Parsha for the Table
Volume 2 Issue 13
Parshas Vaera
The movie and video game culture that we live in has taught us that the one who wins the fight is the one who has the better one-liner when he pulls the trigger. Nowadays, it would almost be unthinkable to create a hero that doesn't talk down his opponents. We look up to sports players who know how to show up the other team. Clal Yisroel has a different way.
In the beginning of the Parsha, Hashem makes a seemingly strange command to Moshe and Ahron. He tells them to deal with Clal Yisroel pleasantly and with patience, and to treat Pharoah with respect (6:13, Rashi).
You might think that when trying to get people to listen to you, you need to have all the options of speech available; to speak softly, or to speak harshly, as situations demand. Especially when dealing with a man like Pharoah, who bathed in babies blood, it wouldn't matter how to speak to him.
If this is how we're supposed to save Clal Yisroel and punish Pharoah, with soft spoken words and patience, how much more so should we use these same attributes when speaking with our friends and family?
Sorry for last week, have a great Shabbas, Rabbi Bader.
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