Va'era - וארא
"And I appeared"Torah : Exodus 6:2-9:35
Haftarah Ezekiel 28:25-29:21
Gospel : Mark 3
How do you think that these signs and wonders that G-d performed in Egypt affect us today?
Certainly, these are well known events, for many cultures have allusions to parting the red sea, hailing fire and brimstone, and many of the other plagues. These events do not just bring about a remembrance amongst those with Hebraic thinkings, but they are reflected around the world, even today. What do you think the warning is? Do you think that many of the naturally occurring events of these past years are warnings to the world today?
I wrote this Sunday evening. Monday, Haiti has an incredible earthquake. This is the week we discuss the plagues of Egypt. What is it that we need to learn from the L-rd this week?
ReplyDeleteSome interesting tidbits about the plagues gleaned from "Midrash Says" (Rabbi Moishe Weissman).
ReplyDelete1. The Plague of blood. Aaron raised his stick over the Nile because Moses did not wish to smite the river, since when he was a baby, the Nile had protected him while in the basket. The Egyptians worshipped the Nile as a god. Seeing the river turn into blood proved that it was not divine, but rather that Adonai was really the
L-rd. The plague of blood did not completely affect Pharaoh, because G-d desired to give Pharaoh an opportunity to do teshuva (repent). This plague, along with all other plagues only lasted seven days. Each time a plague was imminent, G-d would have Moses pronounce the plague to come for three weeks, and then the plague would last for seven days only. This also shows G-d's desire for repentance.
2. The Plague of frogs. While Pharaoh was personally not greatly affected by the plague of blood, the frogs went first into pharaoh's house. At first, there was only one oversized frog heading towards the palace. As the palace guards tried to kill this frog, other frogs began to proceed out of the large frog's mouth, and then from out of all the rivers and streams. The frogs not only came into all of the homes, but they also went into the bodies of the Egyptians, and lived. One Midrash tells about how frogs would even jump into the dough as it was going into the oven in order to contaminate bread. The example of the frogs alludes to Shadrach, Meshach and Abegnego's willingness to enter into the great oven that Nebachadnezzar had made, reasoning that if the frogs of Egypt could glorify G-d in their death, so too would they glorify G-d by going into the oven.
3. The plague of lice was not preceeded by warnings, but came immediately upon the Egyptians once the warnings of the last two plagues were ignored. The dust turning into lice freed the Israelites from slave labor, because there was no longer any earth with which to make bricks. Also, the other two plagues were able to be duplicated by Egypt's magicians. This one was impossible, thus the magicians had to deduce that the first two plagues were also from Adonai. At this point, the magicians are not mentioned again.
ReplyDelete*Having studied the first three plagues, a pattern can be seen for the coming of the plagues:
The first two plagues are announced, while the last one was unannounced.
4. The fourth plague is simply stated in Hebrew as "a swarm," or even more literally, "a mixture." English translations often imply the word "flies" or "insects" since they normally are swarming creatures. However, some Jewish translations imply the swarms were larger beasts, including lions, bears, snakes, scorpions, mice, weasels, birds of prey, insects, etc. Some stories even include large sea creatures slithering out of the sea and tearing off roofs, doors, and windows, allowing other beasts to attack the Egyptians. Even the domesticated animals began to bite and kill their owners. Pharaoh tries to entice Moses just to go a short distance to perform their services, but Moses insists that because they will be sacrificing sheep, they would be insulting to the Egyptians, since they worship sheep.
5. The fifth plague was fairly straightforward. The animals of the Egyptians died of a plague. The Midrash adds that not only did the animals die, but also the people who cared for them, including shepherds, camel drivers, horse riders and donkey drivers. Meanwhile, the Israelites' animals remained unharmed. Since many Egyptians were in the habit of stealing the Israelite animals, according to Midrash, any living animal had to be returned to the rightful Israelite owners, since their animals were still living. By now, during the plagues, the Israelites were retaining their wealth, while Egypt's was diminishing.
6. The sixth plague is significant for a number of reasons. First, this plague was instituted by Aaron, Moses, and Adonai. In the first three plagues, Aaron was to do something, in other plagues, Moses did something, and still in to others, Adonai Himself brought about the plagues. In this plague, all three had something to do. Second, this plague of leprous boils directly harmed the body of the Egyptians, while the other plagues mostly damaged their property. Finally, this plague represents the difficult Pharaoh would have in ever repenting. Rabbis discuss how in the process of sinning, people slowly one's conscience is eroded. The first time a sin is committed evokes regret; the second time, it seems permissible, and the third time the sin becomes a virtue in the eyes of the sinner. During the first five plagues, G-d's "hardening of Pharaoh's heart" indicates that Pharaoh still has an opportunity to repent. But during the stubbornness of this plague, it becomes more apparent that Pharaoh's repentance was not happening, and G-d's "hardening of Pharaoh's heart" is an end result of Pharaoh's choices. When looked at in this way, "hardening one's heart" is an act performed by G-d, but in no way violates Pharaoh's free will since he was the one ignoring G-d's provisions for repentance.
ReplyDelete7. The plague of hail is interesting because ice and fire do not by natural means exist together. In response to this plague, Pharaoh actually claims to have sinned agains G-d. At this point, though, G-d's hardening of Pharaoh's heart is becoming a supernatural occurence, where Pharaoh's repentance is less likely. Moses understands this, since he doesn't pray for Pharaoh in his presence, but instead leaves prays elsewhere. Furthermore, we see that the last three plagues in fact occur; thus we can deduce that Pharaoh's confession of sin was not an act of repentance. (So, if we confess our sins, does that mean we have not yet repented?) One other interesting Midrash note: Once Moses prayed for the hail to stop, the hail stopped immediately. So immediate, that some of the hail remains suspended in the heavens, where one day it will reach the ground. Some fell during the time of Joshua during one of his wars, and then again during the war of Gog and Magog. You will notice that this allusion to hail and fire in Revelations 8:7. Thus, this concept is plausible, that one day hail and fire will rain down from heaven. Why? As in all plagues, to bring about repentance in people.-