interpretation of parts of Tanach by close reading, not derivation (Pronounced "par-sha-noot")
2
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1answer
99 views
Eating meat on a regular basis
It says in Vayikra Perek 17 Pasuk 13 (Parshas Achrei-Mos):
"וְאִישׁ אִישׁ מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וּמִן הַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכָם אֲשֶׁר יָצוּד צֵיד חַיָּה אוֹ עוֹף אֲשֶׁר יֵאָכֵל וְשָׁפַךְ אֶת דָּמוֹ ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
צִרְעָה Pshat or definition
וְגַם אֶת הַצִּרְעָה יְשַׁלַּח יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בָּם עַד אֲבֹד הַנִּשְׁאָרִים וְהַנִּסְתָּרִים מִפָּנֶיךָ (Deuteronomy 7:20)
What is the הַצִּרְעָה mean in this posuk?
2
votes
0answers
24 views
Why do we get “so did they do” for the commandment of expelling tamei people in Parashat Naso?
Parashat Naso, in Numbers 5:1-3, presents a commandment to "send from the camp" anyone who is tamei due to either tzara'at or a zav-type discharage. After that, we have Verse 4, affirming that the ...
2
votes
3answers
117 views
Is Psalm 110 considered messianic
How do Jews interpret Psalm 110? (Christians see it as a messianic reference.) I am specifically interested in verse 1 - "The Lord saith unto my lord." Jesus quotes this in Matthew 22:44, and ...
4
votes
3answers
203 views
who spoke in Bamidbar 12:1?
In B'ha'alotcha Miriam and Aharon complain against Moshe, and Miriam
(alone) is punished with tzara'at. In looking at this passage I found
problems with the translations I had available.
JPS, the ...
9
votes
2answers
280 views
What happened to the bechorim?
In the begining of sefer bamidbar, the males between 20 and 60 are counted and it says that there are over 600,000 of them. Theoretically each, or most, of these people should have had a first-born ...
6
votes
1answer
113 views
Sefer Milhamot Hashem - from Bamidbar 21:14
Does anyone know of any discussion of the the "sefer Milkhamot Hashem" mentioned in Bamidbar 21:14? Someone had asked me about the content of the book and I had no idea of what to answer him.
6
votes
1answer
108 views
Why does parshat bamidbar repeat census information?
It seems that the 3rd aliyah in Bamidbar needlessly repeats the information given in the 1st and second aliyah
First Aliyah: Lists the leaders of each tribe
Second Aliyah: gives us the census ...
-1
votes
1answer
42 views
What actually happened to Jacob's and Laban's sheeps and goats?
Genesis 30 (JPS):
34 And Laban said: 'Behold, would it might be according to thy word.' 35 And he removed that day the he-goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were ...
15
votes
3answers
1k views
Why are women unclean longer after giving birth to a girl?
I read that women are unclean for two weeks after giving birth to a girl and seven days after giving birth to a boy. What does it tell us?
10
votes
1answer
137 views
Are there two things from which kares can cut one off?
In B'midbar 19:13 the Torah says that the punishment for entering the mikdash while impure is spiritual excision, using the words
וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל. . .
. . .that ...
9
votes
4answers
115 views
Why does the Torah switch around the order of annulling vows in the summary?
In the beginning of Parshas Matos, the Torah first describes the process of a father annulling the oaths of his daughter (30:4-6), and then afterwards the the law of a husband doing so for his wife's ...
6
votes
1answer
116 views
What's up with this pasuk in mishpatim?
The Chumash in Shemot 23:14 begins describing the three regalim: Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, in that order. In Pasuk 17, the Chumash begins again with Pesach and Shavuot. Instead of listing sukkot again ...
2
votes
3answers
171 views
What is the interpretation of Genesis 19, 5-8?
5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, ...
3
votes
1answer
113 views
Why was Esther afraid to go to the King the second time, but not the first time?
When Mordechai told Esther that two of the King's guards were plotting to kill him, she went right away to tell the king directly.
Yet when Mordechai later asked her to approach the king to save all ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
What is special about Molech?
What is unique about the worship of Molech that distinguishes it from other avodah zara enough that it deserves discussion and specific prohibition in the Torah? We see it specifically discuessed ...
5
votes
2answers
99 views
If Avraham had a healing stone why did he need an angel to heal him?
The Gemara in Baba Basra, Tes Zayin Amud Beis says Reb Shimon says that Avraham had a stone that he wore around his neck that healed the sick. If so why did he need a angel to come down to heal him ...
4
votes
1answer
70 views
Questions about the destruction of Sodom and the vicinity
I am having a hard time making heads or tails of the story of the destruction of Sodom and the vicinity. All questions below are questions about the narrative of the story based on the interpretation ...
