From The Bimah: Jewish Lessons For Life

Our reading this week, parshat va’era, features otot u’moftim, signs and wonders, that are intended to persuade Pharaoh of God’s power and therefore that he should let the Israelites go. The problem is, while the signs and wonders are indeed powerful-- a rod turning into a snake, the Nile turning into blood, millions of frogs jumping up and down--the signs and wonders do not succeed in their appointed task: Pharaoh remains unconvinced. Our reading reminds us that signs and wonders do not work. In one of the Talmud’s most famous stories, Rabbi Eliezer tries to prove that his theory about the oven of Achnai is correct. He tries to do this with signs and wonders. Rabbi Eliezer said to them: If the Halacha accords with me, let this carob tree prove it, whereupon the carob tree was uprooted from its place and moved one hundred amos. Unconvinced, the sages said to him you cannot bring proof from a carob tree. He then said to them: If the Halachah accords with me, let the water canal prove it, whereupon the water