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Parashat va’Era (Exodus 6:2-8:28) by Dr. Yitzhaq Hayut-Man. The name of the parashah – ‘VaEra’ – only appears once and that is in the second verse of this parashah. There are two meaning to the word ‘va’Era’:

 

1) HaShem points out the way that he appeared to Avraham, Yitzḥaq and Ya’aqov, but also
2) hints about that He’s about to show his strength to Egypt.

The parashah then tells the story of the plagues in Egypt. The first seven of the ten are described in va’Era. Again we see the sanctified number seven. In my explanations on the Book of Genesis, I showed how the structure of the six days of the week concluding with the Shabbat is analogous to the structure of the six struggles between brothers in the Book of Genesis[1] that preceded the seventh and ideal relationship – that between Moshe and Aaron.

Through the story of the liberation of ‘my first born son, Israel’ from the subjugation of enslavement in Egypt appears the wondrous event of the harmonic partnership between Mosheh and Aaron is analogous to the harmony of the holy Shabbat compared with the tumultuousness of the six days of action.

The conflict-free harmonious relationship between Moshe and Aaron expresses itself in the use of the staffs. Aaron, the first born, merits to be the first one to wave the Matteh-מטה (staff) and call for the miracle, and in the midst of the process, the action passes Moshe. In retrospect, it would appear that Aaron’s staff will be the first of the Temple vessels.

 

The Magic Staff of Moshe and Aaron:

The staff is a miraculous and powerful object that is mentioned often in the Book of Exodus and little in the other Torah books. We find mentioned the staff of Moshe and the staff of Aaron, the staff of YHVH and the staff of Elohim. Let us explore the appearances and roles of this simple but wondrous object.

• The staff first appears in the Book of Genesis. Yehudah transferred his staff to Tamar, and the staff served to identify him ( Genesis 38:25). Another meaning of ‘matteh-staff’ is ‘shevet-tribe’. The words ‘staff’ and ‘tribe’ are interchanged in the Scriptures. Therefore when Yaakov blesses Yehuda, he says: “ The ‘shevet-sceptre’ shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet” (Genesis 49:10). It is possible that he is hinting about this staff as well.
• When Moshe asks for a way to cause people to believe, he is made aware of the importance of the staff: “And HaShem says to him: ‘What is in your hands? And he said ‘a staff’”. Then HaShem transformed this staff into a snake in order to impress the Egyptians and the Children of Israel as a sign and as a visual proof that “The God of Avraham, the God of Yitzḥaq and the God of Yaaqov” (Exodus 4:2-4) has appeared to him.
• The staff of Moshe is here sanctified as the tool with which Moshe creates the wondrous signs. (Ibid, 4:17)
• When he returned to Egypt in order to lead the Israelites, the staff went with him: “And Moshe took the staff of Elohim in his hand” (Ibid, 4:20)
• The staff is the representative of the ‘hand of God’.  The Torah mentions God’s outstretched arm which brings liberation three times before it is presented before Pharaoh and his magicians. “And I liberated you with an outstretched arm” (Ibid 6:6), “And I brought out My hosts, My people, the Children of Israel from the Land of Egypt. For I am God with great judgments. And Egypt will know I am YHVH when I stretch forth My hand upon Egypt and bring out the Children of Israel from among them” (Ibid 7:4-5).
• The first one to use the staff publicly is actually Aaron. “When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying: Show a wonder for you; then thou shalt say unto Aaron: Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it becomes a serpent. And Mosheh and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so, as the LORD had commanded; and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their secret arts. For they cast down every man his staff, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs” (Ibid, 7:9-12). However, even when the staff was clearly called “the staff of Aaron”, the action was enacted by both Moshe and Aaron: “And Moshe and Aaron went in…and they did so”. Their action was common.
• The sign for the beginning of the plagues in Egypt is given through the staff in the hands of Moshe: “Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thy hand”  (Ibid, 7:15).
• “Thus saith the LORD: In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD – behold, I will smite with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood” (Ibid, 7:17) ostensibly it was the staff of Moshe that turned into a snake.
• Yet in actuality, the authority of action was given the Aaron and his staff: “And the LORD said unto Mosheh: ‘Say unto Aaron: Take thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ And Mosheh and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood” (Ibid, 7:19-20). Here again the action is shared between Moshe and Aaron.
• Also in the second plague, of the frogs, the staff is the staff of Aaron: “And the LORD said unto Mosheh: ‘Say unto Aaron: Stretch forth thy hand with thy rod over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.’ And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt” (Ibid, 8:1-2)
• In the third plague, of lice, again the staff used is the staff of Aaron: “And the LORD said unto Mosheh: “Say unto Aaron: Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.’ And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and there were gnats upon man, and upon beast; all the dust of the earth became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt” (Ibid, 8:12-13). The sorcerers of Egypt managed to emulate the first two plagues. They only failed with the third plague, of the lice, they failed: “The sorcerers did the like with their spells to expel the lice, but they could not… and the sorcerers said to Par’oh ‘this is the finger of God” (8:14-15). From this moment on it is the Finger of God, His hand and His arm that bring on the plagues.
• The next three plagues were ‘from the Hand of God’ and came after verbal negotiation between Mosheh and Paroah. And then from the seventh to ninth plague, the sign is given through the staff of Mosheh: “And the LORD said unto Moshe: ‘Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.’ And Mosheh stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down unto the earth; and the LORD caused to hail upon the land of Egypt” (Ibid, 9:22-23).
• Thus also, in the eighth plague, hail: “And the LORD said unto Mosheh: ‘Stretch out thy hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. And Mosheh stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts” (Ibid, 10:12-13)
• In the ninth plague, darkness, Moshe performs an act directed by God: “And the LORD said unto Mosheh: ‘Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.’ 22 And Mosheh stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days” (Ibid, 10:2-22)
• The tenth plague, the hardest and most affective one – the death of the firstborn, was done in darkness without a  public display but it was enacted by God Himself: “Thus saith the LORD: About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die” (Ibid, 11:4-5)
• The next time the staff was used again was at the splitting of the Red Sea: “And the LORD said unto Mosheh: ‘Wherefore criest thou unto Me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground” (Ibid, 14:15-16). But in the actual enactment once again the acting hand is mentioned, but not the staff: “And Mosheh stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided” (Ibid, 14:21). This also occurred in the return of the sea: “And the LORD said unto Mosheh: ‘Stretch out thy hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.’ And Mosheh stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea” (Ibid, 4:26-27). Then in the conclusion of this we are told that: “Israel saw the great Hand (act) that HaShem did upon the Egyptians.” (Ibid, 14:31)
• With the arrival of the Children of Israel from  the Sinn Desert, in which they received the manna to the parched Rephidim, we read: “And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Mosheh, and said: ‘Wherefore hast thou brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?’ And Mosheh cried unto the LORD, saying: ‘What shall I do unto this people? they are almost ready to stone me.’ And the LORD said unto Mosheh: ‘Pass on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.’ And Mosheh did so in the sight of the elders of Yisrael” (Ibid, 17:3-6). Later on the situation returns and Moshe strikes the rock with the staff in order to bring forth water. However this time he does not do it by the command of God who instructed him to speak to the rock, not to strike it – but Mosheh’s striking the rock was an act of anger and habitual response. On this Moshe was punished and the staff that remained was the staff of Aaron, ‘the man of compassion’.
• Still in Rephidim, the staff was used an additional time – in the war against Ạmaleq: “And Moshe said to Joshua: (And not HaShem to Moshe!) ‘Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Ạmaleq; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.’… And it came to pass, when Mosheh held up his hand (probably with the staff though it does not say so explicitly) that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Ạmaleq prevailed. But Mosheh’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Ḥur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun” (Ibid, 17, 9-12).
• The staff returned to Aaron’s hand in Parshat Qoraḥ, when the  staffs of the twelve tribes together with the staff of Aaron were placed in the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s staff representing the House of Levi sprouted: “and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and bore ripe almonds” (Numbers, 17:23)