5
votes
2answers
86 views
Non-Trivial Pursuit: וְנַסְתֶּם וְאֵין-רֹדֵף אֶתְכֶם
What is the meaning of וְנַסְתֶּם וְאֵין-רֹדֵף אֶתְכֶם (Leviticus 26:17)?
Literally of course it is simple: "You will flee with no one pursuing you" (Artscroll)
But this punishment does not really ...
8
votes
4answers
238 views
Why was Akeidas Yitzchok a bigger test (Nisayon) for Avraham than for Yitzchok?
Akeidas Yitzchok was the hardest test that Hashem gave to Avraham. Yet Yitzchok knew and also agreed to go along with it. Then why is it considered a bigger test for Avraham than for Yitzchok?
4
votes
1answer
63 views
How old was Avraham when he sired children with Keturah, and was that unusual?
After reporting Sarah's death and burial, B'reishit 25:1 tells us that Avraham had several children by Keturah. Avraham was 137 when Sarah died. Earlier (17:17), Avraham had laughed at the idea of ...
2
votes
5answers
85 views
Seforim with Drashos on the Torah (Recommendation)
What are good Seforim for using to help in developing drashos to say on the weekly Parsha (i.e. to use as a starting point, to quote, to find Medreshim, "nice vertlach", various "p'shatim" in pasukim, ...
2
votes
1answer
40 views
Singular and plural language in Vaikra 10:1
In parashat shemini, chapter 10, verse 1 it is written:
וַיִּקְחוּ בְנֵי אַהֲרֹן נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּא אִישׁ מַחְתָּתוֹ וַיִּתְּנוּ בָהֵן אֵשׁ וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלֶיהָ קְטֹרֶת וַיַּקְרִיבוּ לִפְנֵי ...
1
vote
1answer
44 views
What is the interpretation of Zechariah Chapter 3?
In Zechariah 3, there's a vision of Joshua the High Priest. Satan is accusing him, and then Satan is rebuked. Joshua is then found to be standing before the altar in filthy garments, which are then ...
6
votes
2answers
100 views
Most children in sefer B'reishit are named by women or God; why does Yehudah name Er?
I noticed in B'reishit 38 that Yehudah names his first son Er, but his wife bat Shua names the other two. Yaakov's wives name all of their children (except that Yaakov changes Ben-oni to Binyanim). ...
13
votes
7answers
291 views
“I never saw a tzaddik be abandoned…” - how do we understand this?
At the end of bentching we say that "I was young, and I also became old, and I never saw a righteous person be abandoned, and his children asking for bread".
How do we reconcile that with the ...
2
votes
0answers
65 views
Could the destroyer in Egypt discriminate?
In Rashi's comment to Shemos 12:22 we read
ואתם לא תצאו וגו': מגיד שמאחר שנתנה רשות למשחית לחבל אינו מבחין בין צדיק לרשע
…once permission has been given to the משחית (destroyer) to ...
3
votes
2answers
91 views
Rashi's unusual phrasing of the four sons
At the end of Parashat Bo (Exodus 13:14), Rashi enumerates the Four Sons of the Passover Seder:
דברה תורה כנגד ארבעה בנים, רשע ושאינו יודע לשאול והשואל דרך סתומה והשואל דרך חכמה
The Torah ...
2
votes
2answers
54 views
What's bothering Rashi about the messengers delivering the king's decree in Esther 4:3?
Megillath Esther (4:3) states that
in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and ...
2
votes
2answers
129 views
Ezekiel 16:4: לֹא הֻמְלַחַתְּ — what practice does this describe?
Ezekiel 16:4 seems to be describing practices performed on an infant or young child. But, what practice does לֹא הֻמְלַחַתְּ refer to? Do any rabbis explain the meaning?
4
votes
4answers
87 views
Why are the commandments for Rosh Chodesh and Passover in the same paragraph?
The reading for Parashat Hachodesh consists of a single paragraph in the Torah, Exodus 12:1-20, whose main topic is God's commandments related to the Passover offering and holiday observance that ...
5
votes
1answer
96 views
Mishkan significance
Why does the Torah feel the Need to tell me the rules for making the Mishkan? First, it is no longer relevant, as, even if we build, we will build a Beis Hamikdash. Plus, the Medrashim say it will be ...
4
votes
2answers
227 views
Can someone kindly explain the Malachi 3. 23 -24?
In Malachi 3:23 -24 it says
23. Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord,
24. that he may turn the heart of the fathers back through ...
12
votes
4answers
125 views
Would Esther really have kept silent?
