My Weekly Drash (a mini D'var Torah) - Va'era (2)
Posted by Daniel M. Kimmel on January 22, 2009 | Tags: Va'era
“Let My people go!” is probably one of Moses’s most quoted statements but, like “Play it again, Sam” or “Come up and see me sometime,” it’s actually a misquote. When God instructs Moses what to say to Pharaoh, He actually does tell him to use that phrase, but never by itself. In Parshah Va-Era God tells Moses to say to Pharaoh, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, ‘Let My people go that they may worship Me in the wilderness.’” (Exo. 7:16) It’s not simply about freedom, although that’s important enough. It’s about why the Israelites need to be free. The message is as much for the benefit of them as for Pharaoh. The goal of liberation is to be free to worship God. Pharaoh doesn’t get it and learns his lesson the hard way. The Israelites will get further instruction on this point once they have left Egypt. In some ways, it’s something that we’ve never stopped learning about, to the present day.
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Daniel M. KimmelJoined: October 2, 2007 Daniel M. Kimmel is a Boston area film critic, lecturer and author. He does these weekly mini-lessons for the Mishkan Tefila Brotherhood's newsletter. You are free to use them for similar purposes. Divrei Torah (117) |
