This Dvar Torah was given at KICKS on 1/20/23 by Aron Unger.
This week’s parsha is Va’era, which tells the story of the turning of the tides against Pharaoh. Last week, Pharaoh increased the amount of work the Jews were required to do, but this week, he begins to get his comeuppance. First, we have the story of Aaron turning his staff into a snake, and when that fails to impress Pharaoh, the first 7 of the 10 plagues, each of which again fails to convince Pharaoh to “let my people go”.
When analyzing this parsha, the first instinct is often to look at the two main characters: Moses and Pharaoh. Maybe Aaron if we like hearing the sound of our own name. But I am interested in a group of people that has an extremely passive role in this parsha: the Egyptian people. When mentioning the slavery in Egypt, the Torah always says “the Egyptians enslaved the Jews”, never “Pharaoh enslaved the Jews”. The power is centered where it always fundamentally lies, among the ruled, not the ruler. The Egyptian people are specifically called out to be suffering greatly due to the plagues, yet they never even complain to pharaoh, let alone rebel against his leadership. So the obvious question is why?
We are actually told the roots of this extreme centralization of power. Let’s go back in time to the Joseph story. It was a time of famine, and times were desperate. Joseph had advised Pharaoh to save grain during the seven years of plenty. When the famine came, Joseph sold the grain on Pharaoh’s behalf to the Egyptians at an extreme markup. First for their possessions, then for their land, and finally for their own freedom. Inflation was even worse back then I guess. Once the crisis was over, it seems as though the Egyptian society was fundamentally altered, with the Pharaoh holding extreme power. The Egyptians were no longer able to see themselves as able to negotiate with the all-powerful pharaoh. This might also explain why they were so quick to enslave the Jewish people, creating a lower class and elevating themselves.
This also helps explain a phrase found in last week’s parsha:
וַיָּ֥קׇם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף
A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.
Rashi, the famous medieval Jewish commentator, points to a Talmudic source which translates this phrase as “a new king arose over Egypt who acted as though he did not know Joseph”. Pharaoh must have known the story, but he somehow conveniently forgot that the power he now held was due to a crisis situation that was now resolved.
There is also a callback to the Joseph story in this parsha. Aaron’s staff that turns into a snake swallows up the snakes conjured up by pharaoh’s magicians. This reminds us, and maybe pharaoh, of the swallowing of the fat cows by the thin cows or the fat grains by the thin grains in the Joseph story. It even uses the same uncommon word, בְלַ֥ע in both stories.
Additionally, this parsha has an interesting phrase that gets repeated over and over: וַיֶּחֱזַ֤ק לֵב־פַּרְעֹה֙ – and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. The root of the word used here is חזק, which literally means “strong” or “powerful”. Pharaoh is obsessed with his own power. He, like many despots, is willing to let his entire nation suffer to maintain his grip on the throne. It is only when his entire society is crumbling that Pharaoh finally decides to let the Jews go, but even then he chases after them, only to finally perish in the Red Sea.
The story of the exodus is also the story of an Egyptian society that fails because it is grounded entirely in a “might is right” ethic. The Egyptian people are unwilling or unable to challenge Pharaoh, and Pharaoh cannot show any weakness, in fear of losing his throne. The exodus story ultimately culminates in a very different type of ethical system. One where value is placed on a moral code that everyone is beholden to. It does not matter what type of leadership a nation is under, individuals bear their own moral responsibility and must behave ethically.
And that is one of the lessons I think we should take from this parsha. That we in our lifetimes will experience good leaders and bad leaders, on a personal, communal, and maybe especially national level. It is our responsibility as Jews to stand up for what’s right, speaking truth to power, to ensure that we as individuals and we as a society are behaving as ethically as possible. And what a fitting time to have this parsha, at the end of MLK week, commemorating a person and era where we can be proud to say so many of our Jewish brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents, stood up for what was right. May we continue to follow in their footsteps.
Shabbat Shalom