interpretation of parts of Tanach by close reading, not derivation (Pronounced "par-sha-noot")
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"?
7
votes
4answers
165 views
Question on Rashi - Yisro 20:8
On the Posuk "Zochor Es Yom HaShabos L'Kadsho", Rashi says
תנו לב לזכור תמיד את יום השבת שאם נזדמן לו חלק יפה יהא מזמינו לשבת
(Take heart to remember the Shabbos - if you find something nice ...
2
votes
2answers
55 views
Is the tree of the field a man?
Dvarim 20:19 reads:
כִּי תָצוּר אֶל עִיר יָמִים רַבִּים לְהִלָּחֵם עָלֶיהָ לְתָפְשָׂהּ
לֹא תַשְׁחִית אֶת עֵצָהּ לִנְדֹּחַ עָלָיו גַּרְזֶן כִּי מִמֶּנּוּ
תֹאכֵל וְאֹתוֹ לֹא תִכְרֹת כִּי הָאָדָם ...
0
votes
1answer
66 views
Plague of darkness: if he was standing, he was unable to sit?
Rashi on Shemot 10:22 states:
ויהי חשך אפלה שלשת ימים וגו': חשך של אופל שלא ראו איש את אחיו אותן
שלשת ימים. ועוד שלשת ימים אחרים חשך מוכפל על זה, שלא קמו איש מתחתיו.
יושב אין יכול לעמוד, ועומד ...
3
votes
1answer
107 views
Who is speaking in Ex. 3:17?
Sh'mos 3:15–18 reads:
15 וַיֹּאמֶר עוֹד אֱלֹהִים אֶל מֹשֶׁה…. 16 לֵךְ וְאָסַפְתָּ אֶת זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם יהוה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵיכֶם נִרְאָה אֵלַי… לֵאמֹר פָּקֹד ...
4
votes
6answers
79 views
Wording in Torah when Moshe is commanded to appear before pharoh
This shabbos, the parasha, Bo, starts with Moshe being told to "Bo El Paroh", "Come to Pharaoh". I don't understand this wording, should it have said "Lech El Paroh", "go to Pharaoh"? Is there a ...
3
votes
1answer
79 views
How can inanimate objects function as “witnesses” in the Tanakh?
How can inanimate objects function as edim and/ or edot in the Tanakh?
For example,
הַגַּל (Gen. 31:48)
הַשִּׁירָה (Deut. 31:19)
הַתֹּורָה (Deut. 31:26)
הַשָּׁמַיִם והָאָֽרֶץ (Deut. 31:28)
הָאֶבֶן ...
3
votes
1answer
37 views
מֵאַבְנֵי (Gen. 28:11) and הָאֶבֶן (Gen. 28:18)
Do any commentaries mention a reason for the plural "stones" in Gen. 28:11 and the singular "stone" in Gen. 28:18?
In Gen. 28:11, it says that Ya'akov took "of the stones" (מֵאַבְנֵי) and put them ...
3
votes
2answers
66 views
Did Hashem command Aharon to strike the water to bring the plague of Blood?
Shemot 7:19 states:
The Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch forth your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers,
over their canals, over their ponds, and over ...
2
votes
2answers
96 views
Yosef “stretched his height” to conceal Rachel?
Rashi on Bereshit 33:7 relates that, when Yaakov's family presented themselves to Eisav, the mothers drew near before the sons, but in Rachel’s case, Yosef preceded her .
...He said, “My mother ...
3
votes
0answers
47 views
Understanding the servants' hard/soft hearts
In Parshas Bo (10:1) we read that God hardened the hearts of Pharaoh's servants - כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת לִבּוֹ וְאֶת לֵב עֲבָדָיו. The Ohr HaChaim explains that this is so that the servants ...
5
votes
1answer
41 views
Why does Moshe tell Hashem that he is 'heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue' - twice?
Shemot 4:10-15 is a dialogue between Hashem and Moshe where Moshe tells Hashem that he is 'heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue'.
