“G‑d spoke to Moses, and said to him: ‘I am G‑d. I revealed Myself to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob’ (6:2–3)
G‑d said to Moses: I regret the loss of those who have passed away and are no longer found. Many times I revealed Myself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; they did not question My ways, nor did they say to me, ‘What is Your name?’ You, on the other hand, asked from the start, ‘What is Your name?’ and now you are saying to Me, ‘You have not saved Your people!’ (Talmud, Sanhedrin 111a)
You questioned My ways, unlike Abraham, to whom I said, ‘Isaac shall be considered your seed,’ and then I said to him, ‘Raise him up to Me as an offering’—and still he did not question Me. (Rashi)”
“In Parshat Va’era Operation Exodus from Egypt gets underway, beginning with the confrontation between Moses and Aaron on one side and Pharaoh and his team on the other. Seven of the Ten Plagues take place this week, and, as in the modern world, technology plays an important part in the struggle.
Before the Ten Plagues we have a “promo” – God tells Moses and Aaron to cast the rod before Pharaoh and it shall become a serpent (Ex. 7:8-10). When they do, not only is Pharaoh unimpressed; he summons his wise men and sorcerers (chachamim u’mechashfim), and chartumei mitsraim, the Egyptian magicians, do the same thing (turn rods into serpents) “b’lahateihem, with their spells.” Moses and Aaron have the last word – “Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods.” But Pharaoh evidently was not impressed; “his heart stiffened and he would not listen to them” (7:11-13).”
The True Purpose of the Plagues
“Parashat Va-eira is all action: the first six plagues descend on Egypt, and Pharaoh responds in kind, creating the dramatic and suspenseful story that will culminate in God redeeming the Israelite slaves from Egypt. The plagues are high drama, a fast-moving blockbuster film.
Blood. Frogs. Lice. Insects. Pestilence. Boils. My skin crawls and my scalp itches just writing about this batch of creepy, crawly, infectious plagues. The six plagues in Va-eira come in two sets of three plagues each (blood, frogs and lice; insects, pestilence and boils). In each set, Pharaoh is forewarned about the first two plagues and surprised by the third.1 And after each set, he refuses to free the Israelites.”
“This week’s Torah portion, Va’era, is set in Egypt. Moses has already returned from his exile in Midian. He has had his first and unsuccessful encounter with Pharaoh, who, in response to Moses’ request to allow the Israelites the opportunity to worship God in the wilderness, has placed additional burdens on the already overworked Israelite slaves. In addition to Pharaoh’s scorn, Moses’ own people abuse him for the troubles they believe he has brought upon them. Soon after it has begun, Moses’ mission already seems to have come to an end. He has failed as a diplomat in his attempt to negotiate his people’s freedom.”
“This special haftarah for Shabbat Rosh Hodesh is linked to these special days on account of its prophecy of redemption, found in its penultimate verse, where there would be universal recognition of God especially on Shabbat and Rosh Hodesh (verse 23). Earlier in the haftarah, though, the situation described is not as rosy. One particularly difficult verse seemingly describes a serious dispute among the members of the community after the Jews returned from Babylonian exile. The voices heard in the following verse indicate a debate over who were the authentic representatives of God: “Hear the word of the Lord, you who are concerned about His word! Your kinsmen who hate you, who spurn you because of My name, are saying, ‘Let the Lord manifest His Presence, so that we may look upon your joy.’ But theirs shall be the shame” (verse 5 according to the NJPS translation)”