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VaEra (Exodus 6:2 - 9:35)
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Meaning of the Torah portion name
The portion is named "VaEra"
, literally "I appeared", because it begins with God revealing himself to
Moses and telling him that he appeared before the Patriarchs as "God Almighty", but did not reveal his name YHWH to them.
The portion begins with God revealing himself to Moses and repeating his mission of coming before Pharaoh and releasing the Israelites from their slavery. Because Moses is a poor speaker, Aaron is appointed to assist him and come with him before Pharaoh.
We then have a list of the descendants of the Levites, teaching us exactly who Moses and Aaron are. We are also told that when they came before Pharaoh, Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty three.
When Moses and Aaron first come before Pharaoh, Aaron performs a wonder of turning his staff into a serpent. Pharaoh's sorcerers do so as well, but Aaron's serpent eats their serpents. This does not convince Pharaoh to release the Israelites.
We then have a series of plagues which God brings upon Egypt, in an attempt to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. There are altogether ten plagues, and seven of them appear in our weekly portion:
| Blood: All the waters of Egypt turn to blood, while the Israelites are the only ones able to find clear water. However, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, and he does not listen to Moses and Aaron. | |
| Frogs: The entire country is plagued with frogs. Pharaoh is so distraught that he calls upon Moses and Aaron and promises to release the Israelites. However, after they remove the plague, Pharaoh reverts back to his previous position and refuses to release the Israelites. | |
| Lice: All of Egypt is filled with lice. This too does not soften Pharaoh's heart. | |
| Flies: Swarms of stinging flies fill Egypt. The land is ruined by the flies, and Pharaoh calls Aaron and Moses and suggests that rather than leaving Egypt, they sacrifice to their God in Egypt. When they refuse, Pharaoh says he will allow them to go to and sacrifice as long as they don't go far, when they remove the flies. But again, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, as God told Moses it would be. | |
| Murrain: All the livestock in Egypt are plagued with murrain, while the Israelite livestock is untouched. Pharaoh remains unconvinced. | |
| Boils: All the Egyptians are inflicted with boils. Pharaoh remains unconvinced. | |
| Hail: Before this plague, Moses comes before Pharaoh and warns him, demanding the release of the Israelites. God then brings hail which has fire in its center upon Egypt and it destroys everything in the field: people, animals and crops. Pharaoh calls upon Moses and Aaron and appears to repent, saying that he and his people are in the wrong and promising to release the Israelites. However, after Moses prays to God and the hail stops, Pharaoh's heart is hardened. |
List of dates
| 24 January 2009 | |
| 16 January 2010 | |
| 01 January 2011 |