In Esther 7:4 we read
וְאִלּוּ לַעֲבָדִים וְלִשְׁפָחוֹת נִמְכַּרְנוּ, הֶחֱרַשְׁתִּי--כִּי אֵין הַצָּר שֹׁוֶה, בְּנֵזֶק הַמֶּלֶךְ ...
... But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I ...
2
votes
0answers
40 views
What happened to Balak?
What ever happened to Balak after the Bil'am affair? Bil'am is referred to often as Bil'am HaRasha' (the wicked), and he is blamed for the entire encounter as well as the Ba'al Pe'or incident. But ...
5
votes
5answers
254 views
Does Joshua 8:34-35 disprove oral law's existence?
I was reading about Karaite Judaism and it lists a number of reasons, some which I thought were compelling, for rejecting the Oral Law.
For example,
Joshua 8, 34–8, 35 states:
After that, he ...
6
votes
1answer
106 views
Why are there different phrasings of Korban Pesach accompaniments?
In Parshas Bo (Exodus 12:8) it says about the Korban Pesach:
וְאָכְלוּ אֶת-הַבָּשָׂר, בַּלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה: צְלִי-אֵשׁ וּמַצּוֹת, עַל-מְרֹרִים יֹאכְלֻהוּ.
And they shall eat the flesh in that ...
-4
votes
1answer
87 views
Which nation in this prophecy of Haggai will shake nations and will be given peace(שָׁלוֹם) [closed]
The following verse in the Torah prophesizes about a nation which will be given "peace" and coming of a praised being:
and I will shake all nations, and the choicest(חֶמְדַּת ) things of all ...
-2
votes
1answer
80 views
What are the oldest interpretations of Deuteronomy 33:2?
This verse in Torah sounds highly cryptic and it seems that a message is conveyed in it:
And he said: The LORD came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them; He shined forth from mount Paran, and ...
5
votes
3answers
108 views
What are some of the old commentaries prior to 1 BCE of the Torah?
I believe that there would be commentaries of the Torah older than 1 BCE and that can shed significant light on what the message of God is in terms of its authoritativeness.
Israelites have a glorious ...
-2
votes
3answers
138 views
Certificate of Divorce by God to Israel
I find the following verse to be very harsh as it gives a pink slip of Divorce to Israel and Judah Jeremiah 3:8:
וָאֵרֶא, כִּי עַל-כָּל-אֹדוֹת אֲשֶׁר נִאֲפָה מְשֻׁבָה יִשְׂרָאֵל, שִׁלַּחְתִּיהָ, ...
5
votes
1answer
77 views
How did Achashverosh not think that Mordechai would be disturbed by the decree to kill all the Jews?
In the book of Ester (6:1), Achashverosh can't sleep and asks to bring the book of records to him. Rashi says that the reason why is in case he was done a favor by someone and didn't repay it and that ...
5
votes
1answer
48 views
“Vashti the queen” vs. “Queen Vashti”
Is there a peshat difference between the usual wording,
“ושתי המלכה”
Vashti the queen
(or “אסתר המלכה” Esther the queen),
and the wording used twice in Chapter 1 (verses 12 and 15),
“המלכה ושתי”
the ...
5
votes
0answers
43 views
Why is Shimshon buried “in the grave of his father” and not father and mother?
Nearly everywhere in the story of Samson, more than in most stories in Tanakh, both parents are mentioned quite frequently. Leading up to birth, both parents share about equal page-time. After ...
5
votes
5answers
423 views
Mordechai - Religious Leader or Political figure?
I'm looking to gather some more background, context, sources and opinions, regarding Mordechai's religiousness, or lack thereof.
This was the topic of a recent comment thread on Was Darius ...
2
votes
1answer
84 views
What is the traditional old interpretation of this prophecy
The Torah contains a prophecy of a future Prophet who will be like Moses:
I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put My words in his mouth, and he ...
1
vote
1answer
55 views
why cure the snake bites with the nehushtan
In Bemidbar 21, How come Gd cured the Israelites snake bites with the nehushtan? Why cure them that way? Why not just send the snakes away (as the people had asked)?
4
votes
3answers
158 views
Is Absalom considered a “ben sorrer umoreh”?
Is Absalom considered a ben sorrer umoreh (devarim 21:18, bal haturim) for his rebellion? I thought there where never any cases of ben sorrer umoreh.
2
votes
2answers
106 views
Why did David HaMelech tell Shlomo to punish Shimei Ben Geira?
Melachim I 2:8-9 reads
And, behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went
to Mahanaim, and he came down ...
6
votes
1answer
74 views
Why does Yisro tell Moshe that he came with Moshe's wife “and her sons” rather than “your sons”?
At Exodus 18:6, Moshe's father-in-law, Yisro, tells Moshe that he had come with Moshe's wife and "her sons." Why didn't he say to Moshe that she had come with "your sons"?
