Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 29 Tevet 5784
Parsha Va-‘Era’: (Exodus 6:2 – 9:35)
Fourth Portion: Exodus 7:8 – 8:6

Good morning! Today is the last light of the previous moon cycle. Tonight we hit the new moon of Shevat.

The chaos of the last cycle is coming to a close. The repair work is being completed within us (for this cycle). We are going to start hitting order tonight. And. We will be magnificent in how we handle it. ESPECIALLY if we reflect back on how we would have handled it if these events happened a month ago as opposed to over the next two weeks.

It’s time to practice what we’ve healed.

And? When the full light of the moon shines? We will CELEBRATE.  Because the “New Year for Trees” (Tu B’Shevat) will arrive. And the repair of the past month, and the testing the first two weeks, will be GROUNDED into us like the roots of the strongest tree.

Then? We will have Chesed – Blessing – the last two weeks of the cycle.

So set your intentions today – what has the chaos brought into your life that is being repaired?  How do you want to lean into that repair in the month ahead.

Let’s dig in:

The context for today’s passage is being on the “right track.”  Hashem reassured us and Moses and Aaron.  And then he gave them THIS message:

8The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

9″When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Provide a sign for yourselves,’ you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff, [and] cast [it] before Pharaoh; it will become a serpent.’ “

“Provide a sign for yourselves” stands out to me here. Hashem is telling them – this first sign? Is for Moses and Aaron. It’s for us.  And it became the Serpent.  One Serpent.

I am reflecting here. The serpent was almost “responsible” for this mess, right?  The serpent is what tempted Chavah in the Garden. The serpent was cursed.

Yet here? The serpent is being used as a sign. In a sense, it is being redeemed, isn’t it? We often see snakes as “evil” yet here? Hashem uses it as a sign “for us.”

Let’s see what happens:

10[Thereupon,] Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they did so, as the Lord had commanded; Aaron cast his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

11[Then,] Pharaoh too summoned the wise men and the magicians, and the necromancers of Egypt also did likewise with their magic.

12Each one of them cast down his staff, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs.

So this is interesting. In my brain, I fully expected to read “There were three snakes -and Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs.” Again, my reality is painted by things not of the Torah – Thanks Charlton Heston and Val Kilmer. (Ten Commandments and Prince of Egypt references for those who don’t understand).

The one snake from Aaron consumed ALL the snakes from the “wise men and the magicians, and the necromancers of Egypt.” How many snakes WERE there? There could have been hundreds.  How much do we limit our own power? We think our snake/rod can only consume 3. But it could have been HUNDREDS of snakes – think – Raiders of the Lost Ark.

So the one snake of Israel – Moses/Aaron wielded this snake to consume the snakes of Egypt.  That’s power.

So – how did Pharoah respond?

13But Pharaoh’s heart remained steadfast, and he did not hearken to them, as the Lord had spoken.

It’s interesting. The word “steadfast” is a positive word in my head. Having a “steadfast heart” would seem to be a positive trait. But here it was just a way Pharoah hardened his heart.

The Torah seems to be playing around with language here, doesn’t it? Snakes being positive, being steadfast as a negative.  Why?

I am unsure – but I also don’t want to get stuck.

Let’s keep going:

14The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is heavy; he has refused to let the people out.

15Go to Pharaoh in the morning; behold, he is going forth to the water, and you shall stand opposite him on the bank of the Nile, and the staff that was turned into a serpent you shall take in your hand.

16And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to you, saying, “Send forth My people, so that they may serve Me in the desert,” but behold, until now, you have not hearkened.

17So said the Lord, “With this you will know that I am the Lord.” Behold, I will smite with the staff that is in my hand upon the water that is in the Nile, and it will turn to blood.

18And the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become putrid, and the Egyptians will weary [in their efforts] to drink water from the Nile.'”

19The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch forth your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over all their bodies of water, and they will become blood, and there will be blood throughout the entire land of Egypt, even in wood and in stone.’ “

I am thinking of the elements here involved. The first sign was a rod. A piece of wood. Separated from the earth. This sign is water. The wood was transformed to a snake. The water turned to blood.

Hashem was alchemizing the elements here for Moses and Aaron. Transforming. And that makes sense, right? The serpent went from leading Adam and Chavah from the Garden – and now the serpent is a sign for the Israelites to leave Egypt.

Let’s keep going:

20Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord had commanded, and he raised the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood.

21And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became putrid; the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile, and there was blood throughout the entire land of Egypt.

22And the necromancers of Egypt did likewise with their secret rites, and Pharaoh’s heart was steadfast, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had spoken.

