B"H

Monday, Tevet 23, 5776 / January 4, 2016 – HAKHEL YEAR

In this week's Parsha, Va’eira, G-d commands Moshe to bring encouragement to the Jewish people who were enslaved in Egypt.  G-d tells Moshe to tell the children of Israel, "I am the L-rd and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgment; and I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a G-d and you shall know that I am the L-rd your G-d who brought you out from the burdens of the Egyptians..."

The Torah tells us that Moshe spoke to the people of Israel but they didn't heed to Moshe, “due to their crushed spirit and their cruel bondage."  G-d then tells Moshe, "Go speak to Pharaoh, King of Egypt, that he shall send away the children of Israel from his land."

Pharaoh refused and was punished with the ten plagues.  At each plague, Pharaoh promised to free the people, but as soon as G-d removed the plague, "his heart was hardened" and he refused to let them go.  Seven of the ten plagues are mentioned in this Parsha.

Q.  How old was Moshe, Aaron and their sister, Miriam, when they led the Jewish people out of Egypt?

A.  Moshe was 80; Aaron 83 and Miriam 86.

Q.  How old was Moshe's mother, Yocheved, when she gave birth to Moshe?

A.  Yocheved was 130 years old!

Q.  How do we know this?

A.  Yocheved was born when Yaakov and his family moved to Egypt, 210 years earlier. Moshe was 80 years at the time of the Exodus, Thus, Yocheved was 130 when she gave birth to Moshe.

Q.  How many of the 210 years, in which they lived in Egypt, were the Jewish people enslaved by the Egyptians?

A.  116 years.  The enslavement began only after the last of Yaakov's children died.  Yaakov's third son, Levi, lived the longest.  He died at the age of 137.  He was 43 when he first came to Egypt and lived there 94 years.  If we deduct 94 from 210, we are left with 116. This is the total amount of years that they were enslaved by the Egyptians. 

However, the harsh and “bitter” enslavement was 86 years.  Miriam, who was born 86 years before the Exodus, was called “Miriam,” which comes from the word “bitter,” because at that time began the “bitter” and most difficult hardship for the Jewish people.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY