|                                                                        A litte quick Torah for you on Friday before the Jokes                                                                           Va'eira Exodus 6:2-9:35                          
  G-d reveals Himself to Moses. Employing the "four expressions of redemption," He promises to take out the Children of Israel from Egypt, deliver them from their enslavement, redeem them and acquire  them as His own chosen people at Mount Sinai; He will then bring them  to the Land He promised to the Patriarchs as their eternal heritage. Moses and Aaron  repeatedly come before Pharaoh to demand in the name of G-d, "Let My  people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness." Pharaoh  repeatedly refuses. Aaron's staff turns into a snake and swallows the magic sticks of the Egyptian sorcerers. G-d then sends a series of plagues upon the Egyptians. The waters of the Nile turn to blood; swarms of  frogs overrun the land;  lice infest all men and  beasts. Hordes of 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; as G-d had said to Moses. |