Vaera

The Plagues

Presenting his “credentials” before Pharaoh, Moses threw down his staff before the Egyptian king, and it transformed into a viper. When the magicians of Egypt did the same with their magic, “the staff of Aaron swallowed up their staffs.”…It says Aaron’s staff did the swallowing…a miracle within a miracle…In Egypt, God willed to demonstrate His ability to overrule any law and limitation of the natural world. Therefore, it was necessary to have “a miracle within a miracle.” This exhibited independence autonomy at all levels…

Abraham Isaac Kook (20^th Century)

The first few plagues were designed to demonstrate to the magicians that Moses’ source of power was the same as theirs, namely God. In addition, the fact that Moses was able to call off a plague, not just to bring it on, should have convinced them of his superior powers. The Egyptians’ desire to keep the Jews enslaved was, however, stronger than their newly gained insight into the powers of the God of the Israelites. They were aided in this rejectionist approach by having found ways to circumvent the effect of the plague by digging for new sources of water in the ground…

Yitachak Arama (15^th Century)

The word “Makka” (translated as plague) in referring to the “ten plagues” (does not appear in the story of the Exodus)…Thus, counting the sign of the serpent at the beginning and the death of the firstborn at the end, we actually have eleven signs and wonders. If we include the final and most severe blow…the Red Sea…there were a total of twelve signs and wonders. Twelve is a symbolic number; there are twelve months and zodiac signs, and twelve tribes. How is it that the number ten became associated with the plagues?... it dates to the Book of Jubilees and appears in the writings of Philo…

Menahem Ben Yashar (Contemporary)

Freedom does not come easily as a result of an overnight revolt of the oppressed masses. They, the suffering masses, do not even want to recognize the fact that they are being oppressed. Redemption, God tells Moses, will come about because it is a commitment deeply rooted in the covenantal relationship with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Freedom will come to the “moaning Israelites” because somewhere, far away, on the horizon, a land is waiting for them…A freedom-loving people does not sweat and exert itself to build magnificent Pithom and Ramses for others, but dedicates its efforts to its own needs…

Pinchas Peli (20^th Century)

The…Sacred envelops and transports man beyond his powers and wishes, but a true liberty takes offence at this uncontrollable surplus. The numinous annuls the links between persons by making beings participate, albeit ecstatically, in a drama not brought about willingly by them, an order in which they founder. This somehow sacramental power of the Divine seems to Judaism to offend human freedom and to be contrary to the education of man, which remains action on a free being. Not that liberty is an end in itself, but it does remain the condition for any value man may attain. The Sacred that envelops and transports me is a form of violence.

Emmanuel Levinas (20^th Century)