Questions tagged [parshanut-torah-comment]

interpretation of parts of Tanach by close reading, not derivation

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2 votes
1 answer
136 views

Why does the Torah repeat itself in Matos?

במדבר לא יא says: וַיִּקְחוּ֙ אֶת־כׇּל־הַשָּׁלָ֔ל וְאֵ֖ת כׇּל־הַמַּלְק֑וֹחַ בָּאָדָ֖ם וּבַבְּהֵמָֽה They gathered all the spoil and all the booty, man and beast, במדבר לא יב says: וַיָּבִ֡אוּ אֶל־...
4 votes
1 answer
52 views

וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר: Same paragraph

In almost all cases in the Torah, when G-d's speech to Moshe is introduced with: וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר a new paragraph is begun in the written Torah text at this point. I'm aware of one possible ...
0 votes
1 answer
43 views

What clothing did Esther send Mordechai

In Megillat Esther (the Book of Esther) 4:4 it says Esther offered Mordechai clothing. My question is, what clothing did she send?
4 votes
2 answers
129 views

Translating Genesis 1:1 "בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית" to "in the beginning"

Apologies if this is a stupid question (or belongs in a different group). Since I'm not Jewish & only beginning to learn Hebrew I lack the background to pose an intelligent question. English uses ...
1 vote
1 answer
140 views

Source for the commentary that Miriam died "to teach that death is mysterious"?

So, a few weeks ago I was looking up some sources on the death of Miriam in preparation for a D'var Torah, and came across a very brief commentary that she died "to teach that death is mysterious" (or ...
2 votes
3 answers
180 views

Meaning of "And you shall serve your brother" specifically for Esav and Yaakov

Unlike another question that asks about the vague prophecy Rivkah was given about her twins, I ask specifically about Itzhak's statement to Esav: ... וְאֶת־אָחִיךָ תַּעֲבֹד ...׃ - And you shall serve ...
0 votes
1 answer
83 views

Did Korach and friends sin in the Golden Calf?

There is a tradition in קבלה that קרח was secretly righteous and will come back in the end times and rise up. (They are not clear exactly about what he will do). I am wondering if part of what ...
5 votes
1 answer
937 views

Persia will completely annihilate Edom which will cause moshiach to come

I heard that in a passage in the Talmud it says Persia will completely annihilate Edom and the rest of the world which will then spur about moshiach' arrival, the Yalkut Shimoni (Yeshaya 60:499), ...
1 vote
0 answers
25 views

Why is the mizbeach hazahav not mentioned in parshas terumah with the rest of the keilim? [duplicate]

Do any of the meforshim comment on why the mizbeach hazahav (the golden altar) is mentioned in parshas tetzaveh which largely deals with the bigdei kehunah (the clothing of the kohanim) and not in the ...
2 votes
0 answers
49 views

The Propriety of Ralbag's Benefits: Pshat v. Drash?

The Ralbag famously includes lists of lessons/benefits after sections of Tanach. FE, at the beginning of his Esther benefits: התועלה הראשון הוא במדות. והוא שראוי לשמוח בטוב בהימצאו, כאומרו "ביום ...
5 votes
3 answers
363 views

Age of Avram (Avraham) when he left for Kena'an out of the Ur Kasdim?

Nechemyah 9:7-8 teaches that it was HaShem who brought (or called?) Avram forth out of the Ur Kasdim. Bereshit 11:31 teaches that Terach took his whole household in which included Avram and they went ...
1 vote
0 answers
30 views

Are there any sources that disagree with Yitro's advice?

Are there any sources that disagree with Yitro's advice? Any sources that say it was detrimental to separate the community from their rebbe? In a way the Rebbe was handing out dollars very day until ...
4 votes
1 answer
108 views

כִּי יִקַּח אִישׁ אִשָּׁה—what does it mean (kiddushin or nisuin)?

