Questions tagged [parshat-devarim]

The weekly Torah portion of Devorim (Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22)

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
11 votes
2 answers
295 views

How do we understand Moshe's rebuke

On Devarim 1:1, Rashi comments that the various places listed are in fact veiled references to episodes in which the Jewish people rebelled. Thus Moshe was offering a kind of concealed rebuke. My ...
not-allowed to change my name's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
317 views

Limud for Levi not being part of the spies

Devarim 1:23 reads: וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינַי הַדָּבָר וָאֶקַּח מִכֶּם שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֲנָשִׁים אִישׁ אֶחָד לַשָּׁבֶט׃ And the matter pleased me; so I took twelve men from you, one man for each ...
Danield's user avatar
  • 4,393
9 votes
4 answers
3k views

How many stars did Rashi think there were?

According to the Chabad translation, Rashi on Deut. 1:10 implies that there are more than 600,000 stars: The Lord, your God, has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the ...
A L's user avatar
  • 2,547
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why translate Torah to 70 languages?

Midrash Tanchuma, brought in Rashi to Devarim 1:5 says: בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹאָב הוֹאִיל מֹשֶׁה בֵּאֵר אֶת־הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת לֵאמֹר׃ (Moses commenced [and] explained this Law, saying...) ...
SimchasTorah's user avatar
  • 33.2k
8 votes
2 answers
261 views

Did Moshe say that he had punished Miriam?

Summary A woman I don't know posed the following question to me while getting a quick ride to her car: It seems that Rashi and Sifrei on Devarim 1:1 say that Moshe said that he himself had punished ...
Isaac Moses's user avatar
  • 48k
8 votes
2 answers
194 views

Whatever happened to the Chiefs of the 10, 50, 100 and 1,000?

In Parshas Yisro (Shemos 18:25) Moshe appoints the Chiefs of the 10, 50, 100 and 1,000. "וַיִּבְחַר מֹשֶׁה אַנְשֵׁי־חַיִל מִכָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָם רָאשִׁים עַל־הָעָם שָׂרֵי אֲלָפִים ...
Danny Schoemann's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
103 views

Inconsistent base-10 system of judges

In Devarim 1:15 (also Shemot 18:21) we see the numerical system of the hierarchical system of leaders: ואקח את־ראשי שבטיכם אנשים חכמים וידעים ואתן אתם ראשים עליכם שרי אלפים ושרי מאות ושרי חמשים ...
Jeremy's user avatar
  • 8,884
7 votes
1 answer
165 views

First Use of the Phrase "Cheit HaMeraglim"

The negative report given by the people who are sent to scout the land of Cana'an before Bnei Yisrael go in, resulting in the punishment that they have to wander for another 38 years in the desert, is ...
user5173's user avatar
  • 608
6 votes
2 answers
139 views

Why the hidden mussar?

The first few words of Sefer Devarim are understood to be Moshe Rabbeinu hinting at different mistakes the Jewish people made in the desert, and he is giving them disguised rebuke. Rashi to Devarim 1:...
Y     e     z's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
6k views

38 years or 40 years in the desert?

I'm confused regarding several apparently contradictory verses: Bamidbar 14:33 says that B;nai Yisra'el will wander the desert for 40 years. In Devarim 1:19 - 22, Moshe says that they arrived at ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

A Headquarters During the 40 Years of Wandering

In the beginning of Parshah D’varim the Israelites’ 40 years of wandering is recounted. I had always pictured this as one large, nomadic group moving in unison around the desert. In D’varim [1:2] ...
ron's user avatar
  • 497
5 votes
1 answer
480 views

Why is "Yehoshua" spelled with a full Vav in Devarim 3:21?

I think this is the only place in the Torah where "Yehoshua" is spelled maleh - with a full vav (Shuruk). I think there are other places in Tanac"h where a similar thing occurs, but, I don't know for ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
5 votes
2 answers
285 views

Was the Golden Calf associated with a particular deity?

Are the Golden Calves constructed by Aaron and Jeroboam affiliated with any specific deity? In Ugaritic literature Baal is portrayed as a bull mating with his sister Anat who was a female calf. Does ...
Timmy McDonald's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
215 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 ...
Raffy Van der Vaart's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
268 views

Intermarriage in the written Torah

In Leviticus 19:20 they speak of a Canaanite slave being betrothed to a Hebrew (and defiling herself with another man). From this I understand that a non Jewish slave women was going to marry a Jew. ...
Lilopinpin's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
235 views

Why is there a parsha break in the middle of a verse?

In this week's parsha, we see a parsha (stumah) "break" in the middle of Devarim 2:8. There are several other places where there is a parsha break in the middle of the verse. Another example occurs ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
3 votes
1 answer
98 views

What sons of Noach are the nations disposed of by Edom, Ammon, and Moav descended from?