23Pharaoh turned and went home, and he paid no heed even to this.

Necromancers? Ok. That sounds like a super cool word – and super evil. What exactly is a necromancer?

According to Wikipedia, Necromancy is the practice of magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future events and discover hidden knowledge.

So – some questions –

First – if Moses and Aaron turned the water of the Nile to blood, all the fish died, the Nile because putrid – what does it mean “necromancers of Egypt did likewise with their secret rites?”

I am just stuck on this.

So I googled this – and it is mildly satisfying: https://outorah.org/p/63398/

There is a duality discussed here – that the water was turned to blood, the fish died, and the water of the Nile TURNED BACK to water -where the fish were still dead and rotting. And then the necromancers did their thing.
This fits a bit – we’ve been discussing transformation. The serpent transforming. Wood transforming. Water transforming. Life transforming to death.

In the first plague the snake killed the snakes of Egypt. Egypt could make snakes, but they died.

In the second plague, the blood killed the fish of Egypt. Egypt could make blood, but they could not kill fish – because the fish already died.

Interesting. In these first two plagues, the duality and transformation seems to be saying – the Torah has the power to keep us alive (Aaron’s snake lived) and – the Torah has the power to destroy our enemies (killing Egypt’s fish).

Egypt can COPY the Torah – making snakes and blood – but Egypt does not have the power to kill.

Because – I am now asking myself. Why didn’t they just kill Moses and Aaron?

Like – if I was Pharaoh’s buddy – I’d say “hey Pharaoh – have you maybe considered – I don’t know – killing Moses and Aaron?  Like maybe THAT would stop the plagues?  Why do you keep letting them live – you LITERALLY had babies drown in the river – and for some reason you are just letting Moses make a fool of you?”

And I think this is the takeaway for us:

• The Torah transforms and keeps us safe. The Torah transforms and protects us from our enemies.
• Anything else? It can transform – but it cannot kill – and cannot keep you safe.

The question is – what is the purpose of transformation? This is connected to slavery and freedom. Are we transforming for the purpose of life and freedom? Or are we transforming – but remain stuck?

Let’s keep going:

24All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink because they could not drink from the water of the Nile.

25Seven full days passed after the Lord had smitten the Nile.

Now. Isn’t it interesting? It would appear the Necromancers and Egypt did themselves in here. The water likely turned back to water after Moses and Aaron – leaving the Egyptians with water in the Nile (albeit dead fish).  That sign was not meant to punish the Egyptians.

The Necromancers could turn the Nile into Blood – but it looks like they couldn’t turn it back to water.  Interesting. The Egyptians caused their own suffering.  And likely blamed the Jews.

Another takeaway – how often are we the cause of our own suffering and instead make someone else the villain?

Let’s keep going:

26The Lord said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘So said the Lord, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

27But if you refuse to let [them] go, behold, I will smite all your borders with frogs.

28And the Nile will swarm with frogs, and they will go up and come into your house and into your bedroom and upon your bed and into the house of your servants and into your people, and into your ovens and into your kneading troughs;

29and into you and into your people and into all your servants, the frogs will ascend.'”

1The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, stretch forth your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring up the frogs on the land of Egypt.”

2And Aaron stretched forth his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

3And the necromancers did likewise with their secret rites, and they brought up the frogs on the land of Egypt.

“Secret rites” is standing out too for me. What are these “secret rites?” And – again – how did they know which frogs were brought up by Moses and Aaron, and which were from the Necromancers?

Here is the third plague. And it’s a little more straight forward. No frogs seemed to be harmed in this plague.

Which is interesting. Because we have snakes and fish dead. One is a land creature – one is a sea.  Frogs are both. They transcend water to earth.

Now I am thinking about the locations here.

We started with the presence of pharaoh and the snakes, and then moved to the water. Then from the water we moved to the land – and there was life – because the frogs lived. Let’s keep going

4Thereupon, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord that He remove the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let out the people [of Israel] so that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

5And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Boast [of your superiority] over me. For when shall I entreat for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and from your houses, [that] they should remain only in the Nile? “

6And he [Pharaoh] said, “For tomorrow.” And he [Moses] said, “As you say, in order that you should know that there is none like the Lord, our God.

So again- the necromancers could CREATE – but they could not remove. Only Hashem has the power to remove.

A lot to reflect on!  I am curious to your thoughts!

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 25 Tevet 5783.

So we are coming to the end of the moon cycle and Jewish month. More will come on the month ahead, which is a really tough month, TBH. The month of Shevat is broken into two parts: the first part of the month is “harsh” leading to Tu B’Shevat. We must ground ourselves these next few days before jumping in to the new moon.

