Vaera

The Earth is the Lord’s

By DR. DAVID GOLDBLATT

G-d’s display of power and mercy during the plague of hail was enough to bring about a temporary change of heart in Pharaoh, but by that time his sins and stubbornness had already set him and his nation on the road to ruin. Let us work for and pray that collectively we will heed the mounting environmental warning signs and change course in time to avoid consigning ourselves to the same fate.

The Source of the Plague Is Ourselves

By EVAN WOLKENSTEIN

We could spare ourselves the Egyptian's slow process of learning through suffering. We could demonstrate our understanding that we do not own the world. The environmental damage which we've inadvertently created is a shared plague, and all of us are implicated.

You Have To Serve Somebody

By RABBI DAVID ROSENN

The exodus is a story about liberation from servitude. But it is not a story about liberation from service. God insists that the Israelites be granted freedom so that they can serve not an earthly ruler, but the Ruler of All.

The Four Steps of Liberation

By RABBI TOBA SPITZER

If we can speak of a Jewish "liberation theology," then its roots lie here, in Parashat Va'era, in God's second revelation to Moshe. Their first encounter took place at Mt. Horeb, when God introduced Godself to the reluctant prophet by means of a burning bush. Now Moshe has returned to the land of his birth, the land of Egypt/Mitzrayim, where his people suffer the burdens of slavery.