Angry Snakes, Hungry Staff

 Moshe and Aaron wanted to get Pharaoh’s attention.  After many years of exile including hard labor, murder of children and other atrocities, the Jewish people would finally be redeemed.  The great leader and shepherd Moshe had the famous vision at the burning bush, when Hashem told him to go to Egypt and, with his brother Aaron, to approach Pharaoh and tell him to “let My people go.”

 

The first miracle they performed to show Pharaoh that Hashem sent them was when Aaron threw his staff (stick) onto the floor and it turned into a snake.  Pharaoh laughed at them.  “You’re bringing coals to Newcastle,” he said.  Well not exactly.  “You’re bringing sorcery to Egypt which is full of sorcery,” he said.  And he had his own sorcerers throw their staffs down and they too turned to snakes.  But, of course, what Aaron did was not sorcery, it was a Divine miracle, and his staff then proceeded to swallow up all the other staffs.

 

Note that I said “his staff” swallowed the others, not his snake.  That is in fact exactly what the verse in this week’s Parsha (Shemot 7:12) states: “Each one of them cast down his staff, and they became serpents; but Aaron's staff swallowed their staffs.  Had his snake swallowed all the other snakes, that would have been somewhat miraculous.  But for a stick to swallow a bunch of other sticks, now that is an out of this world miracle!

 

Every story and every word in the Torah is a lesson for our daily lives and prepares us to fulfill our mission in service to Hashem.  This is especially the case with the Exodus from Egypt.  We are commanded to remember and mention the Exodus every day, morning and night.  Beyond the fact that this was a monumental event in the forming of our nation, there are real, practical lessons that we can learn from every detail of the Exodus story.  What is the lesson from a staff eating the other staffs?

 

(The following is based on an article in Chabad.org that I found very meaningful.)  Moshe and Aaron were holy men, men of love and peace, who wanted only to serve Hashem and help people.  But sometimes even the most peaceful men have to face down evil and exact retribution.

 

Moshe and Aaron were charged with breaking the evil of Egypt and forcing Pharaoh to acknowledge Hashem and let the Jews go.  A wild snake is venomous and angry.  It strikes with strength and hatred.  A stick has no life or emotion.  Although Moshe and Aaron would have to punish the Egyptians, they would not do it out of anger, vindictiveness or with emotion.  

Rather than take joy in their task of bringing plagues and punishment, these men of peace and holiness reluctantly carried out the necessary commandment of Hashem.  Aaron’s staff consumed all of the Egyptian staffs.  Aaron did not act like  a snake.  He was not overcome with negative emotions – his passion was not in the punishment.  He was a stick, not a snake.

 

When Jacob faced his brother Esav, the Torah says, he was afraid and he was troubled.  Rashi says that he was afraid that he might be killed and troubled that he might have to kill others.  It is not our way to kill and hurt.  But when it comes to the great Mitzvah of self-defense, we must always do everything to protect innocent lives.  

We hope and pray every day that the evil Pharaoh will be completely destroyed as he was in the days of the Exodus, so that we can go back to practicing Judaism in peace and tranquility.  And we pray that Hashem protect all of our heroic soldiers so that they will be successful and devour the enemies, as did Aaron with his staff.