interpretation of parts of Tanach by close reading, not derivation (Pronounced "par-sha-noot")
2
votes
3answers
170 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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
3
votes
1answer
94 views
the land from which you brought us out = Egypt?
Dvarim 9:28 reads:
פֶּן יֹאמְרוּ הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתָנוּ מִשָּׁם מִבְּלִי יְכֹלֶת
יְהֹוָה לַהֲבִיאָם אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לָהֶם וּמִשִּׂנְאָתוֹ
אוֹתָם הוֹצִיאָם לַהֲמִתָם ...
2
votes
1answer
98 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
votes
1answer
41 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 ...
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
0answers
54 views
Was Naaman tamei from tzaraas?
In Melachim Bet 5:10 we read:
וַיִּשְׁלַח אֵלָיו אֱלִישָׁע, מַלְאָךְ לֵאמֹר: הָלוֹךְ, וְרָחַצְתָּ שֶׁבַע-פְּעָמִים בַּיַּרְדֵּן, וְיָשֹׁב בְּשָׂרְךָ לְךָ וּטְהָר.
And Elisha sent a ...
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 ...
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 ...
4
votes
0answers
60 views
Why does Yakov bless Ephraim and Menashe at the same time?
Why does Yakov bless Ephraim and Menashe at the same time? Why not bless them one after the other?
4
votes
0answers
69 views
Hazi“v La”kh: what's behind the division?
The Talmud (Rosh Hashana 31a) tells us that the Haazinu song (Devarim 32) was sung weekly in the Temple and divided into six segments, given by the mnemonic HaZIV LaKh הזיו לך (where each letter is ...
4
votes
0answers
106 views
HaMalach HaGoel Osi
Why does Yakov ask the malach (angel) (actually it sounds more like a statement of fact - "he will...") who protected him from evil to bless Ephraim and Menashe? Also, do we find that this actually ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
2
votes
0answers
23 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
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 ...
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 ...
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
0answers
45 views
Who were the pre-Lekh Likha righteous men?
BS"D
In Hilkhoth Avodhah Zarah RaMBaM lists the central figures in the transmission of ethical monotheism, and I was wondering if there were any other figures in our mesora not mentioned. Since the ...
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.) ...
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, ...
2
votes
0answers
61 views
Ma Inyan Shmitta Eitzel Har Sinai?
Rashi says
What does the subject of Shemittah have with Mount Sinai? Were not all the commandments stated from Sinai? However, [this teaches us that] just as with Shemittah, its general principles ...
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 ...
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 ...
0
votes
0answers
46 views
Why are Psalms 136 verses 17 & 18 apparently out of historical order?
In Psalms 136, verses 17 and 18 refer to kings smitten or slain after Sihon and Og mentioned in verses 19 and 20. Why are the verses apparently out of historical order?
