Vaera

Vaera - Seth Farber

Seth Farber is the director of ITIM, a Jerusalem based organization that helps secular Israelis navigate the labyrinths of the Israeli rabbinate, and rabbi of Kehilat Netivot, a modern Orthodox synagogue in Raanana, Israel. He received his PhD from the Hebrew University and his wife Michelle and their four children are responsible for his sanity.

Were the ten plagues good for the Jews?

As the Exodus narrative unfolds and the Israelites move closer to redemption, it is clear that something has gone drastically wrong. The promise made to Moses was that the Exodus was to go smoothly. And yet, at the conclusion of Parshat Shmot, Moses is devastated, having been humiliated in Pharaoh's presence and in the eyes of his fellow Jews.

Redemption, both national and personal, is often seen as goal oriented. For example, we look at a former alcoholic and say: he or she has gone through a catharsis. But we don't consider what he went through, or even why.

Theoretically, at least from the biblical perspective, God could have brought the Jewish people out of Egypt on a magic carpet. Was there really a need for Moses to fail at first? Moreover, was there really a need for ten plagues? Could Jewish redemption only emerge out of pagan suffering?

While many commentators argue that the ten plagues were meant to teach Pharaoh or even the world a lesson in God's power, the biblical text makes it strikingly clear that the Exodus scheme contains a message for the Jewish people.

I would argue that this message is not merely to demonstrate God's might, but rather, a subtle (and effective) critique of some unpleasant moments in ancient Jewish history. Subsequent to Moses being flushed out of Pharaoh's presence (Exodus 5), he snaps at God saying, more or less "what have I done to deserve this?" God responds, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a mighty hand will I send them out, and with a mighty hand will I thrust them from the land." It is this verse that introduces our parsha, and, in fact, the ten plagues.

The succession of words, "send out" (root: sh.l.ch.) and thrust out (root: g.r.sh) only appears once prior to this section. When Sarah seeks to send out Hagar from her house, she asks Abraham to thrust her out (g.r.sh) (Genesis 21). Of course, Abraham, seeking to be kind to his wife and son, Ishmael, sends them away (sh.l.ch), providing them provisions for the desert. Similarly, the Hebrew phrase "strong hand" (Yad chazaka) mysteriously also finds its way into that episode. Wandering about the desert, Hagar abandons Ishmael, only to be met by a messenger of God who tells her "Hachaziki et yadech bo" (hold his hand strongly).

Upon reflection, the connection between the punishing Exodus and the Hagar narrative is clear. Abraham (or Sarah), after all, had enslaved an Egyptian woman, and chose to kick her out of his home into the desert in order to protect his domain. What a great irony that a few generations later, the tables would be turned and Abraham's descendants would be enslaved by the Egyptians. Perhaps the biblical narrative needed to amend this tragic moment in Abraham's career, where he (and Sarah) were unsympathetic to Hagar's plight. The Jewish people needed to know what it meant to be thrust out, or sent out. The magic carpet would have been insufficient.

But then why punish Pharaoh? Perhaps the Egyptians had to suffer for the mistake of their ancestor. Hagar refused to hold steadfastly to the hand of her child, at his most vulnerable moment. She refused to use a "yad chazaka". In a great moment of biblical irony, the bible stresses that this pathetic behaviour does not go unpunished. Her descendants will understand, all too well, the power of a strong hand.

For the modern reader, Parshat Vaera is painful. Either you say we believe in a vindictive God, or one who doesn't seem to keep his promises. But seen from the perspective of dramatic irony, the suffering of Jews and Egyptians alike is seen to promote a greater purpose: to teach us not to allow others to suffer no matter who or where they are.