Parashat HaShavua - Vaera

וְלֹ֤א שָֽׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל מֹשֶׁ֔ה מִקֹּ֣צֶר ר֔וּחַ וּמֵעֲבֹדָ֖ה קָשָֽׁה׃
They did not listen to Moshe due to their crushed spirits and hard work.

It is not easy to make space to listen to others, and yet, this week’s Torah portion urges us to prioritize listening. The Torah portion begins with Moshe once again relaying God’s plan to redeem the Israelites.  The Torah states that the Israelites did not listen (לא שמעו) to Moshe due to their crushed spirits and hard work. Some commentators suggest that this means that they were physically not able to listen, and some suggest they listened but were not able to accept (believe) Moshe’s promise that redemption was possible.

Chizkuni (13th century French commentator) teaches that when the verse states that the Israelites could not listen because of their working condition, what is actually implied is that by burdening the Israelites with additional hard labor, Pharaoh had succeeded in making them forget their dreams of freedom. 

The Israelites’ response leads Moshe to once again challenge God’s having chosen him as the one to take his people out of Egypt. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks teaches that Moshe’s challenge to God should teach us that Jewish tradition places great value on listening to dissenting positions. Rabbi Sacks teaches that if God is willing to listen to Moshe, as well as Abraham and Jeremiah, who challenge His plan or His vision of justice, so too must we, human beings, be open to listen to others who present positions that challenge us and our core values.

Towards the beginning of our Torah portion, right before God articulates to Moshe the four stages of redemption (ארבע לשונות גאולה), God tells Moshe that God has heard (שמעתי) the cries of the Israelites and has therefore remembered God’s covenant. Certainly God must have been aware of the suffering in Egypt. God needed to listen to God’s people, make space to truly hear their cries, in order to prepare to begin to bring about redemption. 

We live in a time when listening to others is hard and often unimaginable. For 476 days, the families of the hostages have asked us to hear their cries. And this week, for Romi, Doron and Emily’s families, it must have felt that indeed, their cries were heard and their prayer answered. May this week’s Torah portion inspire us to listen with care and compassion, particularly to people with whom we disagree. Perhaps this listening will contribute to the bringing about of redemption. 

Rabbi Dahlia Kronish
High School Associate Head