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Va'eira: A good relationship

Refuah Sheimah: "May it be Your will, LORD my G-d, and the G-d of my forefathers, that You quickly send refuah sh'lemah (complete healing) from heaven, spiritual healing and physical healing to "Neri bat Tovah".

Continue praying for: Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".


Va'eira

Exodus 6:2 - 9:35

Here begins the story of the Ten Plagues which G-d put upon the Egyptians not only to effect the release of the Jewish people from bondage, but to show the world that He is the G-d of all creation and history. The first nine plagues are divisible into three groups:

  1. the water turning to blood, frogs, lice
  2. wild beasts, pestilence/epidemic, boils
  3. hail, locust, and darkness.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that these were punishments measure for measure for afflicting the Jewish people with slavery: 1) The first of each group reduced Egyptians in their own land to the insecurity of strangers. 2) The second of each group robbed them of pride, possessions and a sense of superiority. 3) The third in each group imposed physical suffering.

The Torah states regarding the Plague of Blood:

"And the Lord said to Moshe, say to Aharon: Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, their rivers and their pools, and over every gathering of their water, that they may become blood; throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone" (Exodus 7:19).

Why is Aharon (Moses' brother) and not Moses commanded to initiate this plague?

Rashi, one of the greatest Biblical commentators, cites the Midrash Shemot Rabbahto answer this question. It explains that Aharon, rather than Moses, was chosen to initiate the plague of blood because the water had protected Moses when he was cast into it as an infant in a basket. It would, therefore, not be proper for Moses to smite the water which helped save him.

How can this be? Water is an inanimate object which does not have free will. When something floats in water and does not sink, it would not occur to us to give thanks to the water for its buoyancy. Nevertheless, we learn from this verse that if a person derives pleasure from an object, he should show his gratitude by being careful not to cause harm or damage to the object, even though it would not suffer pain. As the Talmud (Bava Kama 92b) states: "If you drank water from a well, do not throw stones at it". Although this advice is basically meant as a metaphor for people who have given you something, the literal meaning should not be ignored.

Since this is true concerning inanimate objects, all the more so we must show gratitude towards people who have shown us kindness. Unfortunately, there is a saying "No good deed goes unpunished". People often times not only don't show gratitude, but they return indifference or bad for good. We must make it one of our personal goals in life to always think "who has helped me and who can I thank today." Let your attitude be gratitude. Not only will you be happier, but so will those around you.

When you have nothing left but G-d, then you become aware that G-d is enough.

A good relationship is a contest of generosity!

Shabbat Shalom!

R. Ovadiah Tank


Online Learning

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College in New York, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation in the United States and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.


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Mon, February 17 2025 19 Shevat 5785