21 Jan PARASHAT VAEIRA: MAKING IT TILL THE END

Before beginning
the story of the
ten plagues which
G-d brought upon
Egypt, it presents
the genealogy of the first three tribes
of Israel – Reuben, Shimon and
Levi. Rashi (6:14) explains that the
Torah wanted to tell us about the
family background of Moshe and
Aharon, the ones who confronted
Pharaoh and brought the plagues,
and who descended from the tribe of
Levi. It therefore began from the first
tribe, Reuben, and continued until it
reached Moshe and Aharon.
The Torah concluded this section by
stating, “This is Aharon and Moshe,
to whom G-d said: Bring Beneh
Yisrael out of the land of Egypt…
They were the ones who spoke to
Pharaoh, king of Egypt…this is
Moshe and Aharon” (6:26-27).

Rashi, explaining the need for the
seemingly repetitious phrase, “this is
Moshe and Aharon,” writes: “They
kept to their mission and their piety
from the beginning until the end.”
The Torah goes out of its way to
emphasize that Moshe and Aharon
remained committed to the goal of
bringing Beneh Yisrael out of Egypt,
until the very end. They retained their
devotion, and their righteousness,
throughout the entire process.
It is common for people to grow
weary and give up. When we start
something new, like a new project
or new spiritual undertaking, we
are filled with excitement and
enthusiasm, which fuels us and
keeps us going. Inevitably, however,
this excitement wanes with time. It is
all but impossible for the enthusiasm
felt at the beginning a new endeavor
to last. Whether it’s a new personal

project, a new community project,
a new business, or a new hobby –
people so often give up in the middle,
once the excitement that had kept
them going wears off.
This is one of the reasons why it is
customary to make a festive Siyum
celebration upon the completion of
the study of a Masechet (tractate of
Gemara), or of another significant
portion of Torah. We celebrate not
only the accomplishment itself, but
also the person’s persistence, his
long-term commitment to the goal. It
is relatively easy to begin a Masechet,
and to study the first several pages.
But seeing the project through to
completion is far more difficult.
Rashi’s comments here teach us
to follow the example set for us
by Moshe and Aharon, to persist
in pursuing our ambitious goals

even after the initial excitement
has waned. If we’ve taken on an
important, meaningful project, let’s
apply ourselves to see it through to
completion, despite the challenges
and proverbial “bumps in the road”
that we will inevitably encounter.
In order to achieve, we must be
prepared to put in the work even
when we feel like giving up. Like
Moshe and Aharon, we must be
committed to making it until the end,
to achieving the goals that we’ve set
out to achieve.