Parsha for Kids: Va'era 2023
Below is the transcript for this week’s episode of Parsha for Kids, Va’era 2023.
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Season 2 Episode 2:
Hello! My name is Chana, and this is Parsha for Kids. This week, I am saying hello to you from the Holy Land because I am lucky enough to be in Jerusalem. The Parsha of the week is Va’era. Va’era means “And I appeared.”
But who appeared? And to whom?
It was God. He talked to Moshe about how he had appeared to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov in the past. He explained that when he had appeared to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov he had used the name EL SHADAI but not the name spelled Yud, Hey, Vav, Hey that we generally pronounce ADONOY.
Why did it matter that God had used a different name when He appeared to our forefathers?
Rashi says the name Yud Hey Vav Hey is associated with keeping promises and making them come true. God wanted Moshe to understand that He was letting Moshe know this aspect of God so that Moshe would know that God really WOULD take Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt, even though right now it might seem like Moshe had only succeeded in making matters worse. (This was because Pharaoh had declared that he was not willing to provide straw for Bnei Yisrael’s bricks anymore, and so now the members of Bnei Yisrael had to find their own straw.)
God told Moshe to talk to Bnei Yisrael once again. God used several special Hebrew words to explain what he was going to do for Bnei Yisrael.
V’ HOTZAITI- I God will take you out from the burdens of the Egyptians.
V’ HITZALTI- I God will save you from their work.
V’GAALTI- I God will redeem you with an outstretched hand.
V’LAKACHTi- I God will take you, Bnei Yisrael, to become my nation.
V’HAVAITI- I God will bring you into the land of Canaan and give it to you just like I promised Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.
Four of these words are referenced at our Pesach or Passover seder. The sages explained that we pour and drink four cups of wine or grape juice to commemorate God’s promises that He would take us out, save us from the hard work, redeem us from Egypt and take us to be His chosen nation. These four words reflect all the ways in which God saved us when He took us out of Egypt.
But what about the fifth word, v’havaiti? Well, v’havaiti, and I will bring you, focuses on the future. There would come a day when God would bring Bnei Yisrael into the land of Canaan and give it to them. But at the time the Passover seder was codified and formed, the rabbis were living in exile in Babylonia. They had not yet all been gathered into the land of Israel permanently. Therefore, they focused on the four expressions that memorialized the redemption from Egypt, but not on the fifth expression, which still needed to be fully fulfilled.
Moshe told Bnei Yisrael exactly what God had told him to say. However, Bnei Yisrael were so overwhelmed by stress- they were not able to catch their breath- and their hard work that they did not pay attention to him.
TRANSITION
God then told Moshe to speak to Pharoah. But Moshe was discouraged. He said, “Bnei Yisrael did not even listen to me. So how is Pharoah going to listen to me given that I am aral sefatayim, have closed lips?”
Moshe didn’t mean that his lips were literally closed, but rather referred to his stammer and his inability to make the nation listen. This scene is really important when it comes to showing you how leadership works. Sometimes people think it is easy to be a leader. All you need is a good idea and someone to back it- especially when that being is God- and you can succeed.
But in reality, it’s much harder. Moshe was discouraged that his words were not penetrating and Bnei Yisrael wasn't listening to him. He was so discouraged that he didn’t want to talk to Pharaoh, feeling like it would be pointless to do so.
God told Moshe and Aharon to go together to Pharaoh and tell him to let God’s people go. At this point, the Torah also fills us in on the family background of Moshe, explaining that his father was named Amram, his mother was named Yocheved, and that his older sister was named Miriam. Then came Aharon and then, youngest of the three, came Moshe.
TRANSITION
God reassured Moshe that He had made Moshe a lord over Pharoah. Aharon, Moshe’s brother, would be the one to speak on Moshe’s behalf. God explained that Moshe would need to say everything God told him. Aharon would say it to Pharoah, but Pharaoh would harden his heart. Because Pharaoh would not immediately let the people go, God would bring signs and wonders upon the Egyptians.
At that point, God explained, the Egyptians would know “that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand and take Bnei Yisrael out from amongst them.”
Our Sages ask many questions about God hardening Pharaoh's heart. Isn’t that unfair? What does it mean? There are several different interpretations. One focuses on the fact that if a person is warned once, twice, and then three times and that person still chooses to do the wrong thing, God punishes him by leading him in the path he wants to go. In Pharaoh's case, he was warned five times to let God’s people go, but he refused to listen. At that point, God punished Pharaoh by making it so that he could no longer repent.
