Making sense of the sedra: Va’era
Believing in a better future
It has been reported that emigration to Israel from the UK last year doubled as antisemitism soared, with a 204 percent rise in incidents recorded by the CST.
Such figures make concerning reading, especially as we mark 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most infamous of all Nazi camps, where over a million people were murdered during the worst genocide in history.
This should give even more impetus to this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day; not only to remember this stain on humanity but also to educate about the dangers of extremism and discrimination. Its theme ‘For a better future’ is commendable, as it encourages people to speak up against Holocaust denial and distortion, to challenge prejudice and, at the very least, to learn the lessons of the past so as not to repeat them in the future.
This idea of collective remembrance finds its origins in the Torah and specifically with the Exodus, of which there is an obligation to remember on a daily basis, and this week’s parsha, Va’era. The 400 years of enslavement that the Jewish people were subjected to in Egypt must be one of the earliest recorded examples of systemised mass persecution in history. At the time, there was also a silent majority, and no-one spoke up for the Israelites even when they were on the verge of complete extinction.
Instead, God miraculously intervenes and sends ten plagues to convince the Egyptians to free the people and after the seventh one, hail, we see something fascinating. Pharoah accepts his guilt and begs Moses and Aaron to plead with God to put an end to his display of strength.
Moses accedes but cautions that he cannot guarantee success because “I know that you and your courtiers do not yet fear God”. This seems to be a strange statement which almost states the obvious so why does he make it at this point?
The Malbim explains that people are only afraid when then they have something to lose but if you have nothing then you have no fear that it will be taken away from you. The next verse attests to the fact that all Egypt’s crop had been virtually destroyed and therefore Moses was concerned that they would be unafraid of any consequences should they fail to abide by their agreement. However, they could still look forward to the wheat harvest which ripens later, and this should motivate them to comply with God’s demands.
Even in the worst of times we have to maintain hope, to believe that the future will not just be a repeat of the past, but that it can be better. Just like the Egyptians we need to remember that we will reap what we sow and look forward to a time when there is tolerance and respect for every human being. This will be based on the knowledge that we are all created in the image of God.
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