The main portion of our Parshah consists of the story of the Ten Plagues, Pharaohs obstinacy and the increasing severity of the devastation rained down on Egypt. From the initial plague of blood to the final death of all the firstborn, the plagues caused severe hardship and suffering to the Egyptian people. As mentioned last week, however, it is by no means apparent that the Egyptian people supported the policy of Pharaoh towards the Jews, indeed there is evidence to suggest the opposite. The plagues thus present us with a moral dilemma. How was it that G-d punished the guilty along with the innocent. All the Egyptians, whether or not they supported Pharaoh or Moses, suffered from lack of water, animal attacks and disease. Surely this is collective punishment at its worst. Indeed, could Moses have been tried as a war criminal? The absurdity of this question should serve to underline a basic misconception about the nature of innocence and guilt in time of war. The Torah, as well as the Geneva convention, in general prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians as such. Indeed, even trees and other property are not to be wantonly damaged. Yet the Torah does accept the notion of collective punishment or damage to the population as a whole. It does so because it believes in the notion of collective responsibility. We are not merely individuals with individual rights and responsibilities. We are also nations and peoples with collective rights and responsibilities. This inevitably entails the possibility of collective punishment. If our leadership, however constituted, decides to embark on a policy of oppression or war, we will all suffer. That is part of us being a nation. The Egyptian people may not of wholly approved of Pharaoh’s policy but the moment he decided on a path of confrontation with G-d, they were all implicated. It appears that even the Jews, on behalf of whom the plagues were sent, suffered from the first three. In waging war, therefore, the idea of nations not suffering as a whole for their actions is ridiculous. The issue at hand is rather whether the war is just. If we wish to avoid the pain of collective punishment, we need to use our collective responsibility wisely in order to avoid conflict; something of course Pharaoh singularly failed to do.

ALIYAH BY ALIYAH SYNOPSIS

Rishon	G-d promises to redeem the people and bring them to the Promised Land.
Sheni	The genealogy of Moses and Aaron.
Shelishi	G-d instructs Moses to warn Pharaoh of the consequences of disobedience..
Revi’i	The river becomes blood and frogs plague the land.
Chamishi	Gnats annoy everyone.
Shishi	Flies swarm but not in Goshen, cattle die and boils burn.
Shevi’i	Hail smites the land.
Haftorah	Ezekiel: 28;55-29;21: The judgement of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

Sidra Statistics

Parshat Va’era

·         has 121 verses ;

·         is the 2nd in Exodus, 14th in the Torah

·         4th longest in Exodus, 18th longest in the Torah

·         has no mitzvot.

PAST PARSHAH PUZZLE

 

Interment doesn’t work.

 

Moses’ hiding the Egyptian’s body doesn’t keep the secret.

PARSHAH PUZZLE

Saved by delay.