Another interpretation is that God’s hardening of Pharaoh's heart was actually intended to restore balance. A mortal man would have been so terrified by the very first plague that he would automatically have sent Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt. By hardening Pharaoh's heart, God was actually helping Pharoah have enough strength of mind to consider whether he wanted with his rational mind to send Bnei Yisrael away- without simply being overwhelmed by fear.
It’s important to understand what God was doing here. As Rabbi David Fohrman explains, God was not simply focused on getting Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt. If that’s all God wanted, there were easier ways to accomplish it. God could simply have struck all of the Egyptians with blindness, similar to how the angels made the men of Sedom blind, and then Bnei Yisrael could have walked out of Egypt.
But that’s not what God wanted. God wanted the Egyptians to know that He was the Lord. He wanted them to see that He was dominant in every single way- king over the water, the sky, the earth, and life and death. Pharaoh had claimed he didn’t know God’s name. By the end of God’s plan, Pharaoh would understand who the God of the Israelites was- and that He was the one who controlled the world.
TRANSITION
The Torah tells us that Moshe was eighty years old and Aharon was eighty-three years old when they went to speak before Pharaoh.
God told Moshe that when he and Aharon went before Pharaoh, they should provide a mofet, a sign or wonder. Aharon should take his staff and throw it down in front of Pharoah, at which point it would turn into a snake.
Aharon performed the sign in front of Pharaoh. Pharoah summoned his own wise men and magicians, who were able to throw down their own staffs and turn them into snakes.
At that point, however, Aharon’s snake turned back into a staff. And in the form of a wooden staff, it ate up all of the Egyptians’ snakes.
But Pharaoh was still not impressed. So God told Moshe to do something else. He commanded Moshe and Aharon to go to the Nile the next morning. They should bring the staff that turned into a snake with them. Pharaoh would be there, beside the water. At that point, Moshe should warn Pharaoh that because he had refused to send Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt, Aharon would hit the water of the Nile and it would turn to Dam, blood. At that point, the fish in the Nile would die and the Egyptians would be unable to drink water from the Nile.
God also told Moshe to tell Aharon to stretch out his staff over all the water in Egypt- their rivers, canals, and ponds- and all natural sources of water in Egypt would turn to blood.
Aharon did this. But once again, Pharoah was not impressed. He was able to get his own magicians and wise men to replicate this wonder, turning water to blood as well.
The average Egyptian was not happy, though. This Egyptian dug around the Nile to find water to drink but could not find any. God kept all the natural water sources in Egypt as blood for seven days.
You may be wondering: why did God decide to turn the Nile into blood? And why was this the first plague?
There are multiple possibilities.
Rashi explains that the Egyptians revered the Nile as a God. By striking the Egyptian God and turning it into blood- and making it smell rotten because of all the dead fish in it- God was showing that He was the true and strong God, not the Egyptian supposed God.
Another possibility is that the Egyptians were being punished middah kneged middah- measure for measure. As taskmasters, they had told Bnei Yisrael to go fetch water from the river. Now, they could no longer do this because all the water had turned to blood.
Another option was that this served God’s purpose in demonstrating He ruled over every single aspect of the world. This first plague showed God’s dominance and power over the element of water.
TRANSITION
At this point, God spoke to Moshe again. He told Moshe to say to Pharoah: “Let my people go, so that they may serve Me. But if you refuse to let them go, I will smite all of your borders with Tzfardea, which is usually translated as frogs but could also mean crocodiles. The Nile will swarm with Tzfardea, frogs and they will come into your house, your bedroom, your bed, the houses of your servants and people, your ovens and the places where you make dough for your bread. The frogs will even go inside of you- according to Rashi, since the frogs made it into the Egyptians’ water and food, they would end up croaking inside of the Egyptians’ bellies.
The Torah doesn’t tell us whether Pharoah replied to Moshe or what he said. We do know that Aharon stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. But once again, Pharoah’s wise men and magicians were able to replicate the plague, and they too were able to bring up frogs.
Despite this, Pharoah summoned Moshe and Aharon. He said, “Please pray to God to remove the frogs from me and my people, and I will let Bnei Yisrael go to sacrifice to their God.” Pharaoh was referencing the fact that Moshe and Aharon had originally requested that Bnei Yisrael go out for a three day journey to sacrifice to God.
Moshe replied, “When would you like the frogs to die?”
Pharoah said, “Tomorrow.”
Moshe said, “As you say, in order that you should know that there is none like the Lord our God. The frogs will leave you, your houses, your servants and your people. They will only remain in the Nile.”
