This week, in Parshat Va’eira, the Torah describes the first seven of the ten plagues that G‑d inflicts upon the Egyptians. The first two: blood and frogs!
Here’s a question that I’d like to pose: The story of the Exodus has been told and retold a million times over, yet what does it really mean to us? The ancient tale of miracles and plagues is rich and colorful, but does this famous tale carry any personal meaning for me and you in our modern age?
Our lives cannot be more different and distant than those of our ancestors slaving away under Pharaoh’s cruel whip. Yet, remarkably, the Torah commands that in every generation we must see ourselves as if we have gone out of Egypt! What relevance does the story of the Exodus have for me?
I invite you to tune in and discover the deeper message of the Exodus . . .
Slaves in Egypt Dear Reb Rappaport,
Thank you for your commentary on Va'ira- quite eye opening.
Have you discussed the other 8 plagues?
Also one note that always troubles me is the inclusion of specific timelines within commentary on Torah portions, since one commentators time line is going to conflict with someone else and of course their is the alignment of peoples ages in the Torah that does not correspond to today's lifespan. In other commentary it is said that Moses mother is the daughter of Levi (Jacobs brother) so it doesn't seem possible the Hebrews were under forced labor for 210 years as you state. But it also doesn't seem that the 70 people in Jacobs entourage that settled in Gohshen multiplied into the 100,000 that stood at Sinai ( Am I mistaken about the size of the population). These people that left might have included other people enslaved by the Egyptians and possible Egyptians that recognized the true G-d of the Hebrews.