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Why does the Torah (תורה) describe Moshe's staff as "the staff that turned into a snake" when warning Pharaoh about the plague of blood? The shiur develops the idea that the first plague wasn't merely making Egyptians uncomfortable—it was demonstrating the incorporation of Egyptian power itself. The staff-snake represents two contradictory realities coexisting, revealing that Egypt's deity is ultimately an illusion subject to a higher power.
This shiur analyzes the warning given to Pharaoh before the first plague, focusing on several textual difficulties in Parshas Vaeira. Rabbi Zweig begins by examining why the Gemara (גמרא) in Kiddushin brings a particular pasuk about refusing (me'ein) to send out the nation, and why the Torah (תורה) uses three different verbs—kaved lev, chazek lev, and kasheh lev—to describe Pharaoh's hardening heart. The central question concerns the staff Moshe is told to take when warning Pharaoh. The Torah describes it as "the staff that turned into a snake" (ha-mateh asher nehepach l'nachash). Which staff is this referring to—the one from the burning bush or Aharon's staff that swallowed the Egyptian magicians' staffs? More fundamentally, why does the Torah need to describe which staff at all? If this description is meant to intimidate Pharaoh, wouldn't it be more effective to reference "the staff that swallowed up the other staffs"?
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Why does the Midrash connect Pharaoh's expulsion of the Jews to the mitzvah of shiluach hakan? The shiur develops a chiddush that Pharaoh's sin wasn't only drowning the children, but the insensitivity of expelling the parents afterward. The deeper analysis reveals that Pharaoh may have valued the Jews greatly and wanted to control them—making his expulsion an act of tremendous cruelty, not liberation.
Why does Moshe respond to the splitting of the sea with shirah rather than praise or thanksgiving? Rashi's use of "al libo" reveals that shirah is an emotional expression—a response of love to love. When Hashem shows personal care, the only adequate response is "I love You too," not mere gratitude or praise, and this principle applies to all relationships.
Shemos (Vaeira) 7:14-18
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