And Moshe prayed on Pharaoh's behalf, and God listened to his prayer. God made the frogs die, and the Egyptians gathered them up into big piles. The dead frogs smelled awful.
Why did God bring a plague of frogs?
Once again, this established God’s dominance over the element of water, since the frogs originally came up out of the water.
Another possibility according to the Midrash is that the Egyptians ordered the Hebrews to bring them worms, frogs, snails and insects for their entertainment. Middah kneged middah, measure for measure, now the Egyptians were being inundated with frogs.
There is another obvious question. When Pharoaah summoned Moshe and said that he was willing to let Bnei Yisrael go worship God as long as Moshe prayed for the frogs to die, why did Moshe pray immediately? Wouldn’t it have made more sense for Moshe to say, “First, let all of us go. When we have left, I will then pray for the frogs to die?”
There are several possibilities as to why Moshe did this. First, it’s possible he hoped that Pharoah really would keep his word. After all, Pharaoh had said he would let the Hebrews go worship once the frogs were dead, and why should Moshe doubt him at this point in the story? Second, it’s possible that Moshe knew Pharaoh would not agree to let Bnei Yisrael go until the frogs were actually dead.
Either way, unfortunately, once the frogs actually died, Pharaoh hardened his heart and did not let the people go. This shows Pharoah’s lack of hakarat hatov, lack of gratitude. A grateful person would appreciate that the frogs had only died because of Moshe’s intervention in the form of prayer. But once the frogs were no longer in Pharaoh's bed and food, he decided to ignore the fact that Moshe had helped get rid of them.
On a lesser level, this is something many people may find themselves doing. When they are in a crisis or have a challenging situation, they might make a promise to God where they say that they will start to keep a certain mitzvah or give a certain amount of tzedakah. But then, once the difficult situation has passed, they may decide that the mitzvah is too hard to keep or that they would rather spend their money on something else. This is a lack of gratitude and honoring one’s word and we should be careful not to act this way.
TRANSITION
God did not tell Moshe and Aharon to warn Pharaoh that the third plague was coming. Instead, He simply told Moshe to tell Aharon, “Stretch out your hand and strike the dust of the land. It will become lice, Kinim, throughout all of Egypt.”
Once again the wise men and magicians tried to replicate the plague. However, this time they were unable to do so. The lice descended on humans and animals throughout Egypt.
The wise men and magicians told Pharaoh, “It is the finger of God.” What they meant by this was that there was no way this plague had been brought about through sorcery or magic- since they could not replicate it. Rather, it was clear this plague had come directly from God. But Pharaoh did not listen to them.
Why did God bring lice upon Egypt?
It showed God’s dominance over the element of earth, since the earth itself turned into lice.
But also, according to the Midrash the Egyptians used to command the Jews, “Sweep the floors of our homes and alleys and rake our fields!” In punishment for assigning this work, all the dust turned into lice so Bnei Yisrael could not be ordered to do this work.
TRANSITION
Did you notice something interesting about the person who performed the first three plagues? It was Aharon, not Moshe!
It was Aharon who struck the water of the Nile, turning it to blood. Aharon who stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, bringing up frogs.. And Aharon who struck the dust of the land, bringing up lice.
Why did Aharon perform these plagues rather than Moshe?
Rashi addresses this question. He explains that Moshe owed a debt of gratitude to the river and the sand. He needed to be grateful to the Nile because the Nile had supported the basket his mother had put him in. Because his basket floated on the Nile, Bat Pharaoh, Pharoah’s daughter, discovered him and saved him. Similarly, Moshe needed to be grateful to the land because when he killed the Egyptian who had been beating a Hebrew, he buried the Egyptian’s body in the sand. That sand hid the evidence of what Moshe had done- and the only reason he later got into trouble was because other people informed on him.
The Torah teaches that we need to be grateful for every favor we receive. Moshe needed to be considerate towards and grateful to the river and the earth, and that was why he was not allowed to strike them. How much the more so does this apply when a human being does us a favor!
TRANSITION
God told Moshe to warn Pharaoh about the fourth plague. Moshe was to meet Pharoah as he went out to the Nile. Moshe needed to tell Pharoah, “So said God: Let my people go out and serve me. If you do not, I will bring Arov, wild animals and scorpions and snakes against you. And I will separate out the land of Goshen, where the Hebrews live, and will not allow the wild animals and scorpions and snakes to go there so that you may know that I am God. This will happen tomorrow.”
