In Parshat Va'era we sit together with the text and its hardest questions. We wrestle with why redemption unfolds so slowly, why the suffering must continue through ten plagues when freedom could come instantly, and what it means that liberation is as much about transforming belief as it is about leaving Egypt.

The plagues emerge not only as punishment, but as a challenge to empire, ideology, and false power, a dismantling of both Egyptian gods and totalitarian systems that grow dangerously out of balance.

We explore God’s shifting names, the promises made to the ancestors, and how identity is spoken differently to Pharaoh than to the Israelites themselves, religious language on one side and national destiny on the other.

Along the way, we reflect on slavery’s psychological grip, how oppression can be sustained through small comforts, and why freedom often requires time, patience, and participation.

This episode draws connections between Exodus and later history, from Pesach rituals to modern revolutions, asking why this story continues to shape moral imagination across generations.

The story forces us to ask why our national memory begins with slavery rather than success. Maybe the power of the Exodus lies precisely in starting from the bottom, so that freedom, dignity, and faith become central values rather than privileges.

As Va'era unfolds, we are left not with tidy answers, but with a deeper sense that redemption is complex, layered, and still very much a shared human struggle.

For more reading, here is this year's blog post about the parsha:

https://miko284.com/2026/01/15/vaera-and-in-my-name-i-was-not-known/