Vaera: Chapter 11

"Take your rod...and it shall turn into a snake"

Synopsis

Rabbi Yehuda talks about how much he loves studying and talking about the Torah and praising God for His righteous laws. He says that David as the King of Yisrael had to judge and lead his people to keep them on the way of truth.

Relevance

Again, we encounter the recurring themes of the law, or the Word as expressed in the Torah, and judgment and leadership. The title verse talks about the rod that turned into a snake in front of the Pharaoh. Imagining the snake/rod as the symbol of stewardship will help us pull these themes together for our meditation. When the power was given to Aaron to do this miracle, he enabled himself and Moses to assume leadership over the people, and therefore also the right to judge them. The rod was the symbol of authority. Remembering that the snake was symbolic of man's original fall, we can see that assuming leadership at a high level gives one power over even original sin. Thus when we pray we may use the lesson in this text to pray for our own accession to a level where God may use us as leaders in His battle against sin.