Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with Hashem telling Moses, “Va-era – I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” and promising to bring the Children of Israel to the Promised Land. Moses and Aaron repeatedly come before Pharaoh to demand, “Let My people go,” but Pharaoh refuses. In response, Aaron’s staff turns into a snake and swallows the staves of the Egyptian sorcerers which had also turned into snakes, but Pharaoh remains obstinate.
A series of plagues then begin to descend upon the Egyptians: The waters of the Nile turn to blood; swarms of frogs overrun the land; lice infest human and beast alike; wild animals invade the cities; a pestilence kills the domestic animals; painful boils afflict the Egyptians. For the seventh plague, fire and ice combine to descend from the skies as a devastating hail. Still, “the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he would not let the Children of Israel go.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וַיַּ֣רְא פַּרְעֹ֗ה כִּ֤י הָֽיְתָה֙ הָֽרְוָחָ֔ה וְהַכְבֵּד֙ אֶת־לִבּ֔וֹ וְלֹ֥א שָׁמַ֖ע אֲלֵהֶ֑ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהֹ–וָֽה׃ But when Pharaoh saw that there was spaciousness, he became stubborn and would not heed them, as Hashem had spoken. - Shemot (Exodus) 8:11; Parshat Va-era
There was once an old hasid who lived by himself, for his wife had died years earlier. He wasn’t interested in getting remarried; instead, he prayed constantly that Shekhinah, the Divine “Bride,” would appear to him on Friday night, on Shabbat. One day, a majestic Voice came to him and said, “I will come visit you this Friday night.”
“So wonderful! Thank you!” said the hasid, “May I invite guests?” “Of course!” said Sh’khinah. He was so excited to invite his friends. On Friday he spent all day making the most sumptuous Shabbos feast. He cleaned the house, beautifully decorated the dining room, and set off to shul for Shabbat prayers. Afterward, his friends accompanied him back to his house. He had prepared the table in advance, and couldn’t wait to show them into the dining room and witness the manifestation of the Divine Presence at his Shabbos table. But, when they entered the dining room, all were shocked to see a huge dog on top of the table, eating up the challah and other delicacies! He grabbed a broom, started beating the dog and shooed it out the door. “Oy! I am so sorry! This is so terrible – the food has become unfit, and now I have nothing to serve you.” Shocked and dismayed, his friends left. The man sat at the table for a while in grief. “I’m sure Shekhinah will not appear now, after what happened.” After some time, he took some wine and began chanting Kiddush, the sanctification of Shabbat. But as he finished the words, m’kadesh HaShabbat, a queenly and radiant woman appeared before him, only she was all bruised! “You have come!” exclaimed the hasid, “But what happened to you? Are you okay? You must have been in some kind of accident!” “It was no accident,” she said, “it was you!” The hasid was taken aback – “Me??” “Yes! I wanted to enjoy your delicious Shabbos feast, so I came in the form of a dog – who could enjoy food more than a dog? But you beat me and kicked me out!” The hasid then understood – he hadn’t recognized the form that She had taken, and he begged forgiveness. This moment is the form the Divine is now taking. How can we welcome Her in? The practice of welcoming the moment is represented by the letter ב bet, which means “house,” pointing to the quality of hospitality. And, just as ב bet is also the number two, welcoming the moment has two main aspects: first, welcoming the “guests” into your space, and second, allowing the “guests” to leave. Both aspects need to be there for genuine hospitality to exist; a home is a wonderful thing, but not if you are trapped inside. On the literal level this is obvious, but this is true on the inner level as well. In meditation, you may try to control your mind and attempt to keep your thoughts out. But this aggressive and manipulative approach isn’t really meditation; the essence of meditation is not controlling thought, but transcending thought. Meaning: meditation is the shift of self-sense from the thinking mind to the space of awareness behind and beyond the thinking mind. How do we do that? Through the attitude of welcome; be the open space that allows present experience to be as it is. Welcome your thoughts in, but also allow them to leave. When we refrain from becoming involved with the stream of thinking, thoughts will come and go, and through this practice, the thought stream can come to subside altogether, on its own. וַיָּ֥קׇם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף׃ A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph… - Sh’mot (Exodus) 1:8 At the end of Bereisheet, Pharaoh generously welcomes the Children of Israel into Egypt. But as Sh’mot begins, a new Pharaoh enslaves the Hebrews and won’t let them leave; hospitality turns into control. This is how the mind tends to work – we are open and welcoming to thoughts that arise, and then we unconsciously become involved with our thoughts, seeking through them to gain some sense of control over our experience. This is the “enslavement” of consciousness through identification with thought and feeling, the creation of ego, represented by Pharaoh. If we try to get free by seeking to control the mind and not think, this is just more ego, more of that impulse to control our experience. וְהַכְבֵּד֙ אֶת־לִבּ֔וֹ וְלֹ֥א שָׁמַ֖ע – His heart became heavy/stubborn, and he didn’t listen… Sh’mot (Exodus) 8:11 Moses is pleading with Pharaoh to let the Children of Israel go free, but Pharaoh is both “stubborn” and “not listening” – these are the two basic qualities of ego: the “stubbornness” of the heart is emotional resistance, not accepting the moment as it is, seeking instead to control one’s experience. This resistance arises in the vacuum created by the absence of Presence, the absence of fully “listening,” fully opening to whatever is present. The remedy is to bring consciousness into connection with the fullness of the moment for its own sake, not for the sake of a certain experience, even a spiritual experience. It is to honor the appearance of Reality in this moment, even if it appears as a dog on the dining room table; this is meditation. וָאֵרָא – Va-era – “And I appear…” The ו vav at the beginning of the word means “and,” hinting that Reality is constantly appearing in new ways, now this way, now that way, as expressed by the Name given to Moses at the Burning Bush:
אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה – Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh
“I Will Be Whatever I Will Be.” This is the Path of ב Bet – of Welcoming the Divine in all Her Forms… מַה טֹּֽבוּ אֹהָלֶֽיךָ יַעֲקֹב מִשְׁכְּ֒נֹתֶֽיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל Mah Tovu Ohalekha Ya–akov, Mishk’notekha Yisrael! How good are your tents, O Jacob, Your Places of Presence, O Israel! From Morning Blessings liturgy (Scale: b2, b3, #4)
Read past teachings on Va-era HERE
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