I have two grandsons, who are brothers, and their names are Moshe (Moses) and Aaron. A cute set of names for brothers. 

And they get along, mostly! 

In fact, Moshe came home with some candy this week and actually shared some with his bro!

What brotherly love!

This week’s Torah portion is Va’era and it is the technicolor, fire and brimstone story of the first seven of the Plagues. 

The Plagues were the punishment meted out to Egypt, measure for a measure, in response to the evil they did the Jewish people throughout the time the Egyptians enslaved them. 

The story is bombastic and huge in scope. 

Yet, there are some very quiet, whispered messages we can glean from the nuances in the verses. 

We are “introduced” to the brothers, Moses and Aaron, who will be the leaders and facilitators of these grand actions. 

They will be the ones to speak to the great Pharaoh, and they will be the ones to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt. 

But strangely enough, sometimes they are called Moses and Aaron and sometimes the order is reversed, and it’s Aaron and Moses. 

Order matters in a duo. 

Usually it’s one, then the other, think Bonnie and Clyde or Batman and Robin, never are the two reversed. 

Our Sages note this unusual fluidity and they teach us this changing in the accounting of their names indicates they were considered equal in one another’s eyes. 

These great leaders had no hubris, they worked in peace and in tandem. It didn’t matter to them who might be considered greater. It did not matter whose name was first. 

This is the sign of a leader. 

It’s the purpose of achieving the goal which drove them, not their own ego. 

How much more can we accomplish as a team, working without competition but rather in harmony. 

This attitude is what allowed them to be the leaders who facilitated the Plagues and the Exodus, it was a huge story, but THEY weren’t the story. 

Now that the integrity of the messengers has been established, Moses and Aaron receive the first instructions which is a command to go see Pharaoh, King of Egypt. 

Once again, the nuance of a superfluous adjective should make us wonder!

We know Pharaoh was the King of Egypt, why was it necessary to give him that appellation at this time?

Rashi, 11th century commentator, teaches that Gd wanted Aaron and Moses to address Pharaoh respectfully, so they were reminded to do so by Gd calling him Pharaoh, and including his title as well. 

Why would Gd want to make sure they take care not to humiliate Pharaoh? 

After all, he was an evil and wicked despot who deserved much worse, as we see when the Plagues unfold?

Our Sages teach us that had Pharaoh been humiliated, despite all the evil he had done, he no longer would have deserved the punishment of the 10 plagues. 

That humiliation would have wiped his slate clean of sin. 

Humiliating another is clearly a potent weapon. It is so powerful that someone on the receiving end of an insult has suffered so much, they are a tabula rasa, totally wiped away. 

So in the midst of the grand and majestic story of the 10 plagues we are witness to the power of brotherly love and the need for proper behavior. When we wield the weapons of mass destruction empires can fall, but when we act with decency and respect for one another we build a nation predicated on respect and humility. 

Our Sages actually teach us that a person who has been humiliated and does not respond in anger has the power to give a blessing. 

We can understand this from the above. If one has been humiliated and has therefore had all their sins wiped away in the process, they now have the power to bless, as their words are no longer  impeded by any infractions or wrong doings that might have committed. 

So perhaps, in the midst of our lives now, when a pandemic of biblical proportions rages about us, let us stay focused on our interactions with one another, to be careful to speak in respect, to stay away from humiliating another and to lay the foundation which will allow us to move forward to build one another. 

I will tell my Moshe and Aaron they are on the road to learning from their namesakes, by sharing with one another and being careful with using caring words. 

Most of the time!

Shabbat Shalom and so much love