And indeed God did exactly what He said. He brought wild animals into Egypt and the land was destroyed because of the wild animals running amok throughout Egypt.
Pharoah summoned Moshe and Aharon. He told them they could sacrifice to God in the land of Egypt but he was not willing to let them go for a three-day journey into the desert and offer their sacrifices there.
Moshe explained that offering sacrifices in the land of Egypt would not be possible. “We would be slaughtering the Egyptian god,” Moshe clarified. If you’re wondering what he means, please note that the Egyptians considered sheep a god. “How could we do that without the Egyptians seeing and stoning us? Let us go for a three day journey in the desert and sacrifice to God.”
Pharaoh said, “I will let you go out, and you will sacrifice to God in the desert, but don’t go far away, and pray to Him on my behalf.”
Moshe said, “I will go pray to God and ask him to make the wild beasts leave Pharoah and his people tomorrow. But don’t tease us anymore by saying that you will let us go and sacrifice to God but then changing your mind and not letting us go.”
Moshe prayed to God and God removed the wild animals from Pharoah. But once again Pharaoh hardened his heart and did not let the people go.
As you can likely see, Pharaoh remains ungrateful. Worse than that, he doesn’t keep his word. He specifically promised Moshe he would let Bnei Yisrael go as long as Moshe got God to remove the wild animals. But as soon as the wild animals are out of sight, Pharoah goes back on his promise. We see a clear contrast between Pharaoh and God. God always keeps His word- fulfilling every promise He makes- while Pharoah consistently does not.
Why did God bring a plague of wild animals?
One answer is simply to show God’s dominance over the creatures of the world. He created them and therefore He can control them- sending them where He wishes and then removing them as He wishes.
But another answer, according to the Midrash, is that the Egyptians would tell the Hebrews, “We need lions, tigers and bears for our zoos and circuses. Catch these animals for us!” These Hebrews had to travel far to find these creatures, which meant they were not able to spend time with their families. God punished the Egyptians middah k'neged middah by bringing these wild animals against them.
TRANSITION
Once again, for the fifth plague, God told Moshe to warn Pharaoh. “Tell Pharaoh,” God said, “to send out my people so they may serve Me. If Pharoah refuses to let them go, I will bring Dever, death of the animals, upon them. All your animals that are in the field- your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle and sheep will die. And I will separate between your animals and the animals of the Hebrews, and nothing that belongs to Bnei Yisrael will die. This will happen tomorrow.”
Sure enough, the plague happened just as God had said. Pharoah checked and saw that it was true- none of the animals that belonged to Bnei Yisrael died. This Israelite God was extremely precise. He was able to say the exact time something would happen, who it would happen to, and separate between a plague that harmed Egyptians and a plague that harmed Hebrews.
Despite this, Pharaoh hardened his heart and did not let Bnei Yisrael go.
Why did God bring the plague of Dever?
Once again, God wanted to show His dominance over the natural world, and here He was demonstrating that he was not only in control of wild animals but also of domestic (or tame) animals.
In addition, the Midrash explains that the Egyptians forced Bnei Yisrael to be their shepherds and cattle herders in order to send them far away and keep them away from their wives and families. This is why the Egyptians’ animals were killed.
TRANSITION
For the sixth plague, God did not have Moshe verbally warn Pharaoh in advance. Have you noticed the pattern by now? God warns Pharoah twice, then brings a sudden plague without warning. This is what happened last time with the third plague in the series, Kinim, or lice, and now it is happening again with this new plague.
God told Moshe and Aharon, “Take handfuls of coal ash from an oven. Moshe will throw it into the air in front of Pharoah and it will become dust over the entire land of Egypt. It will turn into boils, infecting humans and animals with blisters.”
Moshe and Aharon did this. The magicians and wise men of Egypt could not stand up in front of Moshe because of the pain caused by the boils and blisters. And at this point- and this is a change from what we have read before- God strengthened Pharaoh's heart and Pharaoh did not let Bnei Yisrael go.
Up until now, for the first five plagues, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. But now it is God who is strengthening Pharaoh's heart- which is either, as we discussed before, a punishment or God giving Pharoah the fortitude to make a decision with his rational mind rather than with his heart.
Why did God send a plague of boils?
Perhaps it was to show God’s dominance over the air, since the ashes were spread via the air. It also shows God’s transformative abilities. Just like God transformed the dust into lice, so too God transformed the ash into blisters and boils. Only the God who created everything in the world would be able to transform one substance into another.
