Va'eira

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Va'eira, Va'era, or Vaera (וארא — Hebrew for “and I appeared” the first word that God speaks in the parshah, in Exodus 6:3) is the fourteenth weekly parshah or portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the second in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus 6:2–9:35. Jews in the Diaspora read it the fourteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in January.

The Plague of Hail and Fire (engraving by John Martin)

1 Summary
- 1.1 The plagues of Egypt
2 In classical Rabbinic interpretation
3 Commandments
4 Haftarah
5 Further reading
6 External links

[edit] Summary

God spoke to Moses, identified Himself as the God of the Patriarchs, and acknowledged hearing the moaning of the Israelites. (Ex. 6:2–4.) God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites that God would free them, make them God’s people, and bring them to the Promised Land. (Ex. 6:6–8.) But the Israelites would not listen. (Ex. 6:9.) God told Moses to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, but Moses complained that Pharaoh would not heed him, a man of impeded speech. (Ex. 6:10–12.)

The text interjects the genealogy of Moses and his family. (Ex. 6:14–25.)

Melcha

Hebron

God placed Aaron in the role of Moses’ prophet, to speak to Pharaoh. (Ex. 7:1–2.) God intended to harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that God might show signs and marvels. (Ex. 7:3.) God told how Aaron could cast down his rod and it would turn into a snake, and Aaron did so before Pharaoh. (Ex. 7:9–10.) Pharaoh caused his magicians to do the same, but Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods. (Ex. 7:11–12.) Pharaoh’s heart stiffened. (Ex. 7:13.)

[edit] The plagues of Egypt

God began visiting ten plagues on Egypt. God told Moses to go to Pharaoh at his morning bath, demand of him to let the Israelites go to worship in the wilderness, and have Aaron strike the Nile with his rod and turn it into blood. (Ex. 7:14–18.) Moses and Aaron did so, and the fish died and the Nile stank. (Ex. 7:20–21.) But when the Egyptian magicians did the same, Pharaoh’s heart stiffened. (Ex. 7:22–23.)

Seven days later, God told Moses to have Aaron hold his arm with the rod over the river and bring up frogs, and they did so. (Ex. 7:25–8:2.) The magicians did the same. (Ex. 8:3.) Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron to plead with God to remove the frogs; Moses did so, but Pharaoh became stubborn. (Ex. 8:4–11.)

God told Moses to have Aaron strike the dust with his rod, to turn it to lice throughout the land, and they did so. (Ex. 8:12–13.) The magicians tried to do the same, but they could not. (Ex. 8:14.) The magicians told Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart stiffened. (Ex. 8:15.)

God loosed swarms of insects against the Egyptians, but not Goshen, where the Israelites dwelt. (Ex. 8:16–20.) Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to go sacrifice to God within Egypt, but Moses insisted on going three days into the wilderness. (Ex. 8:21–23.) Pharaoh agreed, in exchange for Moses’ prayer to lift the plague. (Ex. 8:24.) But when God removed the insects, Pharaoh became stubborn again. (Ex. 8:27–28,)

God struck the Egyptian’s livestock with a pestilence, sparing the Israelites’ livestock. (Ex. 9:1–6.) But Pharaoh remained stubborn. (Ex. 9:7.)

God told Moses to take handfuls of soot from the kiln and throw it toward the sky, so that it would become a fine dust, causing boils on man and beast throughout Egypt, and he did so. (Ex. 9:8–10.) But God stiffened Pharaoh’s heart. (Ex. 9:12.)

God told Moses to threaten Pharaoh with hail. (Ex. 9:13–19.) Those who feared God’s word brought their slaves and livestock indoors. (Ex. 9:20.) God sent thunder and hail, which struck down all exposed in Egypt, but did not strike Goshen. (Ex. 9:23–26.) Pharaoh confessed his wrong, agreed to let the Israelites go, and asked Moses and Aaron to pray to end the hail. (Ex. 9:27–28.) Moses did so, but Pharaoh reverted to his guilty ways. (Ex. 9:33–34.)

[edit] In classical Rabbinic interpretation

[edit] Exodus chapter 6

Rabbi Nehemiah cited the use of the words “will bring you out” in Exodus 6:6 to demonstrate that using the word hamotzi in the blessing over bread would mean that God “will bring forth” bread from the land — not that God “has brought forth” bread from the land. Rabbi Nehemiah thus read Exodus 6:6–7 to mean: “I am the Lord, the One Who will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” The Gemara reported that the Rabbis of a Baraita, however, read Exodus 6:6–7 to mean: “When I shall bring you out, I will do for you something that will show you that I am the One Who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 38a.)

Rabbi Simeon noted that in nearly every instance, the Torah mentioned Moses before Aaron, but Exodus 6:26 mentioned Aaron before Moses, teaching that the two were deemed equivalent. (Tosefta Keritot 4:15.)

