| The Portion of Va'eira The First Redemption Moses undertakes his mission to Pharoh. He, together with his brother Aaron, appear before the king of Egypt and demand that he release the Children of Israel from bondage. Pharoh refuses, and the plagues, of which Pharoh was forewarned, begin to descend upon Egypt. Even though it is quite obvious that the plagues only affected the Egyptians and not the Israelites, there is no reference to this fact in the text. Only in the 4th plague, the plague of "arov" (mixed animals), does the Torah state here what is not stated previously anywhere else . "And I will make a redemption between My people and your people" (Exodus 8;19). The first redemption takes place at the time of the plague of "arov" and that is the reason why the term "pedut" (redemption is used). But this is only a partial redemption which will be followed by more enslavement. This, therefore, explains why the word "pedut" is written without the letter "vav". However, in the future, there will be a completer redemption, and this is foreseen in Psalm 139;7 "O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption", where the word "pedut" is written in its complete form with the letter vav in its proper place. (Baal Haturim) And perhaps this is also alluded to by the crown above the letter "pei" in the word "pedut".
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