The Second Prerequisite to the Geulah*

A thought on Parashas Vaeira. Feel free to print and read over Shabbos.

*The first prerequisite was explained in my previous post: An Unlikely Tale of Two Brothers.

Parshas Vaeira is a completely different type of parashah (one that even transcends the need for an accompanying picture :) ). Throughout Sefer Bereishis and even Parashas Shemos, we’ve mostly seen the world running within the laws of nature, with some miraculous exceptions. Now, we are introduced to a new way the world can work. (This continues through the rest of Shemos—from the splitting of the Yam Suf to the manna, to the Mishkan, and beyond.) Things seem almost magical. It’s like the world had been running on a secondary-level circuit board until now, and suddenly it’s been switched to the main circuit, with so many more capabilities. Of course, that’s not really how it works. The Torah tells us exactly how it works—through the names of Hashem.

In this week’s parashah, we are introduced to a new name of Hashem. While in the past, Hashem appeared to our forefathers with the name Sha-dai, now…