As I reflect on this passage today, I connect it with the idea of “altruism.”

What is altruism? A definition I found is “The belief in or practice of disinterested (not for personal gain) and selfless concern for the well-being of others.”

Moses and Aaron were sacrificing their own person interests for the sake of the people of Israel.

Pharaoh perceived them as not being altruistic, but as manipulative.

I’ve been on a journey lately and realized that a core value of mine is altruism. It’s something I’m really leaning into.

And. I’ve had people in my life challenge that idea – because they were personally impacted by my altruism. I’ve been told I’m manipulative. Hearts have been hardened to my altruism. And this morning I’ve been grieving the loss of relationships over this.

I have many in my life who see my altruism and encourage it. It can get annoying sometimes, and it may have been birthed out of a lack of self worth. I hate myself so I care more for others than I do me.

But as I have fallen in love with who I am, the altruism within has begun to produce a lot more fruit.

And still, those around me have to choose; open their hearts to the idea I’m truly altruistic, or decide it’s just one giant manipulation to get people to like me. Or attack them.

And. If I’m honest, I wrestle with that same question every day. What’s my motives? Am I doing this for selfish gain and a long term strategy that will get me what I want? Or am I doing this for others?

What if my selfish gain is healing of the world? Couldn’t it be both? I want (selfishly) the world to be a better place for me. AND I want healing in others?

So let’s bring this back to todays portion. Moses and Aaron want what is best for their people. Freedom. They can get discouraged because of pharaoh, or they can trust Hashem, the Shekhinah, the Universe (whatever you’d prefer to connect with the creator with)?

What will we choose today?

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Tevet 25, 5782

Todays portion once again begins with Hashem encouraging Moses and Aaron.

I am struck that each day, it seems like Hashem understands the weight of what He is asking Moses and Aaron to do here. And He is giving them guidance on their journey. For us, who are reading this, it’s been a daily encouragement and guidance.

I think the question becomes; ”are we listening?” If we are are distracted by “life” are we hearing his encouraging words during our challenging times? Do we pause and stop for a moment to hear Him?

God explains to Moses and Aaron what’s about to happen. He gives details. How encouraging would it be to know going into a conversation how it will go down, and what you are called to do?

God tells Moses and Aaron that Pharaoh will ask them to “Prove yourselves with a miracle” but Rabbi Elimelech writes this “Rendered literally, the verse reads ‘show yourselves a miracle.’ One would, of course, have expected Pharoah to say “show me a miracle.” What does “show yourselves a miracle” mean? God said to Moses “perform something that would be wondrous and novel EVEN FOR YOU. Pharaoh will be convinced when he sees something that is amazing even in your eyes.”

Moses and Aaron finally go to Pharaoh. They did as God commanded. Aaron casts his staff, it becomes a snake. Pharaoh summons his sages and magicians; and they do the same thing. But then Aaron’s snake turned back into a staff and then swallowed their staffs.

Rabbi Schneerson has an interesting take here:

Generally, you should draw others closer only by showering them with love and care. But sometimes it is necessary to speak some stronger words, to “swallow up’ your friend.

Then, you should remember, (a) that “swallowing” is to be done with the staff of Aaron, who was renowned for his boundless love of mankind. Even in a moment of necessary rebuke, you must be extremely careful not to mix in any personal anger. The “swallowing” must be only what is necessary for the benefit of the recipient.

(b) The swallowing must not be done while the staff is a snake, i.e., not through venomous anger, but with the solid resolve (“staff”) of a responsible educator.

I think these points are crucial when dealing with friends and loved ones who are in need of rebuke. I’ll confess I struggle with this a lot.

Moving on in the portion, Pharaoh sees this and instead of listening and understanding, his heart became hardened; just like God said. So we move on to….

The first plague. God gives Moses instructions to go out to the Nile when Pharaoh goes to the water and take the staff and tell Pharaoh; “God has sent me to you, saying ‘Send away My people, so they may serve Me in the desert.’”

Now wait. My brain is screaming at me; didn’t Moses tell Pharaoh, “let my people go?” That’s now what the Torah says here. ”Send my people away” is a very different demand/request than “let my people go.” I’m chewing on the difference.

God then tells Moses to tell Pharaoh (I am paraphrasing) ”with the staff in my hand I will turn the Nile to blood. The Egyptians will get tired from trying to find a way to drink water”

God then says to Moses ”tell Aron to ‘take the staff, extend your hand over the waters of Egypt, their rivers, their canals, the ponds, and all their bodies of water. There will be blood throughout the entire land of Egypt. Even in the wood and stone.”

