Parashat Va'era

Due to technical difficulties, Atara Snowbell's shiur has not been recorded this week.
The following is a synopsis of the shiur on parashat Va'era from Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010.

In last week's shiur we discussed Moshe Rabbeinu's deep internal moral

mechanism – as is displayed in the three events the Torah describes (Egyptian hitting the
Hebrew, intervening with the quarrelling Hebrews, and saving the daughters of Yitro
from the shepherds who attempted to chase them away). We contrasted this morality with
his lack of connection to the Brit of Avraham Avinu (since Moshe did not grow up as a
Hebrew but in the household of Pharaoh) as was most strongly demonstrated by the fact
that he failed to circumcise his son and bring him into the Brit of Avraham Avinu. This
was also demonstrated through Moshe's constant hesitance (at the Sneh and subsequently)
regarding God's mission.

In Parashat Va'era we see what transcribes regarding the plagues, not only as a
process with regard to bringing Pharaoh to the recognition of the God of Israel, but a
process of education and internalization with regard to Moshe's understanding of the Brit
and its connection to morality.

A moral being who sees evil wants to eradicate it. There is no tolerance for evil
according to the laws of morality. This is best displayed in Moshe's killing of the
Egyptian who was beating the Hebrew. A moral being has difficult questions for God in
the face of suffering. Why are the Hebrews suffering as slaves in Egypt? We used this to
explain why Moshe turned away from God at the Sneh. How can a moral God exist while
these people are suffering?

The Brit, in contrast, by its very essence is a long term process. Promising Avraham
Avinu that his offspring will become a nation in the Land of Israel after enslavement in a
foreign land is a 400 year process. It understands that many things must come together to
ensure a successful result. The Emori must have sinned sufficiently to justify their
eradication and expulsion from the Land of Canaan. The offspring must be forged into a
nation in the fires of slavery in a foreign land. Only then can the Brit be fulfilled.

Moshe is a strong moral personality, but has not been brought up in a Hebrew home with
the concept of the Brit. This explains much of his hesitancy. He lacks the ability to see
how a man with a speech impediment will bring about the freedom of the Israeli nation.
For this reason we claimed that Aharon was introduced into the fray. At this point in time
we know very little about Aharon. We do know one thing. He – as opposed to Moshe –
was brought in a Hebrew home and is rooted in the idea of the Brit. He comes to instill
this idea into Moshe as they together face Pharaoh.

But this idea is not accepted easily. Moshe and Aharon's initial failure at the end of
Parashat Shmot to free the Hebrews and the fact that their work load increased sends
Moshe back to God, complaining bitterly.
At the beginning of Parashat Va'era, God finally spells out in no unclear terms the idea
of the Brit to Moshe.

Moshe forwards this message to Bnei Yisrael – but they do not accept his words. It is
interesting to note that when Moshe reports to Bnei Yisrael that God has seen their
suffering at the end of Parashat Shmot – they accept his words. In Va'era, when he
describes the Brit to them they do not. One explanation is that they have lost faith in
Moshe since his coming only increased the weight of their slavery. However, this is not
the formulation of the pasuk, which states: "they did not hear Moshe because of their
impatience, due to their hard work". When Moshe arrived previously with a moral
message, stating that God intends to save them – they were willing to hear him, expecting
that he would jump in and change their lives. Now that Moshe's message is about a long
term process – a Brit – we don't hear "they did not believe", countering the previously
stated belief in Moshe; rather, we hear that they could not be bothered to hear him. Their
hard work, their enslavement and suffering does not allow them the luxury of taking
comfort in the fact that they are part of a long term process. They want to stop suffering
immediately. And so they cannot hear Moshe, due to their hard work – not because of
lack of belief, but because his message was not one will change their status immediately
– and so for the time being, they just had to keep working.

Moshe himself, being such a strong moral persona, fully identifies with the people. He
has a harder time identifying with the Brit God is set on presenting him with, a Brit which
transcends morality as perceived by the human eye, and which takes into account the
larger goals of a deeper process, sometimes at the expense of the here and now. This
identification with the people, and the need to go through a process Am Yisrael will soon
to have to be led through, might be the very reason he ultimately will make such a great
leader. But at this point in time Moshe too is still lacking patience, and several times at
the beginning of the Parasha questions his ability to face Pharaoh.

An out of place sections in this week's Parasha is the description of the generations of
Bnei Yisrael from Ya'akov down to Moshe and Aharon. Many explanations have been
given for this. Our suggestion is that this goes to the heart of the morality vs. Brit tension.
When Moshe once again displays hesitation for his mission, the Torah's response is in the
form of the history of the Hebrew nation, dating back to Ya'acov Avinu and beyond.
Today's suffering is not a cruel act of an immoral, apathetic God but is part of a long term
process of the Brit.

When despite all of God's efforts Moshe's agreement to go to Pharaoh is reluctant and
unenthusiastic, Aharon, who grew up with the concept of the Brit and relates to this idea
fully, is introduced as an assistant to get the message through. One would think that
Moshe is more dominant, while Aharon is merely assisting him in his mission. But a
closer read of the text shows that Aharon is the more active partner – the strong silent
type (a far cry from his portrayal in The Prince of Egypt). He is the one who performs the
actions at the outset: The sign with the alligator, and the first three plagues. The fourth
and fifth plagues come along without human action. Only in the sixth plague does Moshe
become involved. The sixth plague is somewhat transitional as far as Moshe's
involvement. Both Moshe and Aharon are commanded to take ashes into their hands –
but Moshe, finally taking a more active role, throws the ashes into the sky.

Throughout the process of Yetziat Mizrayim we read, between the lines, about Moshe's
process of identification with the Brit. Aharon, steeped in the Brit education, understands
his peoples suffering in terms of the Brit. He can therefore, without hesitation, accept
God's mission. The turn of events throughout the plagues is an educational process for
Moshe. He sees the wheels of the Brit turning. As the sixth plague approaches he is ready
to participate in the process – even bring suffering onto the Egyptian people – a
seemingly immoral action – because from the vantage point of the Brit more is taken into
account than a simplistic view of morality.

As the seventh and final plague in this week's Parasha – Barad – comes around, Moshe
is in his appropriate place in the driver's seat. From this point on he and only he will
perform the plagues and God's miracles. His struggle to understand the relationship
between the Brit and God's morality is never-ending – as is ours. But the process does
result in understanding, which comes across in the ultimate test of Moshe's leadership,
several parshiyot from now: When after the Golden Calf sin God wishes to wipe out the
nation entirely – Moshe uses the Brit with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya'akov as leverage
for Am Yisrael, begging God to adhere to His Brit, while overlooking the here and now,
and allowing Am Yisrael's survival. Here the roles are reversed, and Moshe waves the
very same Brit God so patiently waited for Moshe to internalize as a reason to forgive
Am Yisrael, saving them once again.

***

Questions and comments: asnowbell@gmail.com