WWOT – Weekly Words of Torah: Parashat Va’era

To inspire, guide, engage, enrich, and empower Conservative Jewish Women
By Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, Executive Director, Women’s League For Conservative Judaism

This week’s Torah Reading, Parashat Va’era, shows us what determination Moses and Aaron must have had in order to approach the Pharaoh so many times to repeat the same command, “Let my people go.” Each time they went to Pharaoh, after the Plague hit the Egyptians, Pharaoh would seem to cave in and grant permission to the Israelites to leave, but then he would rescind the permission. However, Moses and Aaron were persistent and did not give up. They kept going and continued demanding that Pharaoh let their people go. Were Moses and Aaron just stubborn? Or determined? Or worried that, if they gave up, God would do something to them like the plagues God delivered to the Egyptians? Let us recall that Moses did not initially want to go on this mission. Nevertheless, Moses eventually believed in the mission, and believed in himself. 

This teaches us many important lessons: One must believe in their cause, and persistence pays off. My philosophy in life is – you never know until you ask. So, ask! What is the worst that can happen? Your request won’t be granted, or will the person say yes? We can all learn the lessons of persistence and determination from Moses and Aaron.

WWOT, Weekly Words of Torah is a brief paragraph prepared weekly by our new Executive Director, Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, presented in our “This Week @ Women’s League.” WWOT will provide meaningful thoughts related to the Weekly Torah Portion, an event on the Calendar, a Prayer, or something of Jewish interest, to inspire, guide, engage, enrich, and empower Conservative Jewish Women. If you have any particular interest in future topics, or want to send Rabbi Wolintz-Fields an email, you can contact her at ewolintz-fields@wlcj.org. Read previous Weekly Words of Torah here.