Hot answers tagged beshalach
12
Mechilta (to 14:6) states that Pharaoh emptied out his treasury and disbursed it among his army, to induce them to pursue the Jews (with the promise, too, of dividing all of the spoils equally with them).
Presumably, no one had gone to Pharaoh to "borrow" gold and silver. (Indeed, the command (Ex. 11:2) was that the Jews should request "each man from his ...
7
I don't know about Karaites, but see this post at RationalistJudaism that this was the position of Rambam, as well as that of some Yemenite midrashim:
http://www.rationalistjudaism.com/2010/06/manna-and-maimonides.html
"Rambam seems to have shared the view found in certain Yemenite Midrashic texts (and see too Ibn Ezra to Shemos 16:13), that manna is ...
6
I noted elsewhere that it's
forbidden to feed an animal on שבת, unless that animal is dependent for food upon the one feeding it. For this reason, מג״א writes that the custom of feeding stray birds on שבת שירה is improper. עה״ש justifies the custom, writing that we do not feed the birds for their own sake, but, rather, for ours, as we wish to remember ...
6
That pasuk is not used in my experience as an example of trop.
However, in the book An'im Zemorot by Elli Schorr he gives a list of the different Ta'amim using common examples of their occurrence. I know that when I first read this I recognized which psukim 90% of the examples were from just based on the trop from the one word. Maybe other ba'alei kriya ...
6
There are two special layouts for songs - half-brick over brick, and half-brick over half-brick. The half-brick over brick is triumphant and good. The half-brick over half-brick is bad - bury the sons of Haman or the sins of the Jews.
Megillah 16b that you reference says:
אמר רבי חנינא בר פפא דרש ר' שילא איש כפר תמרתא כל השירות כולן נכתבות אריח ...
5
An interesting question, and answer.
It is worrisome to argue with the Gra about the different meanings of words, particularly after the famous (apocryphal?) story of him ordering lashes for the maskil who asserted to him that gila, rina, ditza, chedva, etcetera, were all complete synonyms. But after all, Ibn Ezra said:
ודע כי המלות הם כגופות והטעמים הם ...
5
The Maskil Ledavid says that Moshe prayed for Yehoshua (and changed his name) earlier, because he saw that in the future Yehoshua would need G-d's help. This is even slightly implied in the Gemara (Sotah 34B), where it says, "Yehoshua, Moshe already requested G-d's mercy for him". Already slightly implies that Moshe had done it before.
This would explain ...
4
It seems the ו׳ is functioning to introduce the apodosis, or the result of a cause. Thus, "When Par'oh let the people go, then God did not lead them..."
See Wilhelm Gesenius' A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, on ו׳, p. 266, §bb.
As for the Arabic ف, see William Edward Lane's An English-Arabic Lexicon on the entry for ف.
Lane writes,
...
4
R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi (in Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, ch. 2) says:
שהוליך ה׳ את הים ברוח קדים עזה כל הלילה ויבקעו המים, ונצבו כמו נד וכחומה. ואילו הפסיק ה׳ את הרוח, כרגע היו המים חוזרים ונגרים במורד כדרכם וטבעם, ולא קמו כחומה, בלי ספק
"For then, G‑d drove back the sea by a strong east wind all the night, and the waters were split and not merely ...
4
The pattern of
to [VERB] a [NOMINAL_OF_VERB]
is called the cognate accusative. The accusative argument (the object) is a word that sounds (or is) very much like the verb itself. It is very common in the Torah and in some modern languages; somewhat common in English. Rather than being repetitive, it is a standard pattern that is used with certain verbs. ...
4
I wrote elsewhere:
ספר התודעה asks a similar question, and gives a beautiful answer:
Not only שירת הים is in this פרשה; many other ideas are.... Nonetheless, the Jewish people has designated that this שבת be named specifically after the שירה, for this שירה was for Jews throughout the generations as if they were then saying it. Why so? Because ...
4
From the "Kehos Chumash", based on Derech Mitzvoshecha Mitzvas Ha'amanas Elokus:
Generally, after seeing something, we no longer need to accept it on
faith. If so, after seeing God's great hand, why did the Jewish people
still need to believe in God and Moses? The answer is that once they
had seen and validated what they had previously only ...
3
Currently, there is no definitive evidence of the crossing of Yam Suf. This if or a couple of reasons.
There is disagreement about which body of water is called "Yam Suf"
There is disagreement about what sort of evidence would prove that "Yam Suf" happened. The reason for this is that the Midrashim creates many stories with conflicting information as to ...
3
The weekly "Torah Lodaas" sheet (by Rabbi Matis Blum of Queens, New York) for B'shalach 5771, quotes the book Gan Yosef, by the author of Pardes Yosef, as saying that the duplication is to indicate that although after erasing a mark is still visible, the erasure of Amalek must be even of that mark.
3
The Ohr HaChayim HaKodosh asks this question and answers that the Jews had alot of Tzaar that Pahroh chased them.
Another answer the Ohr HaChayim HaKodosh says is that Pahroh escorted them out of Mitzrayim. Due to that he would get reward just as Nevochanetzar got rewarded for Sechar Pesiyos.
