interpretation of parts of Tanach by close reading, not derivation (Pronounced "par-sha-noot")
2
votes
0answers
62 views
Onkelos on Deut. 4:19
In Devarim 4:19, Onkelos translates ונדחת as ותטעי and והשתחוית as ותסגוד.
First, what exactly is he trying to convey with ותטעי? I think of טעות as "whoops", and hopefully there's no serious damage, ...
7
votes
2answers
290 views
Is there a good children's parsha book that's focused on pshat, not midrash?
Is there a good children's parsha book that's focused on pshat, not midrash?
Something like a Little Midrash Says, but based on just the psukim (simple verses), not all the medrish?
2
votes
0answers
32 views
Singular and plural language in Deut. 4:25
Why does the Pasuk (Deut. 4:25) switch between singular and plural when building up to the consequences of what "you will [do]"?
"When you (sing.) will have children and grandchildren, and you (pl.) ...
3
votes
2answers
65 views
Action in Balak and Reward in Pinchas
Why is it that in Parashas Pinchas we see the reward of Pinchas (Bamidbar 25:7), even though his to-be-rewarded action was in Parashas Balak (Bamidbar 25:12)? Why wait a Parsha to say what reward he ...
1
vote
3answers
117 views
How many people died before Pinchas killed Zimri?
In the mass death at the end of Parashas Balak, how many people died before Pinchas killed Zimri?
2
votes
1answer
64 views
Og's bed made of iron
Devarim 3:11 desribes Og's bed as being made from iron. What does the the Torah add by describing Og's bed as being made from iron?
The Ramban comments that it demonstrates how tall he was, that wood ...
6
votes
5answers
153 views
Was the world created with din or with rachamim?
I remember Chazal saying somewhere that the world could not survive, had it been created with din/harsh judgement/strictness. However, in Bereshis, at the very beginning, it says:
בְּרֵאשִׁית ...
-1
votes
1answer
221 views
What are the possible reasonable meanings of “Love thy neighbor”?
What are the original Hebrew words for "love", "thy", "neighbor", "as", "you", "love", "yourself" in "love thy neighbor as you love your self"?
What's the transliteration of those words in English ...
5
votes
5answers
298 views
Why twins? Why not just Yaakov?
Why did HaShem create twins (Yaakov and Esuv) if he could just create one righteous person who would be Yaakov with the good traits of Esuv? I know Esuv was supposed to support Yaakov, but Yaakov ...
5
votes
1answer
47 views
Aharon's and Miriam's Yahrtzeit
The Book of Numbers spans almost the entire 40 year period in the desert, documenting numerous events that occurred to the Jews as they wandered. I count only 5 dates mentioned in the text (listed in ...
4
votes
1answer
90 views
3
votes
0answers
51 views
How strong was Midian's army?
When Israel took vengeance on Midian they sent 12,000 troops (Numbers 31:4) and prevailed. We aren't told how numerous Midian was, only that the spoils includes 32,000 virgin women (31:35). This ...
4
votes
3answers
115 views
Hitting of the rock (Chukas): why twice?
Why did Moshe hit the rock twice rather than once in Bamidbar 20:11?
7
votes
3answers
138 views
Why does the census “of all who are able to go forth to war” include a few women?
The census in Bamidbar 26 is directed thus:
Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all that are able to go ...
8
votes
1answer
71 views
Should Shaul have killed Yonasan?
In Shmuel alef 14 a confusing scenario arises. First Yonasan (and his armor bearer) go out to the camp of the Plishtim. Then Shaul curses anyone who will eat bread that day until evening (pasuk 24). ...
11
votes
3answers
148 views
Unusual number of males among the 70 who went to Egypt
B'reshis chapter 46 lists the seventy descendants of Yaakov who went to Egypt. It actually lists sixty-nine: let's assume Yocheved was the seventieth, as Rashi explains. It also lists (in pasuk 12) ...
7
votes
2answers
114 views
Yisrael or Yaakov?
Does anyone have any sources on a conclusive guide to when the name "Yisrael" is used and when the name "Yaakov" is used in the Torah in reference to Yaakov Avinu, the individual?
