This week’s Torah portion is full of big drama! If you were making into a play or a movie, there would be a lot of roles to cast, a lot of big shoes to fill:
God
Moses
Aaron
Pharaoh
There are others, but those are the big names. In this portion, Vaera, God tells Moses to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt. And God gives Aaron to Moses as a helper/co-leader/speaker. Pharaoh doesn’t agree, not seeming to care much who the messenger is.
That wasn’t a plot twist, in fact, it was quite expected. God told Moses that Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened and he wouldn’t agree. What would follow would be some semi-persuasive plagues. We don’t get to all ten this week, but we get a good running start.
Whenever I read about the plagues, I think of my little cousin Avraymie who once told me the story of the righteous frogs. It was a short story, it went like this: “And when Pharaoh didn’t let the Israelites go after the plague of blood, God sent the righteous frogs.”
Honestly, until that time, I’d never considered those frogs to be anything but plain frogs. But that was just my limited thinking. There are no small roles, only small actors. And these little frogs played a big part in the transformation of the Children of Israel into the Nation of Israel. They were on a mission from God!
And, aren’t we all? What the frogs lacked in size, they made up for in number and righteousness. If one or two of those frogs hadn’t shown up, they might not have been missed. But if they’d all decided not to show up, the story would’ve gone very differently.
What about you? What’s your mission from God? There are no small roles. I’m doing my best to show up big and bold for mine. What about you?