In pssukim 14-15 Hashem tells Moshe that he will tell Aharon what to ...
4
votes
2answers
125 views
Why does David say that he only sinned against G-d?
In Psalm 51:6 David says that
"Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in Thy sight" (JPS)
I wondered why does he think that he sinned only against the Lord? I think he ...
6
votes
3answers
101 views
Ya'akov's brief amnesia
In Parashas Vayechi, Ya'akov calls for his sons to gather so that he can tell them about what shall befall them at the end of days. Gen. 49:1. He never gets to that, however, because, according to ...
9
votes
1answer
94 views
Didn’t the Ishmaelites know they were buying their second cousin?
In studying bereishis I have come up with questions about Joseph and his brothers that have long bothered me. One question is in parsha vayeshev, where we read how Joseph was sold by his brothers to ...
4
votes
0answers
41 views
Why does the Torah repeat the story of Efron HaChiti many times?
The story of Avraham buying the cave of Machpelah is principly mentioned in Parshat Chayei Sarah Bereshit 23:3-20.
If so, why does the Torah stress again and again that Avraham bought the cave from ...
3
votes
1answer
55 views
How did the 2 spies which Yehoshua sent have authority to save Rachav and family
Devarim 20:16 reads:
טז. רַק מֵעָרֵי הָעַמִּים הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ
נַחֲלָה לֹא תְחַיֶּה כָּל נְשָׁמָה׃
However, of these peoples' cities, which the Lord, your God, ...
4
votes
1answer
56 views
How did the trees deviate from God's command?
In Bereshis 1:11 God commands עֵץ פְּרִי עֹשֶׂה פְּרִי לְמִינוֹ however in the next pasuk where it happens we find וְעֵץ עֹשֶׂה-פְּרִי אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ-בוֹ, לְמִינֵהוּ. This discrepancy is explained by ...
4
votes
4answers
290 views
What's the Meaning of Shiloh in the Last Blessing of Yaakov on his Children?
According to Genesis 49:10, when Yaakov was at his deathbed, he called in his sons and desired to bless them. At Judah's turn, his father said that the scepter should not depart from Judah, nor a ...
3
votes
3answers
66 views
When does a fox have his time?
Rashi on Genesis 47:31 says:
וישתחו ישראל: תעלא בעידניה סגיד ליה:
and Israel prostrated himself: [Although the lion is king] when it is
the time of the fox, bow down to him. — [from Meg. ...
3
votes
1answer
38 views
The fulfillment of Yosef's second dream
In Yosef's second dream [Bereshit 37:9-10] the sun,moon and 11 stars bowed down to him. The sun refers to Yaakov, the moon - Bilhah (or Rachel - Gemara Berachot 55a/b) and 11 stars - his 11 brothers.
...
2
votes
2answers
84 views
Goy Versus Leum
The Posuk Says (Gen. 25,23):
שְׁנֵי [גיים] גוֹיִם בְּבִטְנֵךְ וּשְׁנֵי לְאֻמִּים מִמֵּעַיִךְ יִפָּרֵדוּ
Translated as: Two nations are in your womb, and two kingdoms will separate from your ...
3
votes
1answer
74 views
ReEh in singular (Deut. 11:26)
The Ba'al HaTurim to Deut. 11:26 cites Bab. Megillah 31b in saying that all the blessings and curses in "Mishneh Torah" (usually this means Sefer Devarim - Deuteronomy) are written in singular, and ...
8
votes
3answers
369 views
What is Rashi proving with words in different languages
There are many places in Rashi's commentary where he uses a foreign language to translate a word used in the Torah.
For example, Bereshit 6:14:
בכפר: זפת בלשון ארמי. ומצינו בתלמוד כופרא
With ...
1
vote
0answers
52 views
What happened to Canaan during the famine after Yaakov et al went down to Egypt?
During the famine Yosef collected all the money in both Egypt and Canaan. In the following year Yosef acquired ownership of all the land in Egypt (except the priests') for Paro, but it says nothing ...
