Va'eira

Shabbat Shalom! So the story of Moses continues. Moses tries to tell the Israelites that God is going to free them... but no one believes him since after all those years of slavery they feel that God has forgotten about them. Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh to say those famous words, "Let my people go!"

Pharaoh is skeptical obviously since he's never heard of this 'Jewish God' so Aaron challenges Pharaoh's magicians to a throw down... a throw down of staffs that is. Aaron throws his staff on the ground and it turns into a snake... but the magicians can do the same thing! 

Pharaoh still isn't convinced so Aaron says that God is going to bring plagues to Egypt and man does God bring it! When each plague came, Pharaoh would promise to let the Israelites go but after the plague ended he would change his mind back. The first 7 are in this portion:

1. Water to blood

2. Frogs

3. Lice

4. Flies

5. Diseased Livestock

6. Boils

7. Flaming Hail

So there you have it, the first 7 plagues! So not only do we get fantastic gifs out of this portion but we get to see God's awesome powers. I once saw a show on TV explaining that there is a scientific explanation of the plagues since it happened in Cameroon in the 80's. Whatever you believe, the plagues are still pretty crazy feats of nature. However, on Passover we don't celebrate the fact that these plagues harmed and killed many people. Going into this week, remember that we should never wish ill on our enemies. Just because extreme acts of terror have been committed by Muslims in Paris doesn't mean we should want all Muslims to be harmed! We need to realize that revenge isn't as sweet as Passover wine.