God tells Moshe that He is God, that He remembers the Patriarchs and the covenant regarding the land of Canaan, that He has heard the groaning of the Children of Israel, and that He remembers the covenant.
The opening dialogue of our parasha includes God's detailed explanation of the different Names through which He reveals Himself. Why is this relevant to Moshe's complaint about his failure in the mission to redeem Bnei Yisrael? We will answer this question by studying an earlier interaction between God and Moshe on the topic of God's names.
The opening passages of Parashat Va'era are difficult to understand and have perplexed the commentators for generations. In this shiur, we will attempt to explain the verses following Rashi's lead, distinguishing between the two covenants addressed by the text.
The Torah tells us that Moshe was eighty years old when he spoke to Pharaoh, just before the plagues befell Egypt: “And Moshe was eighty years old, and Aharon – eighty three, when they spoke to Pharaoh” (Shemot 7:7). What was Moshe doing for eighty years, up until this point?