The Ohr HaChayim HaKodosh has other answers too.
3
The question is a bit stronger than worded above, so allow me first to restate it. The pasuk has the Jews demanding of Moshe, "Did you take us to die in the desert because of a lack of graves in Egypt?". The question we're addressing here is why they mentioned that Egypt has graves. It seems odd. If they wanted to stress that dying is just as possible in ...
3
The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Likkutey Sichos vol. 23 pg. 153) asks what is unique about the two miracles of the splitting of the sea and the miracle of Nachal Arnon that we find specifically on these two occasions the Jewish people sang Shira.
He explains that these miracles were unique in that not only did Hashem help them, but they did not have to do anything ...
2
Already addressed here. Rambam (Idol Worship 5:14) rules that any idol mentioned in Tanach is okay to say. The only names prohibited are other names.
2
Again, context here gives the simplest answer.
At the Red Sea, it's just about G-d's mastery of the world. "G-d shall reign for ever and ever." Done.
Psalms adds the element of Jerusalem. (In fact, that's why this verse makes it into Kedusha -- the editors of the siddur felt kedusha would be remiss without some mention of Jerusalem.) So right after "G-d" ...
2
The Kedushas Levi answers that we should really say like Dovid as we have a rule from Nedarim that we do not say "for Hashem a Korbon" as you might die Mid-sentence and you have said Gods name for no purpose but here we know that after Kriyas Yam Suf Death was taken away until they sinned at the Egel there was no such concern and Hence the Change of ...
2
אמר רבי אבהו כל המעשה את חבירו לדבר מצוה מעלה עליו הכתיב כאילו עשאה שנאמר ומטך אשר הכית בו את היאר וכי משה הכהו והלא אהרן הכהו אלא לאמר לך כל המעשה את חבירו לדבר מצוה מעלה עליו הכתיב כאילו עשאה
סנהדרין צ״ט׃
The Gemara says that whoever encourages his friend to do a Mitzva the Posuk considers it as if he did it since it says "And your stick which you hit ...
2
Reb Chaim Volshoin Answers based on the Gemara in Baba Basra that Yoav did not kill out the Female Amalakim because he HEARD "תמחה את זכר עמלק" that is Kill out the MALES of Amalek but really the Vowelazation means the Memory hence you have too say into the ear and write it because if not it will lead to these types of erors.
2
You can see my discussion of the basis and meaning of it here:
http://parsha.blogspot.com/2007/01/explaining-my-flippancy-yesterday-about.html
It is a segulah from R' Mendel Mi-Rimanov, though it is sourced (in different form) as early as Rav Amram Gaon, and even earlier, in the Yerushalmi. But one does not have to leap on to every segulah, as it becomes ...
2
To add to Gershon's answer, it could have come from the fact that Tachash (an animal used for its skins in the Mishkan) is often translated as a dolphin. Where would Bnei Yisrael have gotten dolphin skins? Why, from crossing the sea, of course! (Note, that is not my question/answer, but one that I've seen ridiculed online.) It's conceivable that this is, in ...
2
There is no such Medrash, this is a fable. Cut and paste to see this link. pn.b5z.net/i/u/6147132/i/A_Tale_of_A_Tail.doc
The website redsea-divingsafari.org mentions that there are dolphins living in the red sea, however as I mentioned above there is no such Medrash, this is a fable.
There are various sites in the southern Red Sea where Dolphins
...
2
I believe the question is backwards. The question should be, why does the midrash suggest that Nachshon, was the first to enter the Yam Suf?
It seems, that the midrash about him entering the Yam Suf, was a response to the fact that Nachshon gives the offering to the Mishkan first, while earlier, he is listed 5th. This is explained by saying that Moshe ...
2
The SMAG answers we need both because they came to believe the first time when it says:
ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו
That was because of Miracles they witnessed and that is not a good way to establish a true belief as people can be fooled.But the Posuk Here:
הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי בָּא אֵלֶיךָ בְּעַב הֶעָנָן בַּעֲבוּר יִשְׁמַע הָעָם בְּדַבְּרִי עִמָּךְ וְגַם־בְּךָ ...
2
This is my own drash (no sources).
Seeing wasn't enough, because seeing tells you only what God has done for you. It doesn't say anything about the future. So they need to also have faith.
Further, the text here tells us that they had faith in God and in Moshe, his servant. God is God and is thus worthy of faith, but that doesn't automatically transfer ...
2
According to Nitei Gavriel, the custom is to sing with the taamei shira. (This seems to be his intention, although the statement is quite vague.) He quotes this from Minhagei Frankfurt as well as Hosafos HaYaavetz. He also lists some of the customs that pertain to which pesukim to apply the tune to, etc.
1
As the Ibn Ezra said, it's impossible to translate to any other language. The Mechokekei Yehudah, a supercommentary on Ibn Ezra, says that it connotes a beginning.
So in our case, it would mean something like:
And it was when Par'oh sent the nation, (new subject) G-d did not guide them ...
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