11
votes
4answers
311 views
Is belief in a G-d a commandment?
I am studying to convert to Judaism and one of the questions I was asked was about the Ten Commandments. I remember reading at that time that there was debate about the division of the statements ...
10
votes
3answers
215 views
Why did Achashveirosh take Esther if she was already married?
According to the opinion that Queen Esther was married to Mordechai.
Achashveirosh was looking for unmarried girls (Esther 2:2–4). Why did he take a married woman? Especially considering that Queen ...
3
votes
0answers
67 views
Famine in Egypt
Question: How can there be a famine in egypt?
Parshas Miketz and Vayigash discuss a famine in Egypt and the world. Rashi's comments to Eikev 11:10 that the Nile's annual flooding was critical for ...
6
votes
1answer
75 views
What is it with the donkeys all over Parashat Mikeitz?
So, we got Bereshit 42, psukim 26, 27
כו וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֶת-שִׁבְרָם, עַל-חֲמֹרֵיהֶם; וַיֵּלְכוּ, מִשָּׁם. כז
וַיִּפְתַּח הָאֶחָד אֶת-שַׂקּוֹ, לָתֵת מִסְפּוֹא
לַחֲמֹרוֹ--בַּמָּלוֹן; וַיַּרְא, ...
6
votes
1answer
46 views
How did Yaakov and his family survive “when they finished eating the grain that they had brought from Egypt”.
It says in Beraishis 43(2), “…when they finished eating the grain that they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, "Go back [and] buy us a little food."”
What were they to eat until ...
3
votes
2answers
110 views
Pharoh's privacy at the Nile
How did Pharaoh prevent people from seeing him use the Bathroom at the Nile?
We know he went early morning, but what prevented others from seeing him?
A source for this information would be ...
3
votes
2answers
56 views
Yaakov's Stone Pillow
Yaakov placed twelve stones around his head to protect him from animals. Why was he not scared that animals would attack the rest of his body and how would those small stones, which were small enough ...
5
votes
1answer
115 views
Why was Yaakov punished for not honoring his parents?
Bereshit 37:34 (translation by machon-mamre):
וַיִּקְרַע יַעֲקֹב שִׂמְלֹתָיו, וַיָּשֶׂם שַׂק בְּמָתְנָיו;
וַיִּתְאַבֵּל עַל-בְּנוֹ, יָמִים רַבִּים
And Jacob rent his garments, and put ...
11
votes
6answers
449 views
Avot keeping Mitzvot
How are we to understand the tradition that the patriarchs kept all of the mitzvot in the Torah (see for example the last mishna in Kidushin, Rashi Bereshit 32:5, etc.) in light of the many obvious ...
4
votes
6answers
169 views
“Shelach Lecha”: What is “Lecha”?
In the 2nd verse in Shelach, it says שלח לך (Shelach Lecha), which Rashi explains as "
לדעתך, אני איני מצוה לך". Why don't we give the same explanation the other places in the Torah it says לך. E.g. ...
12
votes
2answers
310 views
Why is a “leper” allowed to sit with other “lepers”?
In Parshat Tazria (Vayikra 13:46) we are told:
All the days the lesion is upon him, he shall remain unclean. He is unclean; he shall dwell isolated; his dwelling shall be outside the camp
As ...
3
votes
1answer
33 views
Why isn't נִצָּבָה redundant?
In Bereshis 37:7 we read:
וְהִנֵּה אֲנַחְנוּ מְאַלְּמִים אֲלֻמִּים בְּתוֹךְ הַשָּׂדֶה וְהִנֵּה קָמָה אֲלֻמָּתִי וְגַם נִצָּבָה - Behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field, and ...
4
votes
0answers
55 views
Why does Rashi say דבתם refers to the children of Leah?
