Parshas Va’eira: Living with Hashem

“And I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments and I will take you as a nation for Me and I will be your G-d and you will know that I am Hashem your G-d” (Shemos 6:6–7)

‘And I will take’ — only when you become people who are upright liberated and imbued with the consciousness of your human rights will I take you as a nation. Just break free and you will become My people. My nation — with no country no land — only Me.” (Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch on the Torah Parshas Va’eira)

There’s something special about the Yamim Tovim. Something colorful lively exciting and out of the ordinary is in the air. I feel it as I approach the Tu B’Shvat stall in the supermarket — it’s never too early for me — and watch my children crowd around the exquisite table adorned with almond branches and a tempting array of colors and tastes including all the fruits of Eretz Yisrael (and some other countries as well). Their eyes shine as they absorb the abundance of sights and smells.

We arrive home way too late heavy bags weighing us down. The two boys start fighting about a shiny stone they found outside my ten-year-old suddenly remembers homework the baby is hungry.Bathtime supper laundry and a little girl who can’t fall asleep because she might have a bad dream … “So please Mommy sit with me …”