Congregation Netivot Shalom

Parasha Va'Era
Delivered on January 8, 2000 / 1 Shevat, 5760
Art Braufman

I don't know if I should be saying Shabbat shalom or Welcome to our Seder. At our Seders, we deal with today's Parasha VaAyra in great depth, so it was a real challenge to find something unique and educational that I can pass on to you. In my drashes, I usually like to find a particular theme and delve into it in detail. This one is different. Studying to prepare this drash was for me, to paraphrase a well-known book, the "Joy of Studying - Appetizers for the Soul". This parasha has so many interesting little Midrashim and I want to pass some of them on to you with the hope that you will find them useful at your next Seder.

Last week's parasha ended when Moshe complained to Adonoy that after he and Aharon requested Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, life had actually gotten worse for the Israelites. God reassures him with the words "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land." At the start of this parasha, God (Elohim) reveals to Moshe that God's name is yud-hey-vav-hey, which as you know we refer to as Adonoy. Adonoy reconfirms the covenant made with the patriarchs i.e. God would give the land of Canaan to them for their homeland.and He states, "I am Adonoy and I will BRING you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will DELIVER you from their bondage, and I will REDEEM you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments: and I will TAKE YOU TO Me for a people, and I will be to you a God . . ". You probably recognize that these verses are the basis for the four cups of wine at the seder. A good question to ask at your seder is why are the verbs in this order: Bring out, Deliver, Redeem, Take You to me for a people? Wouldn't Adonoy take them to be His people before He brought them out? The rabbis illustrate their understanding of human nature by stating that the major concern of the people was to get out of slavery; therefore Adonoy put Himself in their shoes and addressed their concern first - He would bring them out.. That's a good lesson for us when we try to convince others (such as our children) that we have their best interests at heart and we are only trying to help them.

God proceeds to instruct Moshe to return to Pharaoh and again demand that the people be let free to go worship their God. Poor Moshe, he thinks to himself "Oh sure, easy for You to say; I've heard that before". He tries for the third time to get out of this assignment, by complaining that even his own people didn't believe or listen to him, so why would Pharaoh listen to him, especially since he had a speech defect. Adonoy doesn't argue with Moshe, He simply commands both Moshe and Aharon to return to Pharaoh. In the commentary, Yalkut Me'am Loez, written in 1730, Rabbi Yaakov Culi says that this repetitive refusal to take the reins of leadership was an audacious challenge to God and was the real reason why Moshe was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.

This reluctance to assume leadership has relevance to our congregation, especially as we approach our next election of officers and board members. The Nominations Committee has identified many of us who do not want to become involved and take a leadership role. It's worthy to note that even with an event as momentous as the Exodus, when God intervened in history, human leadership was still required. Moshe and Aharon had to risk their lives. They had to endure the anger and scorn of their own people. They had to step forward to take the lead. The message seems to be that God helps those who help themselves. Without participatory leadership, there will be no synagogue. For us to reach our Promised Land, fulfill the needs of our congregants and our community, we need dedicated people to step forward and lead the way.

The Torah continues with the genealogy of Moshe and Aharon by mentioning only the first three sons of Jacob (Israel) who were Reuben, Shimon and Levi. So here's another good question for the seder: Who was Moshe's great grandfather, father, and mother? And the answers: Levi was his grandfather and Amram his father. One fact, I didn't realize before was that Amram married his aunt, Jocheved. Which means that Moshe's mother was his great aunt. This type of marriage was later prohibited in Leviticus 18:12. There also is a question of chronology with this genealogy. The Israelites were in Egypt for 210 years and Moshe was 80 years old when he and Aharon spoke to Pharaoh. Now, if my arithmetic is correct, that would mean that Jocheved, who was born when Jacob went down to Egypt, was around 130 years old when she gave birth to Moshe. The commentators don't seem to be too worried about this. But it does makes me wonder, what life will be like by the end of the 21st century when life expectancy is predicted to rise to 150 years.

Another question about this genealogy is why did the Torah start with Reuven and Shimon and stop at Levi, the third son? Why didn't it just say, Amram, the grandson of Levi, was the father of Moshe? Probably it was to show that just like his great grandfather, Levi, was not a firstborn, so Moshe also was not the firstborn. Moshe didn't inherit his position, he attained it through merit. This pattern is repeated throughout the scriptures including Jacob and Esau, Ephraim and Menasseh, and of course Joseph. The whole intent of the genealogy section is to establish the lineage and identity of Moshe and Aharon. The Torah says twice that these were the same Aharon and Moshe who spoke to Pharaoh.

God's plan and motivation for this whole drama is summarized when Adonoy states "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, and I will lay My hand upon Egypt, and bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord." To me the key is the last phrase, "The Egyptians shall KNOW that I am the Lord".