5
votes
1answer
132 views
Description of the Yetzer HaRa in Parshat Bereshit
In Parshat Bereshit, the yetzer hara's relationship to man is described in very similar langauge to the woman's relationship to man.
Regarding the woman, it says (Gen. 3:16) וְאֶל-אִישֵׁךְ ...
3
votes
1answer
482 views
Why did Moses raise the brass serpent in the wilderness?
I would like to know the meaning for God's command to Moses to lift a serpent of brass and set it on a pole in the desert, so that all those who had been bitten by serpents would look at the brass ...
12
votes
3answers
338 views
What is the “book of the law” mentioned in Joshua 1?
Specifically, Joshua 1:8:
Joshua 1:8 (JPS)
8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do ...
10
votes
4answers
193 views
Why didn't Mordechai keep Mitzvos — serious edition
It says in the Megilla "ויאמרו עבדי המלך אשר בשער המלך למרדכי מדוע אתה עובר את מצות המלך" - "The servants of the King (who were in the King's gates) asked Mordechai 'Why do you go against the command ...
1
vote
0answers
45 views
Leaving the King's road?
We say in Bemidbar 20:17 to Edom:
Let us now pass through your land: We won't pass through the fields
and vineyards and we won't drink well-water; on the road of the king
we will go, we won't ...
7
votes
1answer
137 views
Published Ladino version of Meam Lo'ez?
The Me'am Lo'ez (מעם לועז), begun by Rabbi Yaakov Culi in 1730, is a commentary to Tanakh written in Ladino. It was subsequently translated to Hebrew and translated from the Hebrew to English in a ...
9
votes
1answer
127 views
Why did Hashem not tell Avraham to have a Bris earlier?
Avraham Avinu was told to have a Bris at 99 years of age. Why didn't Hashem have him do a Bris earlier?
8
votes
1answer
141 views
What are the rules for ain mukdam umeuchar?
Sometimes we say that things in the Torah are not in chronological order. What are the parameters for this? do you need to have a mesorah (particular tradition) for this? Is there a list of all ...
4
votes
1answer
73 views
Post-Korach altar cover: how was it made and used?
Numbers 17:2-5 describes the covering that was made for the altar from the fire-pans of Korach's rebels:
[...] 4 And Eleazar the priest took the brazen fire-pans, which they that were burnt had ...
2
votes
2answers
106 views
Web sites where I can post divrei Torah
Can anyone suggest a good site where I can post a weekly list of marei mekomos in Ramban on the Parsha?
6
votes
1answer
38 views
Why couldn't the Jews do Teshuva by the incident of the spies?
After Hashem chastised the Jews for not wanting to go into Eretz Yisrael, and told them that they will have to die in the desert, the Jews seemed to have had a change of heart. A few even were willing ...
10
votes
2answers
148 views
Why didn't Yehoshua give a good report immediately?
When the spies returned from scouting the land and gave their report of mighty opponents, 13:30 tells us that Caleb silenced the crowd and argued for going into the land, and then 13:31 says "the men ...
9
votes
2answers
138 views
Why are the Meraglim in that order?
The meraglim (scouts) and their shevet (tribe) are listed in a strange order in Bemidbar 13:
Reuven
Shimon
Yehuda
Yissachar
Ephraim
Binyamin
Zevulun
(Of Yosef): Menashe
Dan
Asher
Naftali
Gad
As ...
4
votes
1answer
94 views
Psalm 145: Which Person?
Psalm 145 makes up the bulk of the oft recited prayer known as Ashrei. It is an alphabetic acrostic (missing the letter nun) about the greatness of God.
The verses beginning with Alef, Bet, Dalet, ...
5
votes
1answer
37 views
Why is Hashem's name attached to only some of His accomplishments in Tehillim 146?
Psalms 146:6ff lists twelve of Hashem's deeds:
עֹשֶׂה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ
אֶת הַיָּם וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר בָּם
הַשֹּׁמֵר אֱמֶת לְעוֹלָם
עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט לָעֲשׁוּקִים
נֹתֵן לֶחֶם לָרְעֵבִים
ה' ...
6
votes
1answer
90 views
Why did Aharon request that Hashem declare Miriam pure?