[edit] Exodus chapter 7

The Tosefta cited Exodus 7:1, where the lesser Aaron spoke for the greater Moses, for the proposition that in synagogue reading, a minor may translate for an adult, but it is not honorable for an adult to translate for a minor. (Tosefta Megillah 3:21.)

The Tosefta deduced from Exodus 1:8 that Pharaoh began to sin first before the people, and thus as indicated by Exodus 7:29 and 8:4, God struck him first and then the people. (Tosefta Sotah 4:12.)

[edit] Exodus chapter 9

The Pharisees noted that while in Exodus 5:2 Pharaoh asked who God was, once God had smitten him, in Exodus 9:27 Pharaoh acknowledged that God was righteous. Citing this juxtaposition, the Pharisees complained against heretics who placed the name of earthly rulers above the name of God. (Mishnah Yadayim 4:8.)

[edit] Commandments

According to Maimonides and Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are no commandments in the parshah. (See, e.g., Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 2 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4. Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, vol. 1, 93. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)

Ezekiel (painting by Michelangelo)

[edit] Haftarah

The haftarah for the parshah is Ezekiel 28:25–29:21. Both the parshah and the haftarah describe God’s instructions to a prophet to confront the Pharaoh of Egypt and bring on Israel’s redemption. Both the parshah and the haftarah address God’s judgments (shefatim) against Pharaoh and Egypt. (Ex. 7:4; Ezek. 28:26.) A monster (tannin) plays a role in both the parshah and the haftarah: In the parshah, God turns Moses’ rod into a monster (Ex. 7:15); the haftarah describes Pharaoh as a monster. (Ezek. 29:3.) In both the parshah and the haftarah, God attacks the river (Ex. 7:17–19; Ezek. 29:10) and kills fish. (Ex. 7:20–21; Ezek. 29:4–5.) In both the parshah and the haftarah, God’s actions would cause the Egyptians to know (ve-yade’u) God. (Ex. 7:5; Ezek. 28:26; 6, 16, 21.) And in both the parshah and the haftarah, God proclaims, “I am the Lord.” (Ex. 6:2; Ezek. 29:21.)

[edit] Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:

Exodus 4:21; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8 (hardening Pharaoh’s heart).
Deuteronomy 2:30; 15:7 (hardening of heart).
Joshua 11:20 (hardening of heart).
Jeremiah 7:23 (I will be your God and you will be my people); 11:4 (you will be my people, and I will be your God); 30:22 (you will be my people, and I will be your God); 31:32 in JPS; 31:33 in NJPS (I will be their God, and they will be my people).
Ezekiel 36:28 (you will be my people, and I will be your God).
Romans 9:14–18. 1st Century. (hardening Pharaoh’s heart).
2 Timothy 3:8–9. Rome, 67 C.E. (magicians opposing Moses).
Revelation 16:12–16 (frogs); 17:17 (changing hearts to God’s purpose). Late 1st Century.
Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews 2:13:3–2:14:4. Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William Whiston, 72–74. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
Mishnah: Shavuot 5:3; Yadayim 4:8. 3rd Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 630, 1131. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
Tosefta: Megillah 3:21; Sotah 4:12; Keritot 4:15. 3rd–4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 649, 848, 1571. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2.
Genesis Rabbah 1:15; 5:7; 18:5; 19:7; 37:3; 46:1, 5; 82:3; 88:5; 92:7; 96, 97. 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Genesis. Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon, Vol. 1: 14, 37–38, 144, 153, 296, 389, 392; vol. 2: 754, 816, 853; 898, 929. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
Mekhilta of Rabbi Simeon 2:1–2, 5; 3:1; 15:4–5; 16:1, 4; 19:4; 21:4; 22:6; 26:3, 6; 35:1; 47:2. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai. Translated by W. David Nelson, 5–7, 9–11, 50–51, 54, 56, 78–79, 89, 93, 114, 117, 150, 209. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2006. ISBN 0-8276-0799-7.
Babylonian Talmud: Berakhot 38a, 54b; Eruvin 83b; Pesachim 53b, 99b; Rosh Hashanah 11b; Megillah 11a; Moed Katan 6a, 18a; Chagigah 13b; Nedarim 51b; Sotah 11b, 43a; Bava Kamma 80b; Bava Batra 91a, 109b–10a, 116a, 117b; Sanhedrin 12a, 26b, 58b, 67b, 82b, 90b, 111a; Shevuot 35b; Menachot 68b, 84a; Chullin 134a; Bekhorot 41a. Babylonia, 6th Century.
Qur'an 7:103–126, 130–135; 10:75–83; 11:96–97; 17:101–102; 20:42–73; 23:45–48; 26:10–51; 28:36–39; 29:39; 40:23-27, 37; 43:46–54; 51:38–39; 73:15–16; 79:15–24. Arabia, 7th Century.
Exodus Rabbah 6:1–12:7.
Zohar 2:22a–32a. Spain, late 13th Century.