Parashat Vaera begins in the middle of a difficult exchange between Hashem and Moshe Rabbenu. To briefly review, Hashem had sent Moshe to come before Pharaoh and demand that he release Beneh Yisrael . Moshe did as he was told, and Pharaoh not only refused, but increased the people’s workload, significantly intensifying their suffering. Moshe then turned to Hashem and asked, “Why have You done evil to Your people? Why did you send me?” Hashem reassured Moshe that He would force Pharaoh to let Beneh Yisrael go. In the beginning of Parashat Vaera, Hashem continues His response to Moshe, telling him, “I am Hashem; and I appeared to Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov with [the Name] ‘Kel Sha-ddai’.” The commentators explain this to mean that Hashem made promises to the Avot (patriarchs), but did not show them the fulfillment of these promises. He promised to produce from them a large nation that would inhabit the Land of Israel, but they never lived to see these promises realized. Nevertheless, they did not complain or protest, as Moshe did when G-d’s promise to free Beneh Yisrael was not immediately fulfilled. It goes without saying that Moshe had perfect faith in Hashem. At no point did he doubt that Hashem would fulfill His promise to free Beneh Yisrael . Rather, as Seforno (5:22) explains, Moshe was asking why he was part of this. “Why did you send me?” He of course realized that Hashem had his reasons for making Beneh Yisrael ’s conditions worse. But he felt like a failure. He did what Hashem sent him to do, and he failed. His efforts had the precise opposite effect of what he was supposed to achieve. This is what troubled him – that his work and efforts were futile. Hashem responded by pointing to the example of Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov. They never felt like failures, even though they never saw the realization of their mission. Each time they heard Hashem’s promise of a great nation, they encountered hardships. Avraham had no children, and had to leave the land because of a famine. Yitzhak had to struggle with the Pelishtim who chased him away and then stole his wells. Yaakov received Hashem’s promise, and then had to deal with Lavan and Esav. Later, his daughter was abducted, and his sons sold their brother as a slave. But the Avot did not feel like failures. They recognized their greatness and importance, and the great value of their efforts, and trusted that Hashem will eventually fulfill His promises. As mentioned, Parashat Vaera begins with Hashem telling Moshe, “I appeared to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov…” Rashi makes a very unusual remark on this verse. Commenting on the word “Vaera” (“I appeared”), Rashi writes, “El Ha’avot” – “to the patriarchs.” For some reason, Rashi found it necessary to clarify that Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov were the “Avot,” our nation’s founding fathers. Aren’t we already well aware of this? Do we not already know who Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov were? The answer might be that Rashi here is teaching us what a parent’s role is, what makes someone into an “Av,” a father or mother. A parent’s primary job is to model for his or her children this quality mentioned here in this pasuk – the quality of resilience in times of failure and disappointment. Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov are our “fathers” because they showed us how to remain confident, strong and determined even when things do not work out, even when the chips are down, even when our efforts do not succeed. They continued believing in Hashem, and – no less importantly – believing in themselves ,even in times of crisis and hardship. At no point did they see themselves as failures, as hopeless, or as unimportant, even when their efforts did not yield the results they wanted. And this is what makes them our “fathers.” Our generation suffers from a lack of self-confidence and self-esteem. Youngsters today see other people’s success and achievements and feel unimportant and insignificant, like failures. The most critical job that parents have, especially in our generation, is to instill within their children a keen sense of their importance and worth, to assure them of their potential for greatness, to make them realize how much they can accomplish, and how much they matter. Children should never see themselves as failures, regardless of their grades, social standing, or any other factor. They need to know that they have the potential for greatness, that they have so much to contribute to the world, even if they have met with disappointment and failure. If we can do this, then we are doing our job as parents, following the example of our saintly Avot.