, his heart was hardened and he didn’t send out the nation.
God told Moses and Aaron: “Take soot and throw it in the air within sight of Pharaoh, where it will turn into a dust cloud over all Egypt, and when it lands on people or animals it will turn into boils on their skin..”
And so they did, and the boils were on everyone. At this point the Egyptian magicians couldn’t even stand up to try to reproduce it, since they themselves were suffering from the boils. But still God strengthened Pharaoh’s heart and he didn’t listen to them, again as God had predicted.
God told Moses, “Go again early in the morning to Pharaoh, and tell him again that the God of the Hebrews commands: Release my nation so that they may worship me. Because I’ve been propping you up to withstand these miracles in order for My name to be known all over the world. And you’re still messing with my nation, refusing to send them. Tomorrow I will rain down heavy hail that hasn’t been seen since time immemorial. Anyone who takes Me seriously will move their animals indoors, and those who don’t will watch them die when the hail comes down.”
And so it was: Moses waved his staff at the sky and the hail came, but it was a hail of fire inside the ice, as Egypt had never seen. And the hail destroyed all the grasses and broke the trees. Only where the Israelites lived was there no hail.
So Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and told him, “My bad – God is righteous and I and my nation are evil. Pray to God and make this all go away.”
Moses replied, “I will do just that, so that you know that God controls the world. But I already know that you do not yet recognize God.”
And Moses did just that, left the city and prayed, and the hail ended.
Pharaoh saw that the hail had stopped, and continued to sin, as he and his servants hardened their hearts. Just as God had predicted.
|
Jack KustanowitzJoined: July 15, 2007 Jack is an Internet professional living in Silver Spring, MD. He is a proud alum of the Frisch School in Paramus, NJ as well as Boston University, where he was active at BU Hillel. Divrei Torah (32) |
