Parsha Points
Parsha Points
Parsha Points is a weekly d’var Torah (short sermon) written by Sharona Margolin Halickman which highlights a theme in the weekly Torah portion. Parsha Points focuses on the Torah’s relevance to our lives today. Parsha Points often emphasizes the Biblical importance of the land of Israel.
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This week’s Parsha
Can fire and water mix?
In Parshat VaEra (Shmot 9:18-19) we encounter the plague of hail:
Tomorrow at this time, I will cause it to rain a tremendously heavy hail. There was never anything like it in Egypt, from the time that it was founded until now. Now send word and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field. Any man or beast that remains in the field and will not be brought into the house- the hail will descend upon them and they will die.
In verses 23-25 we read:
Moshe extended his rod toward the heavens, and God sent thunder and hail, and fire came streaming down upon the earth. God caused it to rain hail on the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing among the hailstones. It was an extremely heavy downfall. There had never been anything like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt killing all that was in the field- both man and beast. All the vegetation in the fields was struck by hail and every tree in the fields was shattered.
In the plague of hail, we see proof of God’s involvement in the laws of nature.
Storms practically don’t exist in Egypt. It barely even rains there let alone hails. If hail falls in Egypt, it can cause an unprecedented amount of damage.
Ibn Ezra explains that the Egyptians were afraid of the impending hail as usually the only precipitation in Egypt was dew.
Ramban points out that there were places in the world where it was natural for hail to fall. However, Egypt was not one of those places. Since it’s not natural for hail to fall in Egypt, it is clearly a punishment.
On top of that there was fire inside of the hail which is contrary to nature.
According to Rashi, the fact that there was hail with fire blazing inside of it was a miracle within a miracle! The fire and the hail intermingled, yet hail is frozen water! In order to do the bidding of their creator the water and fire made peace amongst themselves.
Let this be a lesson to us today. If fire and water were able to get together to fight our enemies, so too should the Jewish people be able to unite for the common good of our people and leave our differences aside!