Ok a couple of thoughts here.

1. Why did God tell Moses to tell Aaron to do this? He has Moses raising the staff over the Nile and telling Pharaoh the water will turn to blood. Then he has Moses tell Aaron to do it. Why?
2. Bloody trees and rocks? That’s not something I had ever considered before. Not only would tue Egyptians not have water to drink, but the plants wouldn’t either!

The Talmud does answer question 1. Exodus Rabbah shares a story that Moses had a problem with this first plague. Moses was saved with water. “I was cast into it, and it did not harm me.” Therefore, God had Aaron do it.

So Moses and Aaron do what God commanded. The water of the Nile turns to blood. However, the sorcerers of Egypt did the same thing. Pharaohs heart became more hardened. He didn’t listen. Pharaoh turned around and went home. The Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink. Seven days passed after God struck the Nile.

Now. We need to talk about this plague and how it affected the Jews. There are varying thoughts

Once again Exodus Rabbah shares that the plague did NOT effect the Jews. They could draw water from the Nile and it wouldn’t be blood. If Egyptians drew water out of the Jewish barrels, it would turn to blood. Even if a Jew held a cup of water and allowed an Egyptian to drink from it, the water turned to blood. Even when they drank from the same dish, the Jew drank water and the Egyptian drank blood. The ONLY way for an Egyptian to drink water was to pay for the water, then it did not turn to blood.

However, Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says this:

The miraculous transformation of blood into water in the hands of the Jewish people is not mentioned at all in the Torah. We are therefore given to understand that the first three plagues of blood, frogs and lice affected both the Egyptians and the Jews. When it came to the fourth plague of wild beasts, which was more severe, God saved the Jewish people from being affected. Thus in addition to the Egyptians digging for water, the Jewish people were also forced to dig for water.

I also love Rabbi Schneerson’s take:

The Nile was Pharaohs deity. Consequently, God first struck Pharaoh’s deity, with the plague of blood (and later frogs), and then He struck the Egyptian people with the other plagues. Therefore, although the Jewish people also suffered from the plague of blood, the fact that Pharaoh’s god was afflicted sent an extremely powerful message to Pharaoh.

Since the key threat here to Pharaoh was that his god (the Nile) was afflicted, it follows that if any part of the Nile was unaffected (such as in the Jewish district of Goshen), then Pharaoh could come to the conclusion that at least part of his deity was mightier than God. Thus, it was crucial that all of the Nile, even the parts used exclusively by the Jewish people, should be afflicted.

The above interpretation also explains why the Egyptians were able to obtain fresh water through digging. Since the point of the plague was that Pharaoh’s god should be afflicted, it follows that only the water within the Nile along with its waters that had been diverted into canals or stored in containers (see v19) turned to blood, but that the water beneath the ground was unaffected. To the contrary, if any water other than the Nile-waters had been affected, then it would not have been clear to Pharaoh that his deity was being targeted specifically.

In fact, the greatest embarrassment for Pharaoh was not only that his deity was struck by the plague, but that the water immediately adjacent to his deity was totally unaffected.

I really think Schneerson’s take makes a lot of sense.

Ok. Time for the second plague; Frogs.

God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh and now we get the line; “Let me people go, so that they may serve me.”

It is interesting that God gives Pharaoh the what AND the why. He’s telling Pharaoh WHY he should let the Israelites go.

He tells Moses to explain to Pharah if he does not, Frogs will swarm the Nile and be everywhere. God tells Moses (I’m paraphrasing again) “say to Aaron to stretch out your hand with your staff and make the frogs come up over the land of Egypt.

Aaron did this; the Torah says “and the frog came up (and then multiplied) and covered the land of Egypt.

This is an interesting point; one frog was hit and it produced multiple frogs. Each time the Egyptians tried to kill a frog, more would appear.

Rabbi Jacob Israel Kanievsky says this;

All arguments begin with one person ”hitting” another. If the victim remains silent, the likelihood of the argument subsiding is good. But if the victim retaliates, “hitting” backs the cycle continues and it becomes difficult to stop as the conflict escalates.

So the frogs push Pharaoh a bit. He summons Moses. He pleads with Moses to ask God to remove the frogs and he will send out the people of Israel.

Moses says to Pharaoh; give me a challenge – when would you like them removed?

Pharaoh tells Moses “plead today for the frogs to be eliminated tomorrow.”

Moses tells him it will be done that way so that Pharaoh will know there is none like God, the God of the Jews!

And that is where we end the portion. Wow.

So much here. What are your thoughts?