Rashi (Bereshis 37:2 sv את דבתם רעה) says:
כל רעה שהיה רואה באחיו בני לאה היה מגיד לאביו - Any evil he saw in his brothers, the sons of Leah, he would tell his father
However it would seem that ...
3
votes
1answer
51 views
Gen. 32:23 וַיָּקָם בַּלַּיְלָה הוּא = that night?
Vayishlach 32:23 has:
וַיָּקָם בַּלַּיְלָה הוּא וַיִּקַּח אֶת שְׁתֵּי נָשָׁיו וְאֶת שְׁתֵּי שִׁפְחֹתָיו וְאֶת אַחַד עָשָׂר יְלָדָיו וַיַּעֲבֹר אֵת מַעֲבַר יַבֹּק
The Chizkuni translates ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
Were Shimon and Levi allowed to do what they did?
Shimon and Levi deceive and kill out an entire city, yet Yaakov only curses their hasty anger, not their actions. Were they allowed to do what they did?
3
votes
1answer
48 views
“פְּנִיאֵל” and “פְּנוּאֵל”
Is the פְּנִיאֵל of BeReishis 32:31 the same as the פְּנוּאֵל of 32:32? If so, why the change in term used to refer to it? If not, is there a story behind the two places with such similar names?
10
votes
2answers
131 views
Esav was coming with 400 men: why then
Why was Esav going toward Yaakov (Gen. 33:1, 32:7) if he had (27:41) planned to wait to kill him until Yitzchak was dead?
(Please cite your source, if any.)
2
votes
0answers
75 views
Did Tamar marry a third time, and if so whom?
B'reishit 38:26 says:
וַיַּכֵּר יְהוּדָה וַיֹּאמֶר צָדְקָה מִמֶּנִּי כִּי עַל כֵּן לֹא נְתַתִּיהָ לְשֵׁלָה בְנִי וְלֹא יָסַף עוֹד לְדַעְתָּהּ:
Then Judah recognized [them], and he said, "She ...
2
votes
2answers
119 views
Inconsistency in listing creeping things in Noach's Ark's population
The animal population of Noach's Ark is commanded/listed six times in Parashat Noach:
Genesis 6:19-20 (Initial command)
Genesis 7:2-3 (Reiteration of command)
Genesis 7:8-9 (Entry to the Ark)
...
0
votes
0answers
64 views
The meaning of Ibn Ezra's peirush on Dvarim 1:2 [closed]
What do you think Ibn Ezra meant when he wrote the following in his peirush of Dvarim 1:2:
וכן פירוש: ככל אשר צוה ה' אותו אליהם בעבר הירדן במדבר בערבה ואם תבין סוד (השרים) [צ"ל השנים] עשר, גם ...
5
votes
1answer
78 views
Do we care or do we not care about beauty?
Rashi Breishis 23:1 says that when Sarah was 20 she was beautiful as when she was 7. Mishlei 31:30 says שקר החן והבל היפי אשה יראת ה' היא תתהלל. Why is Rashi saying that Sarah was beautiful if it is ...
1
vote
4answers
179 views
Why G-d had to confuse people's languages in the land of Shinar?
Why G-d had to confuse people's languages in the land of Shinar and scatter them across the Earth with diverse languages? What moral does Genesis 11:5–8 coveny to mankind execept the fact that "in ...
3
votes
2answers
56 views
What is the significance of “as of this day”?
"מכרה כיום את בכורתך לי" (בראשית כה לא)
Translated as: Sell me as of this day your birthright
What do the words "as of this day" mean?
7
votes
3answers
153 views
Why can't Moshe hit the water?
As a kid I learned that Moshe wasn't allowed to hit the water because it saved him when he was a child and he had to show hakaras hatov (similar answer for why he couldn't hit the sand that saved him ...
4
votes
1answer
77 views
How much contact did Avraham and Yitzchak have after the akeidah?
The akeidah was a traumatic event for both Avraham and Yitzchak. Immediately after they appear to go their separate ways. After Sarah's death Avraham arranges a marriage for his son, which could ...