Jewish marriage occurs in two distinct stages, each with its own halachic implication. Chazal term the first kiddushin and the latter nisuin. Biblically they're termed eirusin and likuchin, ...
0 votes
0 answers
34 views

Why did Yonatan start up with the Plishtim?

In 1 Shmuel 13 Yonatan seemingly unprovoked, attacks the Plishtim triggering a war. The text does not indicate that Yonatan was told to do this by Shaul, Shmuel or Hashem. Further on in the chapter we ...
4 votes
4 answers
867 views

Why is Parshas Beshalach called Shabbos Shira?

Most people know that we read Az Yashir on Shabbos Shira and we put out bread for the birds. However this is the only Shabbos that has a special name simply because of what we read in the Parsha. (...
1 vote
0 answers
21 views

Gemoro says contents of a verse must be reversed to understand it. So why did the Torah write it 'backwards'?

The Gemoro quotes Devorim 12 (17) לֹֽא־תוּכַ֞ל לֶאֱכֹ֣ל בִּשְׁעָרֶ֗יךָ מַעְשַׂ֤ר דְּגָֽנְךָ֙ וְתִירֹֽשְׁךָ֣ וְיִצְהָרֶ֔ךָ וּבְכֹרֹ֥ת בְּקָרְךָ֖ וְצֹאנֶ֑ךָ וְכׇל־נְדָרֶ֙יךָ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּדֹּ֔ר ...
4 votes
1 answer
145 views

Beside "לא תבשל", what phrases appear several times in the Torah and interpreted as different Halachot?

Famously, "לא תבשל" appears three times in the Torah in different verses: "רֵאשִׁ֗ית בִּכּוּרֵי֙ אַדְמָ֣תְךָ֔ תָּבִ֕יא בֵּ֖ית ה"א לֹֽא־תְבַשֵּׁ֥ל גְּדִ֖י בַּחֲלֵ֥ב אִמֹּֽו׃" ...
2 votes
1 answer
43 views

East wind brought the Locusts, West wind drove them

Shemoth 10:13 - "So Moses held out his rod over the land of Egypt, and יהוה drove an east wind over the land all that day and all night; and when morning came, the east wind had brought the ...
10 votes
7 answers
832 views

Is there a substantive difference in meaning when the Torah uses the Hebrew verb root דבר rather than אמר?

Is there a substantive difference in meaning when the Torah uses the Hebrew verb root דבר rather than אמר, or do they both pretty much mean "to say" or "to speak"? Do any sages see the choice of one ...
1 vote
0 answers
33 views

Understanding Moshe's use of his staff

When Moshe came to Pharaoh and Pharaoh asked for an os (a sign), Moshe told Aaron to throw down the staff and it became a snake - Shemos 7:10. There is an apparent machlokes meforshim as to whose ...
0 votes
2 answers
224 views

Isaiah 29:13: lips that honour, but hearts that are far from HaShem?

Yeshayahu 29:13 reads: וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲדֹנָ֗י יַ֚עַן כִּ֤י נִגַּשׁ֙ הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה בְּפִ֤יו וּבִשְׂפָתָיו֙ כִּבְּד֔וּנִי וְלִבּ֖וֹ רִחַ֣ק מִמֶּ֑נִּי וַתְּהִ֤י יִרְאָתָם֙ אֹתִ֔י מִצְוַ֥ת אֲנָשִׁ֖ים ...
0 votes
0 answers
48 views

It would almost seem as though Hashem was tricking Ya'akov into going down to Egypt?

וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אָנֹכִ֥י הָאֵ֖ל אֱלֹהֵ֣י אָבִ֑יךָ אַל־תִּירָא֙ מֵרְדָ֣ה מִצְרַ֔יְמָה כִּֽי־לְג֥וֹי גָּד֖וֹל אֲשִֽׂימְךָ֥ שָֽׁם׃ “I am God, the God of your father’s [house]. Fear not to go down to Egypt, ...
1 vote
1 answer
25 views

Bikkurim offerings quality

The Passuk commanding Bikkurim (Exodus 23:19) commands the “choicest” fruits. Were any bikkurim offerings (from the last prescribed species) ineligible for offering because of being too ripe, not ripe ...
2 votes
2 answers
397 views

In Jeremiah 1:6-7 was Jeremiah actually a child?

