Parashat Vaera

As We Place Chumashim in the Hands of our Students: A Thought for Parashat Vaera

One of the images from Sefer Shemot (The Book of Exodus) that is ingrained in my memory, and which I remember first encountering as a child, comes from Parashat Vaera. Moshe and Aharon are preparing for their showdown with Paraoh, and Hashem tells them that when Paraoh demands a sign, Aharon is to throw his staff down on the ground; it will become a serpent, this will convince Paraoh of Hashem’s power, and Paraoh will accede to Moshe and Aharon’s demand that he let Bnai Yisrael leave Mitzrayim (Egypt).

By one pasuk (sentence) later, Moshe and Aharon are standing before Paraoh, who indeed demands a sign; Aharon does as Hashem had directed, and his staff very impressively becomes a serpent. Unexpectedly, though, Paraoh summons his own coterie of sorcerers, and using spells, their staffs also become serpents when thrown on the floor. For a moment, it seems like Aharon, as a representative of Hashem, is no more powerful than the magicians of Egypt… but then Aharon’s snake eats the other snakes, and the question of who is able to conjure up greater magical power is settled.

 

Or is it? Rashi’s take on this is that the Egyptian sorcerers’ secret is that they have magical charms that enable them to perform these miraculous signs, while Aharon has Hashem’s support. Aharon’s power far exceeds their power, but that isn’t to say they don’t have some magical power from these charms, as Rashi calls them. Their charms just pale in comparison to Hashem’s power.

Modern commentator Nahum Sarna sees the situation differently. According to Sarna, the Egyptian “sorcerers” didn’t have any magical powers; they were using a trick. Apparently, by exerting strong pressure on a nerve just below the head of an Egyptian cobra, the snake can be placed into a catatonic state, taking on a rod-like appearance. When thrown to the ground, the snakes snap out of their catatonic state and resume full mobility.

So, maybe the Egyptian sorcerers didn’t have magical powers at all. They were impostors, or frauds!

And that… reminded me of something that Rabbi Tovia Singer of Outreach Judaism used to tell our students when he would visit annually before he made aliyah some years ago. He would remind the students that the Secret Service protects not only the president and visiting dignitaries but also our currency, and then he’d ask them a question: How do you think the Secret Service trains its agents to know the difference between genuine US currency and all of the impostors – the fraudulent, fake currency produced by counterfeiters? The students usually assumed that the Secret Service must train their agents on the many different types of counterfeit currency out there, which in theory they could do. But actually, they do something they find far more effective. The Secret Service trains its agents by putting genuine US bills in the agents’ hands, repeatedly, and teaches them to recognize the genuine article. Just like distinguishing between the Egyptian snake charmers and Aharon’s power, the agents are able to determine what is real and what is counterfeit because they become so familiar with the real thing.

And that… made me think of our third-grade students who will be receiving their very own Chumashim today. We will, like the Secret Service, be putting the real thing in their hands, so that they can become intimately familiar with it this year and in years to come. They will each no doubt interpret and understand Torah in a variety of different ways, both now and as they grow, but they will know that they hold Torah in their hands and in their hearts because we have given them the gift of the genuine article. 

Mazal tov to the third grade, and Shabbat shalom. 

N.B. This year, we have the privilege of celebrating two Chagigot Chumash, as both the second and third grades will be receiving Chumashim this year – an outcome of exciting developments in our Lower School Limudei Kodesh program.