Below is a collection of Parashat Vaera resources created by The Lookstein Center staff or contributed to the site by Jewish educators.

This is a growing collection. Check back soon or write to us at content@lookstein.org if you didn’t find what you’re looking for. 

Return to Sefer Shemot Resources

PARASHA POINTS

  • God reintroduces Himself to Moses, promising to fulfill His covenant with the Patriarchs, and instructs Moses to speak with Bnei Yisrael and Pharaoh. Moses goes to Bnei Yisrael who are not interested, and he refuses to go to Pharaoh. Pharaoh adds Aaron to the mission.
  • Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and demonstrate wondrous deeds. Pharaoh’s magicians replicate the deeds and attempt to delegitimate Moses and God. On God’s instruction, Aaron turns the water to blood, but Pharaoh refuses to concede.
  • Six more plagues follow – frogs, lice, animal swarm, animal plague, boils, and fiery hailstones. Pharaoh’s magicians recognize God’s hand after lice, but Pharaoh is unmoved. After the fourth plague, Pharaoh begins to show some flexibility, sometimes agreeing to let some of the people worship God on a three-day journey, but reneges on his promise each time.
  • God’s plagues seem to have internal patterns with specific messages attached to them about what God wants Pharaoh to learn from them.

EDUCATIONAL THEMES

  • God upholds his covenant with Bnei Yisrael, even though it can take longer than we would like. 
  • Punishments are not a good deterrent unless they are designed to accomplish something.
  • Stubbornness sometimes prevents us from doing the things that are best for ourselves.

NOTABLE QUOTES

  • Bnei Yisrael’s response to Moses’ message:
    ולא שמעו אל משה מקצר רוח ומעבודה קשה
  • God’s intentions behind all the plagues:
    ‘וידעו מצרים כי אני ה’
  • The message to Pharaoh from God that Moses repeats multiple times:
    שלח את עמי ויעבדני 
  • The reaction of Pharaoh’s sorcerers to the third plague:
    אצבע אלהים היא
  • Pharaoh’s reaction to the plague of hail:
    ה’ הצדיק ואני ועמי הרשעים

DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Question #1: Do you think that someone who has a physical disability feels self-conscious? What can you do to make them feel more comfortable? God tells Moses to speak to Pharoah. But Moses explains that he has a speech impediment and therefore believes that Pharoah won’t listen to him.

Look inside the text (Shemot 6:12),

וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁ֔ה לִפְנֵי יְהוָה לֵאמֹר הֵן בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא שָׁמְעוּ אֵלַי וְאֵיךְ יִשְׁמָעֵנִי פַרְעֹה וַאֲנִי עֲרַל שְׂפָתָיִם – But Moses spoke to God, saying, “The Israelites would not listen to me; how then should Pharaoh listen to me, a man with a speech impediment!”

Question #2: Many of the plagues sound like they are punishment for Pharaoh’s, and Egypt’s, mistreatment of the Jewish people. What sort of punishment is appropriate for someone who is a mass murderer? What about if it is someone who has denied the masses their civil rights, or embezzled members of his community to the tune of billions of dollars?

Question #3: The plagues apparently affected all Egyptians. (We know, for example, that the plague of the firstborn affected every Egyptian household without exception.) Is it possible that there were no good Egyptians? There has been much discussion over the past few years about a book called Hitler’s Willing Executioners, in which the author claims that hatred of Jews was so deeply embedded in German culture that it was easy for the masses of Germans to join in the Nazi campaign of extermination. In the last two years, there has been an alarming resurgence of European antisemitism. Can a culture of hate be undone?

 

LESSON PLANS AND ARTICLES

Parashat Va’era: The Hardening of Pharoh’s Heart – This lesson plan for middle school students analyzes different interpretations of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.