A major question, however, is raised by this verse: if God hardened Pharaoh's heart and made him repeatedly deny permission for the people to leave, what was Pharaoh's sin? Why should he have been so severely punished? Much has been written about this by almost every commentator starting with the midrash rabah. Rabbi Kelman in his book Learn Torah With . . has a very good drash about it in next week's parasha of Bo. Also Nehama Leibowitz devotes a lengthy section about it. Therefore, I will not go into depth on this subject, but there are a couple comments that I would like to make about it. For the first five plagues, the Torah describes this hardening of the heart in two ways. The first case "Va-yechezak lev Paroh", comes from the root "chazak" strength. So it means Pharaoh's heart was strengthened or you could say he was strong-willed. The second way of saying that his heart was hardened is "v-hach-bade et lebo", he, Pharaoh himself hardened his heart. The root for the word "hach-bade" which means becomes hard is the same root used for the word liver (kavade). The rabbis point out that the longer liver is roasted over an open fire, the tougher it becomes. Pharaoh was stubborn and the more he was put through the trials of fire, the tougher it was for him to change his mind. A pattern had been established that prevented him from letting the people go. After Adonoy had given Pharaoh five opportunities to show repentance and to change his mind, and he still didn't do so, Adonoy finally decided, after the sixth plague of Shechin - boils, to take stronger action. Only then, for the first time, the Torah says "Va-yechazake Adonoy et lav Paroh" "And Adonoy hardened the heart of Pharaoh".

The Pharaoh's self-destructive pattern is worth reflecting upon. How many times do we become stiff-necked, and what starts out as a seemingly innocuous response to a very minor incident leads us down the road of stubbornness and we refuse to change our behavior? We permit a pattern to develop that entraps us - we refuse to act differently even in the face of very powerful, obvious signs. We know we are hurting someone else and know that we are even hurting ourselves. Yet we cannot break out of the pattern and say, "I am sorry, please forgive me." Human nature can be so contrary and counter-productive.

Are we so surprised then to see how Pharaoh, ruler of the most powerful country in the world, a god figure, reacted the way he did? After all, his own magicians, some of them just children, duplicated the trick of throwing down the staff and having it turn into a serpent. Of course, even Pharaoh was surprised when Aharon's staff swallowed all the other staffs. Note that it was only after the serpents had returned to being staffs did Aharon's staff swallow the others. What is the significance of that? It was to elevate the message. If a snake had swallowed the other snakes, this could have been interpreted as an event of nature; that's what snakes do. But a staff swallowing other staffs, is not the norm. It took more than the staff incident, however, to convince Pharaoh. Even after each of the first two plagues of Dam (blood) and Sephardea (frogs), Pharaoh's heart hardened when he saw that his own magicians were able to replicate them.

Here's another question: Why is the second plague called Sephardea, a singular noun? Why wasn't it written in the plural "sephardim"? As we know, there were frogs jumping everywhere. Possibly, it's telling us that for change, either good or bad, to occur it starts with only one person - one leader willing to come forward. If that person is persistent, others are then attracted. That is why we need to be so vigilant and fight against vigilantes. The idiom "One bad apple spoils the barrel" reflects this thought. Evil begets evil and society can then be overwhelmed and overrun. Nazi Germany certainly demonstrated that. On the other hand, to create positive change, this type of focus and dedication is also necessary. This takes us back to leadership in our congregation. Someone has to have the vision of what we are and what we want to become and then communicate that possibility clearly so that others have the confidence to follow. One clear example of this visionary, dedicated leadership is June Safran and the success of her efforts with the Cuban Jewish community.

Another factor to consider about Pharaoh's hard-heartedness is that he didn't think things would get as bad as they did. Is that also a behavior we can relate to? As Isaiah says (6:9) "shimu shamea, v'al tavenu. Ur'u ra-oh, v'al tayday-u" "You hear indeed, but understand not. And you see indeed, but perceive not".

So in conclusion, what's the take home message? Why do we study this story in such depth for over 3000 years now? It's because we pray that through this repetitious study year after year, we will understand and perceive that the Exodus was the pivotal moment, the defining experience in Jewish history. That is why when we chant the Kiddush to sanctify the wine we say "zacher l'tziat mitzrayim", in remembrance of the exodus from Egypt. It's noteworthy that the Exodus is referred to rather than Matan Torah at Sinai. So when we say the Kiddush, let us not just let it run, without thought, off our lips. For this story is not the story of the stubbornness of weak human beings. It's the chronicle of God intervening in the history of the world. This renewed awareness, which recognizes God not only as a result of theoretical reasoning, but through actual historical experience, hallows us and calls us to higher tasks. Let us realize the sense of possibility that this story bring us. Just as oppression was escapable and a better life was possible for our ancestors, so let us see the possibilities for us to create a better life for others and ourselves. We pray that this experience of redemption shall be as real for us today as it was for our ancestors. Let it enter our psyches and affect our behavior. Let us be free from the bondage that entwines us and free to indeed be God's people.

Kayn Yhi Ratzon.