Parashat Va’era
Don’t croak if life is getting you down
This week allow your imaginations to run wild as you make sense of the first seven plagues that ravished Egypt as punishment for the brutal treatment of the Israelite slaves and for denying G-d.
After the opening plague of blood the next plague is frogs. How exactly this plague was experienced is debated by the Rabbis. Some understand that G-d caused many frogs to enter the borders of Egypt and they became a major nuisance. Whilst others understand the plague as emanating from one giant frog that croaked a terrifying croak and each time an Egyptian went to hit the frog it produced a mini frog until ultimately the land was covered in frogs.
One of the beautiful teachings of Judaism is its insistence on community. The holy personality is one who has mastered human relationships. The idea of the holy hermit living alone on a mountain top is an anathema to Jewish thinking. If there is no one to fight with or hurt, how can you consider yourself a holy human being?
As we all know, people are complicated and living with others provides ample opportunity to wish that we had our very own mountain top to escape to. When others cause themselves or others pain they become very difficult to be around. Focussing on the former example, at times we over eat and feel unwell, drink too much and have a headache. We blame the food, or the cheap price of alcohol that makes it so inviting to consume it alone.
The debate over the plague of frogs encourages us to consider how we respond to what appears to be a punishment. G-d isn’t out to get you, if life appears to be getting out of control ask yourself if you are contributing to your own problems.
The ancient Egyptians can teach us that there are times when walking away and doing nothing is the best course of action. Life is difficult enough without adding to your own sorrows. If they hadn’t hit the frog there would have been no plague. We need to walk away from our own frogs.
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