Parshat Va’eira: Pharoah’s sorcerers

The Torah tells us that Pharaoh’s wise men and sorcerers were able to turn their staffs into taninim by means of their להטים. This word is unusual and Ibn Ezra suggests it may not be a Hebrew word. There are two main approaches to explaining how Pharaoh’s courtiers were able to perform the same miracle as Moshe.

• Rav Sa’adya Gaon and Ibn Ezra suggest that it was some sort of trick or optical illusion and that in fact no real change had occurred. This fits best with the interpretation according to which the taninim were snakes, since these resemble staffs when they are still. They could have moved their staffs in such a way that they resembled snakes, or they could have trained snakes to resemble staffs by remaining still in their hands.
• Ramban and Ran, by contrast, believe that they performed genuine magic by manipulating the מלאכי חבלה (angels of destruction/demons), which is efficacious, but forbidden because it goes against their intended use.

Rabbeinu Bahya merges these two opinions. Pharaoh’s wise men were able to perform genuine magic, but it was not of the same level as true miracles. Thus, Aharon and Moshe’s staff was able to eat theirs. Sforno similarly explains that they were able to modify their staffs to have the form of taninim, but only God can animate an animal by giving it a soul.

For more on parshat Va’eira, see Haggadah Berurah, the Haggadah that helps you tell the story of yetziat mitzrayim.