When Jeremiah attempts to recuse himself from his calling to be a prophet he does so by saying that he is unqualified because he is a child: BSB Jeremiah 1: 6“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely ...
4 votes
3 answers
306 views

Why was Yaakov always fearful?

He may have just had a lot going on to be afraid about however almost every time we encounter Yaakov he is either nervous or concerned that something bad may happen. By the berachos with getting ...
3 votes
1 answer
373 views

Eisav's angel fought Yaakov. Why Eisav's angel and not Gavriel?

I saw this dvar torah in a forum. "וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ" (לב/כה) פירש רש"י ז"ל : "הוא שרו של עשיו" שואלים: בפסוק הנאמר על יוסף "וַיִּמְצָאֵהוּ אִישׁ וְהִנֵּה ...
4 votes
2 answers
253 views

What made Malkitzedek a Cohen more than Abraham?

IIRC, before Mt. Sinai, priestly rights were given to the firstborns. For those who say, Malkitzedek was Shem Ben Noah, he wasn't Noah's firstborn. I don't know if Abraham was a firstborn, but, unlike ...
9 votes
5 answers
386 views

Do any commentaries explain the charade that Yosef put the brothers through as done with bad intention?

It seems that over the last few hundred years all the commentators that have written on the subject, and all the darshanim I hear talking about it, take for granted that the entire episode concerning ...
3 votes
0 answers
60 views

What is up with Yosef calling Yaakov אבי in the singular when talking to his brothers

After revealing himself to his brothers Yosef consistently refers to Yaakov as "my father"—not "our father" (Bereishis 45:3,9,13). Is he doing it consciously to rub it in their ...
10 votes
2 answers
106 views

Textual parallel between Eve and Cain, why?

In Bereishit 3:16, Eve is cursed: אֶֽל־הָאִשָּׁ֣ה אָמַ֗ר הַרְבָּ֤ה אַרְבֶּה֙ עִצְּבוֹנֵ֣ךְ וְהֵֽרֹנֵ֔ךְ בְּעֶ֖צֶב תֵּֽלְדִ֣י בָנִ֑ים וְאֶל־אִישֵׁךְ֙ תְּשׁ֣וּקָתֵ֔ךְ וְה֖וּא יִמְשׇׁל־בָּֽךְ׃ And to ...
2 votes
1 answer
205 views

How did Benjamin know what was going on with Yosef in Egypt

In Genesis 46:21 are written all the names of the sons of Benjamin: ובני בנימן בלע ובכר ואשבל גרא ונעמן אחי וראש מפים וחפים וארד. The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, ...
3 votes
2 answers
151 views

Please explain the difference in the order of naming Tzelafchad's daughters

When naming the daughters of Tzelafchad in Bemidbar 26:33 and when they approached Moshe with the inheritance question in Bemidbar 27:1 the order is: Machla, Noah, Chaglah, Milka, Tirtzah When they ...
2 votes
0 answers
39 views

Why did Gabriel interfere with Joseph’s cloak?

In Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews, a legend is quoted which says that Joseph was eventually found not-guilty of assaulting Mrs Potiphar because, when the Egyptians examined the tear pattern on the ...
1 vote
0 answers
71 views

Taking a non-Aggadic view of Biblical characters?

Are there classic Commentators who took a non-Aggadic view of Biblical characters? There are certain people mentioned in Tanach who look one way according to a simple reading of the "Biblical ...
1 vote
0 answers
46 views

Charan: A Place or Avraham's Brother (Or Both)?