Rashi says that one of the meanings of Aharon's prayer regarding Miriam ("Let her not be like the dead, which comes out of his mother's womb with half his flesh consumed!"; Bamidbar 12:12) was that ...
3
votes
3answers
183 views
How old were Avraham and Sarah when they got married?
How old were Avraham Avinu and Sarah Imeinu when they got married?
2
votes
2answers
83 views
Why did Pharaoh try to kill Moshe?
Moshe Rabbeinu was raised in Pharaoh's house. Yet when Dasan and Aviram claimed that Moshe killed an Egyptian taskmaster, Pharaoh tried to kill him (Shemot 2:13-15).
Why would an all powerful tyrant ...
6
votes
3answers
103 views
Why the extra words “who sits on his throne”, “who is behind the millstone”?
In Parshas Bo, 11:5, the Torah says:
"Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave-woman who is behind the ...
3
votes
1answer
109 views
6
votes
2answers
138 views
Why does the Yom Kippur service seem to reenact Abraham's treatment of his sons?
In the Yom Kippur service during Temple times, the Kohen would (Lev 16:7-10ff):
And he shall take the two goats, and set them before the LORD at the door of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall ...
8
votes
1answer
115 views
Sarah's treatment of Hagar and Ishmael
How could Sarah's treatment of Hagar and Ishmael be considered righteous? I intend this as a sincere and serious question. While Hagar was pregnant, Sarah "prevent[ed] her intercourse with Abraham, ...
17
votes
5answers
510 views
Halachic Restrictions not in the Torah, and “shall not add”
How can halachic restrictions that are not in the Torah be reconciled with the Deuteronomy 4:2 passage, which says, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from ...
5
votes
2answers
108 views
Commentaries not noting clear issues in the Torah
Stemming from this question about the seeming discrepancy between the number of people and the number of first-borns as counted in the beginning of Numbers:
I noticed this problem in my first reading ...
3
votes
3answers
219 views
Why does Rashi say “I don't know”?
The Posuk says (Genesis 28:5):
וַיִּשְׁלַח יִצְחָק אֶת יַעֲקֹב וַיֵּלֶךְ פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם אֶל לָבָן בֶּן בְּתוּאֵל הָאֲרַמִּי אֲחִי רִבְקָה אֵם יַעֲקֹב וְעֵשָׂו
To which Rashi comments on the ...
10
votes
5answers
118 views
Why do we find two adjacent pesukim stating what seems to be the same?
In Breshit 26:3 Hashem tells Yizhak: "...and to your zera (sons?) I will give all these lands...".
In the next passuk, Hasehm says: "...and I will give to your zera all these lands...".
Isn't this ...
5
votes
1answer
62 views
What was the purpose of Nachshon's sin-offering?
Nachshon ben Amminadav, and each of the eleven tribal leaders who followed him, offered "one young he-goat for a sin offering" as part of their gifts for the dedication of the Mishkan (Num. 7:16 ...
6
votes
3answers
173 views
Why the specific commandments in the Aseret haDibrot
What is HKBH trying to teach us by his choice of commandments that make up the Aseret haDibrot
11
votes
2answers
186 views
The 500 men killed in Shushan, and the 500 Jews who killed Amaleki
Is there a source to connect (mystically, or otherwise) those enemies of the Jews (presumably Amaleki) killed in Megillas Esther 9:12 with the 500 men from the tribe of Shimon who killed out the ...
11
votes
2answers
258 views
Let there be light! But from where?
According to Genesis 1:3, "And G-d said, Let there be light; and there was light." What light is the Torah referring to if the sun which produces light by day was created only on the 4th day of ...
8
votes
3answers
158 views
5
votes
1answer
103 views
Rashi's apparent internal confusion over יתרו/רְעוּאֵל
Per Bamidbar 10:29 (see below), חֹבָב בֶּן רְעוּאֵל was the father-in-law of מֹשֶׁה. There, רש"י asks why רְעוּאֵל is referred to in Shemoth 2:18 as the "father" of בנות יתרו, and he answers that ...
5
votes
2answers
64 views
Balak The King Since when?
In the First Posuk it says:
וירא בלק בן ציפור (And Balak the son of Tzippor Saw)
no mention of his ...
