My question is: Why doesn’t the new Sidra begin with a new chapter, instead of beginning at chapter 6 verse 2? The answer is that the chapter divisions were introduced into the Bible by Stephen Langton, an archbishop of Canterbury in 1227, whereas our Rabbis divided the Torah into Sedarim much earlier. The divisions do not always match. During the Middle Ages, some eminent rabbis were put under pressure by Christian leaders to hold disputations with them. Because of convenience, the chapter divisions crept into our Chumashim as well.
To explain why the Sidra starts at verse 2, we have to look back at the last 3 verses in the Sidra of Sh’mot which reports of an angry exchange between Moses and God. Moses was extremely disappointed with the outcome of his first mission to Pharaoh. So when he resumed his conversation with God, he accused Him of betraying the people’s trust and failing to save them. God answered Moses and said: “Now you will begin to see what I will do to Pharaoh. He will be forced to let them go. Not only that, but he will be forced to drive them out of his land.” In this reply God told Moses that Pharaoh would not only be forced to allow the Israelites leave, but that he would be compelled to expel them. The expression YAD CHAZAKAH denotes that the Almighty would use force against Pharaoh.
The chapter division suggests that God’s response, in the last verse in Sh’mot, is the beginning of another speech by God, which continues until the end of chapter 6, verse 8. By contrast, our Masoretic tradition follows the view that chapter 6, verse 1 is just a brief response, which ends the discussion. Va’era is the beginning of a new divine address which took place a number of days later, when Moses had calmed down.
Nevertheless, the speech begins with the word VEY’DABER ELOKIM, which, according to Rabbinic tradition, suggests that God spoke to Moses in a harsh tone and rebuked him for his arrogance. But it was a very brief reprimand. It was immediately followed by conciliatory and reassuring words, which begin with the phrase ANI HASHEM. This is an important and solemn introduction, which is underlined by the fact that it occurs twice again in this passage. It occurs, for the second time, in verse 6, when Moses is given the words which he should address to the Israelites. Finally, it comes as the final words of the divine speech, in verse 7. In these two words the Almighty emphasised to Moses that he was wrong and that there was no question that the Almighty is determined to fulfil the covenant which he had made with the Patriarchs and perform miraculous acts of redemption in the near future.
God went on to declare that in order to fulfil the covenant he would reveal himself to Moses and to the younger generation of Israelites in a new guise. Whereas he had appeared to the Patriarchs only through the attribute of the name El Shaddai, now he would appear through the attributes of the name Y-K-V-K. (When writing this name, we substitution K for the H). The name EL SHADDAI represents God powers in nature, which is the source of human fertility and strength to survive. The name Y-K-V-K represents his power to perform supernatural acts of salvation, which were soon to be performed in Egypt.
Moses obeyed God and went back to the Israelites immediately after the speech. But the Israelites, who had believed him, on the first occasion, happily and with gratitude, refused to listen to him this time. After their great disappointment and Pharaoh’s imposition of harder work, they felt depressed and without hope. Moses words did not provide them with any comfort.
This was yet another obstacle in Moses’ path. It was a lesson in leadership, which brings with it both defeats and triumphs.
But the mission had to continue. God immediately ordered Moses to go and speak to Pharaoh, for the second time. But Moses couldn’t bring himself to agree. The challenge now was even more difficult than it had been on his first mission. He had managed to overcome his earlier doubts about his ability to speak. But now, his doubts came back with even greater intensity. He said to the Almighty: ‘If I had not been able to convince my own people, how can I carry any conviction with Pharaoh?’ A leader needs the backing of those whom he leads. To be a leader, one needs followers. Moses did not feel he had any followers. By saying that he was ‘uncircumcised of lips’, he claimed that he could not engage with anyone.
The literal translation of the final verse of this episode reads: “God spoke to Moses and Aaron. He commanded them regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh, King of Egypt, in order to secure the Israelites’ release from the Land of Egypt.” The syntax of this sentence is difficult because we are not told what the commandments regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh were. Rashi explains that the Almighty commanded Moses and Aaron to be patient with the Israelites and accept that they were frustrated and impatient. He also instructed them to treat Pharaoh with the respect that is due to a King.
The Levi’s portion is devoted, in particular, to an account of the genealogy of Moses and Aaron’s family. It is difficult to take in all the detailed information during the reading in shul on Shabbat. It tells us that Levi lived to the age of 130 years and that he had three sons; Gershon, Kehat and Merari. It also tells us that Amram, Kehat’s son, married Yocheved, Levi’s daughter, who was his aunt. They had two sons, Aaron and Moses and one daughter, Miriam. Miriam was seven years older than Moses and Aaron was three years older. Amram lived to the age of 137. Aaron’s wife was Elisheva, and they had four sons, Nadav, Avihu, Ele’azar and Itamar, who also became relatively important. The most important of Aaron’s grandsons was Pinchas. It is noteworthy that Moses’ sons are not mentioned because they did not grow up to become leaders of our people. It is also of interest that some names, mentioned in this chapter, are still used to this very day but others are not. Thus, some names of important people, like Amram, Kehat and Merari have never been used again in Jewish history. The reason for this is not obvious and requires some investigation.