Is there any significance to the fact that the city Charan is closely related to the name of Avraham's brother, Haran?
2 votes
3 answers
367 views

Star coming from Jacob?

“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh; There shall step forth a star out of Jacob, And a scepter shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite through the corners of Moab, And break down all ...
4 votes
2 answers
260 views

Gen 36:24 Rashi and the Pit of Snakes and Scorpions -- really Pshat?

In Genesis Chapter 37 Joseph’s brothers consider whether to kill him. But Reuben heard, and he saved him [Joseph] from their hand[s], and he said, "Let us not deal him a deadly blow. And Reuben ...
0 votes
1 answer
61 views

How did Judah commit to Jacob?

In Parashat Miketz (Genesis 43:9) it is written: I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever....
1 vote
1 answer
391 views

How did the Shela make the brothers less culpable?

Rashi brings the Midrash that Yosef told Yaakov three sins the brothers did: אבר מן החי - They ate a limb from a live animal עריות - They were guilty of illicit relations שקורין לאחיהם עבדים - They ...
31 votes
3 answers
636 views

What happened to the Yeshivas Shem v'Aiver?

What happened to the Yeshiva of Shem v'Aiver and all who learnt there?
7 votes
1 answer
165 views

Why is the end of Tehillim 60 the same as the end of Tehillim 108?

The last eight verses of Tehillim 60 and Tehillim 108 are virtually identical. Why is this so? Tehillim 60:7-14 לְ֭מַעַן יֵחָלְצ֣וּן יְדִידֶ֑יךָ הוֹשִׁ֖יעָה יְמִֽינְךָ֣ ועננו [וַעֲנֵֽנִי׃] ...
3 votes
2 answers
222 views

Why did Yehuda/Shelah need Yibum with Tamar? She had a Chazaka

Why did Yehuda/Shelah have to Yibum, after all Tamar already has 2 of her husbands die, and even though we pasken chazakah happens after three times we pasken you only need 2 times for a danger?
3 votes
1 answer
170 views

Why was Yoseph sold to Ishmaelites and then Midianites, rather than Midianites and then Ishmaelites?

The following question and translations are courtesy of Studies in Bereshit by Nechama Leibowitz. In Parshat Vayeshev, some pesukim suggest that Yoseph was sold by his brothers to Midianites, and ...
4 votes
1 answer
142 views

Who is דישון? Contradiction in 2 verses

Breishit 36:21 list דישון as the son of Se'ir, but verse 25 lists him as the son of Ana, which would make him a grandson of Se'ir. Which is it? Why the contradiction?
2 votes
0 answers
57 views

Halacha on being attentive to someone when they're speaking to you

BH Does Halacha or any teaching in the Torah address the following scenarios: A) When someone is talking to you, must you be attentive to show them respect that you're listening to what they're saying?...
1 vote
0 answers
61 views

Having a Chassidishe Gaiva

BH One of my teachers said once that a student of the Alter Rebbe was in a city filled with so much materialism and sin that he was later asked how he was able to overcome the tests and so he said &...
2 votes
0 answers
44 views

What is the source of not to speak dvarim betelim

BH What’s the source and meaning of not speaking dvarim Beteilim purposeless words?
0 votes
2 answers
153 views

How long did Iyov suffer unfairly until G-d gave him blessings for resisting it?

Some relevant passages from the book of Iyov (Job): 1:1 "There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was sincere and upright, God-fearing and shunning evil." 1:8-9 "Now the ...
1 vote
1 answer
94 views

What is the Correct Translation of Leviticus 19:18?

I realize there are debates about whether how this commandment should be interpreted. My question is about how it should be translated. My Hebrew is far from fluent, so can someone help me understand ...
3 votes
2 answers
187 views

Question about Binyamin being named "Ben Oni" in Vayishlach

Vayishlach (35:18) says that Rachel named Binyamin "Ben-Oni" (according to Rashi "son of my pain"). Is this meant to be suggestive of a double meaning in that Binyamin was actually ...

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