 

In the Book of baMidbar (Numbers), an entire parashah is included in the name ‘Mattot’ (Ibid, 30:2-32:42). The parashah begins with a general opening: “And Mosheh spoke to heads of the Mattot-tribes of the Children of Israel saying: ‘This is the thing that God has commanded’”. The ‘Mattot’ are the Tribes, from whom the soldiers for the battle in Midian are enrolled, 1000 from each Matteh-tribe: “And the LORD spoke unto Mosheh, saying: ‘Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites; afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.’ And Mosheh spoke unto the people, saying: ‘Arm ye men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute the LORD’S vengeance on Midian. Of every Matteh a thousand, throughout all the Mattot of Israel, shall ye send to the war.’ So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every t Matteh, twelve thousand armed for war. And Mosheh sent them, a thousand of every Matteh, to the war, them and Phineḥas the son of Eleạzar the priest, to the war, with the holy vessels and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand” (Ibid, 31:1-6). The word ‘mattot’ which means tribes and perhaps groups in general, yet has a military meaning that remains until today. (The word ‘matteh’ is currently used to refer to a ‘team’ or ‘organization’ usually military. For example, the Israeli army headquarters is referred to as the ‘haMatteh haKlali’ – General Staff Headquarters, ‘haMatteh le’milḥamah ba’terror – the headquarters for the battle against terror; as well as for a tract of land connected to the tribes of Israel such as ‘matteh Ephraim, matteh Binyamin’.)

 

To conclude, the ‘Mattot-staffs’ are mentioned in the story of the plagues to remind us the purpose of the Exodus is the liberation and bringing to Israel all the brotherly tribes – the ‘mattot’. And at the conclusion of this Mosheh is commanded to place the staff of Aaron in the Sanctuary: “And the LORD said unto Mosheh: ‘Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept there, for a token against the rebellious children; that there may be made an end of their murmurings against Me, that they die not’” (Ibid, 17:25)

After the building of the Beit HaMiqdash – Holy Sanctuary – the staff of Aaron dwelled in the Holy of Holies with the Ark. While the prophet Moshe contributed the Tablets of the Covenant, Aaron, the priest, contributed the Matteh-staff to the Holy of Holies as a testimony to the unification of the tribes.

 http://www.global-report.com/thehope/en/

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(1) The six episodes of the brothers in conflict: a. Cain and Abel; b. Children of Noaḥ; c. Ishmael and Yitzḥaq, the children of Avraham; d. Esau and Yaaqov, the children of Yitzḥaq; e. Yoseph and his brothers, the children of Yaaqov/Yisrael; f. Menashe and Ephraim, the children of Yosef. In each instance, there is an improvement over the earlier case.