According to the Midrash, the Egyptians used to order the Hebrews to heat water for them in the bathhouse. In those times people did not have running water with showers and baths in their own houses. They had one central location where everyone would come to bathe, and servants who would fetch the water and heat it up. God struck the Egyptians with blisters that made them so uncomfortable that they could not move to bathe, which meant Bnei Yisrael did not have to heat up the water.
TRANSITION
God told Moshe to get up early in the morning and go to Pharaoh, saying “Let my people go so they may worship Me. Because this time I am sending all My plagues into your heart and your servants and your people so you will know there is None like me on earth. If I had wished, when I sent the plague of Dever that killed your animals, I could also have killed you Egyptian humans. But I have allowed you to live in order to show you My strength and to declare My name all over the earth.
If you, Pharaoh, still tread on my people- tread means to step on someone- not letting them out, then tomorrow I will rain down a very heavy hail, the likes of which has never been seen in Egypt. Go gather your animals and everything you have in the field because any man or animal who stays outside will have hail fall on them and they will die.”
The Egyptians who feared the word of God made sure their servants and animals were housed inside of buildings. But those who did not pay attention to God left their servants and animals outside.
Moshe stretched out his staff towards the heavens. There was thunder and hail and fire shot down to earth. Fire flamed within the hail. The hail struck Egypt, breaking the trees of the field, harming humans and animals who had stayed outside and ruining the crops that were growing outside.
But God made sure there was no hail in the land of Goshen, where Bnei Yisrael lived.
Pharaoh sent for Moshe and Aharon and said, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is the righteous One and I and my people are the guilty ones. Pray to God, and let there be an end to God’s thunder and hail, and I will let you go.”
Moshe said, “When I leave the city, I will spread out my hands before God. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so that you know that the land is the Lord’s. But I know that you and your servants still do not fear God.” Moshe noted that although the hail had destroyed the flax and barley crops, the wheat and spelt had not been harmed yet because they were not ripe yet.
Moshe was daring Pharoah to do the right thing at this point. Several times Pharaoh had summoned Moshe and asked him to pray, and each time Moshe did so, Pharaoh did not keep his word. Would it be different this time? Moshe didn’t think so, which is why he said he knew Pharaoh did not yet fear God. But at the same time, Moshe hinted that worse things could still happen- after all, God could destroy the wheat and spelt crops once they ripened as well.
Why did God bring hail upon the Egyptians?
First, God demonstrated His power once more. He could cause fire and ice to coexist- something unnatural, that only the Creator of the world could make happen. God could also bring hail upon Egypt, which was in and of itself unusual- as it did not hail in that region. Additionally, God could separate the hail such that it harmed the Egyptians but did not fall in the land of Goshen, where Bnei Yisrael lived.
According to the Midrash, the Egyptians used to command the Hebrews to plant their gardens or orchards of trees. Therefore, God destroyed their gardens and orchards and beautiful trees with hail.
Unfortunately, Moshe was proven correct. As soon as Moshe prayed and the hail stopped, Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to send out Bnei Yisrael.
TRANSITION
So here’s what we learned this week!
There are special Hebrew words - V’HOTZAITI, V’HITZALTI, V’GAALTI, V’LAKACHTI and V’HAVAITI- that make an appearance in this week’s parsha. These are all verbs that showcase God’s actions to redeem the Jewish people, and we memorialize them at our Passover seder where we drink four cups of wine or grape juice.
It’s important to know that even great leaders like Moshe were sometimes discouraged. Despite this, they kept on doing what God asked of them. When we feel discouraged, we can remember that even our greatest leader, Moshe, felt this way, and that may make us feel more hopeful.
There were many ways that God could have taken Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt. One of the simplest ways would have been to make all the Egyptians blind, just like the angels had done to the men of Sedom, and then Bnei Yisrael could have just walked out. But this was not God’s goal. God didn’t just want to rescue Bnei Yisrael from Egypt. He also wanted to demonstrate that He was the true and one and only God, and that He had power over and controlled the entire world.
There is a focus in this parsha on gratitude. It is because Moshe was grateful to the sand and water for saving him that he was not allowed to perform the first three plagues. Similarly, Pharoah consistently lacks gratitude- changing his mind and refusing to let Bnei Yisrael go as soon as the plague is removed from his people and his land. It is very important to act and remain grateful.
Every plague, or makkah, was brought about for a specific reason. The Midrash finds these reasons in showing how each plague was a punishment middah kneged middah-measure for measure.
If you have any questions or comments on this week’s episode, please email me at parsha4kids (at) gmail.com. That’s parsha the number 4 kids at gmail.com. Good Shabbos!