One of the four mitzvot mandated for the Seder night is that of the four cups. The Sages mandated that we drink four cups of wine at different points during the Seder, corresponding to the four promises of redemption found at the beginning of this week’s Parshah. G-d promises to take us out, rescue us, redeem us and take us as His people. There is however another promises of redemption. G-d will also bring us to the land He promised to the patriarchs. Yet this verse is seemingly not considered worthy of a cup of wine. There is in fact a Talmudic argument whether indeed we should drink a fifth cup of wine in honour of the promise of the Land and this may be the origin of the ‘Cup of Elijah’, that is on the table but not drunk. But the Halakhah is that we only drink four cups of wine. Why is this? Why does the promise of the Land not merit a cup of its own? The answer may lie in the different nature of the promises of redemption and the promise of the Land. The four glasses of wine are cups of thanksgiving and rejoicing. We thank G-d for having redeemed us from Egypt, a redemption that is eternal. On the other hand, we don’t thank G-d for giving us the Land as its possession is not eternal. While the Jewish title to Israel is forever, the actual possession of the Land is dependant on our behaviour. That is another difference between the two promises. We were redeemed from Egypt even though we were not worthy. The very same people, however, were denied entry to the Land precisely because they were not worthy. We can therefore give thanks on Seder night for G-d’s mercy in unconditionally redeeming us and making us His people, while we are ambivalent about raising a cup in honour of the gift of the Land of Israel, which is morally conditional and realistically uncertain. This difference between the promises given in our Parshah should provide us with a salutary lesson. While the future of the Jewish people is assured, our future in Israel is not. For large stretches of Jewish history we have not been in physical possession of the Land. The Torah teaches us that this possession is dependant above all on our behaviour. We are amazingly privileged to live in a generation with a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. Our Parshah teaches us that we should never take it for granted and should strive to be worthy of the privilege.

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.
Maftir	The Shabbat and Rosh Hodesh offerings
Haftorah	Isaiah: 66: the coming triumph of righteousness.

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

 

One out of seven.

 

Moses marries one of Jethro’s seven daughters.

PARSHAH PUZZLE

Digging by water.