Parshas Va'era

Watch a 20 second summary of Parshat Va'era. You can download these adorable puppets by clicking here! The set includes the entire Sefer Shemot. We also have coloring pages available here.

Va'era Parsha Summary

We learned about how when Moshe went to Pharaoh and told him to let the Jewish people go. Pharaoh said, who is this G-d? Moshe threw his stick on the ground and it turned into a snake. Pharaoh wasn’t impressed because his magicians were able to do the same thing. But when Moshe's stick ate up the other sticks, the magicians couldn’t do that. 

Hashem sent the first makka of blood. Aharon hit the   Nile riverwith the stick and it turned to blood. We learned that Moshe didn’t hit the Nile or the ground by because the Nile protected him when he was a baby and the ground also when he buried the Mitzri. 

We learned about hakarat hatov - acknowledging when someone does something for us. If Moshe had to be careful about the feelings of water and the ground, how much more so should we be thankful and not hurt a person that does something for us. We talked about the different people in  our school we should be thankful to for the things they do for us. 

Purchase these puppets to enhance your parsha lessons here.

All the liquid in Mitzrayim turned to blood. The Jewish people had water and if the Egyptians tried to drink from them, it would turn to blood. I demonstrated this and we were shocked how when I poured water in the Jewish person's cup, it stayed water, and when we poured water in the Egyptian's cup, it turned to blood. (A drop of red food coloring in the bottom of the cup!) Only when the Egyptians paid the Jewish people , did they have water to drink, so the Jewish people became very rich.

We had a lot of fun getting into the parsha and learning more about the makkot. The second makka was frogs. Pharaoh did not keep his word and refused to let the Jewish people go, so Hashem sent a huge frog that came out of the river. When the Egyptians hit the frog, lots of frogs came out. They were everywhere and boy did they make a lot of noise, you should have heard our classroom! 

The next plague was kinim - lice. This makka, the magicians weren’t able to do and that’s when Pharaoh acknowledged that this was from Hashem. All the dust in Egypt turned into lice. This was a punishment for making the Jewish people sweep up their dust constantly. 

The next makkah was arov - wild animals. Boy was our classroom a scary place to be. There were so many different kinds of wild animals growling and making noises! We are glad we are Jewish people and had nothing to be afraid of. The Egyptians would make the Jewish people go to forests to bring wild animals, so Hashem said, “I’ll bring them to you.”

We are building a pyramid for the bulletin board of all the makkot. Every group of students decorated a different makka and then we worked on our own makkot depictions which we will bring home next week when we finish learning about the makkot. 

The next plague was dever - the farm animals got sick and died. I asked the students why that was a punishment. The children answered that they couldn’t ride on them to travel, get meat from them or milk, use them to work the field, or use the wool to make coats (!). Some Egyptians tried to trick Hashem and hide their animals amongst the Jewish people's animals or pretend to sell it, but Hashem made their animals get sick too, and die. 

The next plague was Sh'chin - boils. Moshe and Aharon each gathered 2 handfuls of ashes and then put them all into one of Moshe's hands. This was a miracle that it all fit. We tried doing that and it didn’t work, the lego pieces fell all around. Then Moshe threw it into the air and wherever it landed, the Egyptians became full of boils. They were so painful and it also affected the animals.

We learned about the last makka in the parsha, barad - hail. I showed the students the miracle that the ice didn’t put out the fire. We lit a candle and poured water on it, and watched as the fire went out. These big pieces of ice and fire destroyed houses.

 

Parshas Va'era Activities

• We wrote thank you cards to different workers in the school.
• Dam - blood. Place a drop of red coloring in a cup. Fill it with water and have the students watch it turn to blood.
• Frogs - We played a frog counting game in which we had to pin a clothespin on the correct amount of frogs on each card. We also did a frog puzzle matching.
• Here is a link to a frog counting game. Here is another option.
• Boils - Have 2 students each take 2 handfuls of anythings (marbles, rocks, lego). Then have them try to combine it all into one hand. It will all spill onto the floor. When Moshe and Aharon did this with handfuls of ashes, all four handfuls fit into one hand.
• Have your students color this coloring page of the 7 plagues in this week's parsha. Download here

Parshas Va'era Craft - 10 makot / plagues

• We worked on a 10 makkot - plagues project that we will finish and bring home next week when we finish learning all the plagues. 

Here is a list of what we used for each plague:

1) We fingerpainted red for blood

2) We created frogs with green paper, googley eyes and markers

3) We used little black pompoms for lice and drew legs with marker

4) foam animal stickers for wild animals

5) Sick farm animals - Colored and cut a picture of a sick cow and glued a q-tip on their mouth as a thermometer

6) Boils - traced our hand and glued red dots from a hole puncher

7) Hail - cotton balls with red tissue paper as fire

We finished the project the next week for parshat bo.

8) Grashopper - we created clothespin grasshoppers. Here is a tutorial. 

9) Darkness - We painted the square black and glued on googely eyes.

10) Death of firstborn - we created a doorpost out of popsicle sticks and colored/painted it red.

• For the bulletin board, we had each group of students create a larger depiction of each plague on a piece of paper. Then I hung them on the bulletin board in a pyramid shape.

Shemos Parsha Drawing Journal:

Our Sefer Shemos Parsha Drawing Journal is not just a journal; it's a gateway to an interactive and imaginative journey through the Parsha. Here's how it works and how it can benefit educators, parents, and, most importantly, the children:

Weekly Parsha Pages:

Each week, as we delve into the Parsha, we provide students with a Parsha page. This isn't your typical worksheet—it's a canvas for creativity and storytelling.

1. Name and Trace: Students begin by writing their name on the top line and tracing the Parsha name to the best of their ability, fostering early writing skills.
   
   
2. Draw the Parsha: The heart of the activity lies in the large drawing box. Using crayons, markers, or colored pencils, children are encouraged to let their imagination run wild as they illustrate the Parsha story.
   
   
3. Narrate Their Creation: After finishing their drawing, teachers or parents engage with the child, asking them to describe their artwork. The child's words are then transcribed in the lines below the drawing, enhancing their communication skills and deepening their understanding of the Parsha.

Parsha Songs

Oh listen, oh listen, oh listen King פרעה

Oh listen, oh listen, let my people go

They want to go away

They work so hard all day

King פרעה, king פרעה

What do you say?

 

No, no, no

I will not let them go

One morning King פרעה

Awoke in his bed

There were frogs on his bed and frogs on his head

Frogs on his nose

And frogs on his toes

Frogs here, frogs there

Frogs were jumping everywhere

 דם, צפרדע, כינים, ערוב, דבר, שחין,

ברד, ארבה, חושך, מכת בכורות

10 makos, makos 10, the mitzriyim

were punished again and again

 

The water is blood, all did shout
Frogs were jumping in and out
Bugs were crawling everywhere
Roar, wild animals were a scare

Then came Dever by and by
All the farm animals died
Sh’chin, boils and pimples too
On the Mitzrim, not the Jews

Chorus:
Ten Makos, Makos ten
The Mitzrim were punished
Again and again

Borod was fire and hail
In Mitzrayim a loud wail
Grasshoppers flying quick
Then the darkness very thick

Makas B’choros was the last
Paroh ran to Moshe fast
He was afraid to die, so…

He said, "let those Jews all go!"

Click here for to hear the recorded parsha song.