Parashat Vaeira The importance of our Roots
These are exciting times in the Torah. So many stories and actions by Moshe Rabennu and his older brother Aaron. The beginning of the Parasha continues with Hashem’s instructions to Moshe to once again confront Pharaoh and demand the freedom of the Jewish People.
It is in these Pesukim that the stage is set for a climactic moment in Jewish History- Yezeeat Mitzrayim.
We are all waiting to read on in the Parasha to see what Pharaoh will decide and how Hashem will react.
But we need to notice something in the reading of the Pesukim here.
Aliyat Cohen, the first 11 pesukim relates to the dialogue between Hashem and Moshe regarding his upcoming meeting with Pharaoh, where Moshe is to demand the release of Bnei Yisrael.
In Pasuk 29, the story continues where it says that Moshe was 80 years and Aaron was 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
But wait! What happens in the middle of this recounting of the story??
Something totally strange… The Torah seemingly goes off topic and start telling us about the families of Moshe and Aaron... a list of the Fathers, sons, and daughters in their families.
It writes: ׃ אֵֵ֖לֶּה רָאשֵֵׁ֣י בֵית־אֲבֹתָָ֑ם בְּנֵֵ֨י רְּאוּבֵֵ֜ן בְּכֵֹׁ֣ר יִשְּרָאֵֵ֗ל חֲנ֤וֹךְ וּפַלוּא֙ חֶּצְּרֵֹׁ֣ן וְּכַרְּמִִ֔י אֵֵ֖לֶּה מִשְּפְּ חֹֹ֥ת רְּאוּבֵֵֽן
And goes on from there to list the entire Family.
What going on here…we are in the middle of the most important confrontations relating to the birth and history of Am Yisrael. And we go into creating a family tree? .. Is this the place for it? It couldn’t wait until after Moshe finishes his meeting with Pharoah to give us this family tree?
Why does the Torah interrupt this important account regarding the impending redemption and freedom of the Jewish People to insert a list of the family tree?
The Rabbis teach us that the insertion of the family tree was not haphazard or unintentional- it was trying to teach us an important lesson, a lesson that is often overlook in our busy lives.
These pesukim were inserted here to teach us that each of us, from Moshe and Aaron down to us, has a family with deep strong roots that help nurture us to realize our true potential.
Moshe and Aaron were chosen to lead Am Yisrael out of our exile, out of Mitzrayim… But their greatness was not theirs alone. It was the culmination of the love, guidance and strength of their ancestors before them that carried them through to this moment. For it was the life lessons that they received from their parents and grandparents that help shape them into the men that Hashem chose to be the leaders of the Jewish Nation. A person’s greatness is not his alone, for it is rooted in the legacy of his past generations, in the choices and values of his Parents, his
Grandparents and past ancestors. Amram, Moshe’s father, created a foundation of courage, faith and commitment to Hashem that was passed down to Moshe. Those choices reflected an enduring influence that shaped Moshe’s identity and made him the man he became- a messenger of Hashem and the greatest leader in the history of our Nation.
Additionally, when we are full of doubt, and yes, even scared a bit, about a decision we need to make, we can take solace in thinking about our own parents and grandparents, and think about how my own Dad would had handled this, how did he overcome the challenges in his life... and if he could do it, so could I.
I think of my own father in law’s challenges in his life, moving from Bagdad Iraq to Kobe Japan, with a young wife and two children. I can’t imagine a more stressful situation for him and his family. And yet, he kept his faith in Hashem and made a Jewish life for himself and his Family in Kobe, so much so that he was the Baal Koreh in the Shul he started, and the shochet for the Community. Kol Hacavod lo…
Moshe and Aaron were on the way to a truly fearsome encounter with Pharoah, the most powerful man of the most powerful Nation in the world at the time. With a single word, Pharoah could have ended their mission and their lives. The Torah is teaching us that at that moment Moshe and Aaron looked back at their own ancestors for strength and guidance. This is the reason for the break in the story and why the family tree was inserted here. The Torah was imparting a timeless lesson that at pivotal times in one’s life, take strength in one’s family, those living, and especially those that passed.
We are a People with a proud past, a people with a proud background, a background full of strength and greatness. Remembering that, is crucial to our lives now.
When we recognize and connect ourselves to our past, to our history, nothing is impossible, there is no challenge that we cannot overcome.
May we merit to draw on the strength of our past as we journey forward into our future.