Family Parshah
Va'eira Q & A

Moses said to G-d, "Behold I am of uncircumcised (closed) lips..." G-d's response: "See, I have made you master over Pharaoh; and Aharon your brother shall be your spokesman." (6:30-7:1)

Question: How did the fact that G-d had made Moses a master over Pharaoh and had appointed Aharon his spokesman refute Moses's argument that his speech difficulty made him an unsuitable messenger?

Answer: Every nation has its own language. Usually, when heads of governments meet, each speaks his native tongue with an interpreter between them. An exception to this rule is a meeting between the head of a small country and the head of a major power. Then it is customary to speak the language of the larger country.

When G-d told Moses to deliver a message to Pharaoh, he assumed that he was to speak in the Egyptian language. He therefore told G-d that since he had left Egypt at a young age and was now 80 years old, he lacked fluency in the Egyptian language and would have to stutter to find the proper words.1

G-d told him, "I have appointed you a master over Pharaoh. Thus, he is your inferior, and you are the head of a major empire. Consequently, in accordance with proper protocol, you will address him in Hebrew. Do not be concerned about his inability to understand Hebrew because Aharon will be your interpreter."

Moses said to G-d, "Behold, I am of uncircumcised (closed) lips." (6:30)

Question: He was referring to the injury which he suffered when he touched his tongue with a burning coal (see here for the full story). Why was his tongue injured and not his hand?

Answer: When Pharaoh's daughter Batya found the baby Moses in the Nile River, she asked a number of Egyptian women to nurse him. Destined to speak directly with G-d, "mouth to mouth,"2 Moses refused their milk.

However, during the process, some of the milk of the Egyptian nurses fell on his tongue and he spat it out immediately.

When non-kosher food comes in contact with a kosher utensil it needs to be made Kosher ("Koshering"). This is normally done by immersing the utensil in boiling water or using fire to make it red hot so that it will expel whatever it had absorbed. Thus, Moses's tongue was burned in order to remove all traces of Egyptian milk.

See, I have made you a master over Pharaoh. (7:1)

Question: It should have said, "I will make you" (in the future tense).

Answer: In the above-mentioned incident during Moses's childhood, in which Pharaoh tested the young lad who had taken off his crown, Pharaoh was unable to discover that Moses was the redeemer of the Jews, but Moses injured his mouth, affecting his power of speech.

There is no event that occurs accidentally. Every incident is governed by Divine Providence. When the episode with Moses and Pharaoh's crown occurred, G-d declared him Pharaoh's master and took away from Pharaoh the power to harm him.

Now, eighty years later, G-d said to Moses, "I have already made you a master over Pharaoh for many years, and just as he was unable to do you any harm then, now too, efforts to harm you will be of no avail."

Aharon threw his staff in front of Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a snake. (7:10)

Question: What message did Moses and Aharon want to give Pharaoh?

Answer: Pharaoh claimed that the Jews had sinned and that they did not deserve to be taken out of Egypt. Moses and Aharon responded that a person's environment plays a very important role in his development.

Even a holy staff can turn into a vicious snake in the company of Pharaoh. On the other hand, a "snake" in the company of Moses and Aharon can transform itself in to a holy staff.