Edom disposed of the Horites, Moav and Ammon the Rephaim/Emim/Zamzumim etc. (Devarim 2:10-12) What sons of Noach are these peoples descended from? If they’re giants (Emim/Zamzumim), are they ...
Fei23's user avatar
  • 1,757
3 votes
1 answer
121 views

Understanding an apparent conflict regarding Israel's Biblical eastern boundary

I'm trying to understand what appears (for me) to be a conflict regarding the Biblical eastern boundary of the "Promised land". It seems that the land promised to the fathers went all the way as east ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
3 votes
2 answers
6k views

Yachid v.s. Echad

What is the definition and difference between Yachid and Echad? I read some where that Maimonides told HaShem is Yachid, but isn't He Echad?
Levi's user avatar
  • 7,358
3 votes
1 answer
106 views

Does the prohibition from Devarim 22:11 relate to קַ֔יִן Qayin and הֶ֨בֶל Hevel?

Does the prohibition לֹ֤א תִלְבַּשׁ֙ שַֽׁעַטְנֵ֔ז צֶ֥מֶר וּפִשְׁתִּ֖ים יַחְדָּֽו from Devarim 22:11 relate to קַ֔יִן Qayin and הֶ֨בֶל Hevel? What sources (besides the two provided) validate this ...
חִידָה's user avatar
  • 1,418
3 votes
1 answer
124 views

Moshe appointing leaders & judges - different accounts in Yitro & Devarim

I am trying to reconcile the events leading up to Moshe's decision to appoint leaders for the people (heads of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.) It seems that we get two different stories. In ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
3 votes
2 answers
90 views

"as is still the case"; in Devarim 3:14

The passuk in Devarim 3:14 says: יָאִ֣יר בֶּן־מְנַשֶּׁ֗ה לָקַח֙ אֶת־כׇּל־חֶ֣בֶל אַרְגֹּ֔ב עַד־גְּב֥וּל הַגְּשׁוּרִ֖י וְהַמַּֽעֲכָתִ֑י וַיִּקְרָא֩ אֹתָ֨ם עַל־שְׁמ֤וֹ אֶת־הַבָּשָׁן֙ חַוֺּ֣ת יָאִ֔יר ...
EzrielS's user avatar
  • 1,156
2 votes
1 answer
647 views

Why is the Mountain Sinai called Chorev as well?

I was studying today parashat ha shavua (Devorim) and it is written there that Jews went from the Mountain of Chorev. Why is not called Sinai? What significance lies behind this name?
havarka's user avatar
  • 1,172
2 votes
2 answers
65 views

B'midbar 32:17 - Why did the tribes of Re'uven and Gad need to build fortified cities?

Numbers 32:17: וַאֲנַ֜חְנוּ נֵחָלֵ֣ץ חֻשִׁ֗ים לִפְנֵי֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל עַ֛ד אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִם־הֲבִֽיאֹנֻ֖ם אֶל־מְקוֹמָ֑ם וְיָשַׁ֤ב טַפֵּ֙נוּ֙ בְּעָרֵ֣י הַמִּבְצָ֔ר מִפְּנֵ֖י יֹשְׁבֵ֥י הָאָֽרֶץ׃ ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
2 votes
1 answer
141 views

Source and reason of the Minhag to end Cohen aliyah of parshat Devarim 1 pasuk early

In some shuls that I have attended, they end the Cohen aliyah of Shabbat parshat Devarim one pasuk before the one where "Sheni" is marked (i.e. - they end it before pasuk 11 instead of 12). I'm not ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
2 votes
2 answers
119 views

Locating this Rokeach on sefer Devarim

I have been told that the Rokeach, in his introduction to sefer Devarim, writes that מספר משנה תורה - MiSefer Mishneh Torah shares the same gematria (1386) as סמוכים לעד לעולם עשויים באמת ויושר - They ...
Shmuel's user avatar
  • 9,773
2 votes
3 answers
258 views

Sefer Devarim not part of the original Torah?

I've been told by a few separate people that Sefer Devarim (as evidenced by historians' accounts and the stylistic differences between it and the other 4 books of Torah) was in fact written at a later ...
The Thinking Yid's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
257 views

Getting close to G-d by studying sefer Devarim

Rav Elimelech Biderman (Torah Wellsprings, parashas Devarim - Tishah B'av 2017, p. 16) quotes the Kotzker Rebbe and says that whoever studies sefer Devarim, becomes close(r) to Hashem. "Even a ...
Shmuel's user avatar
  • 9,773
2 votes
1 answer
137 views

Unusual pronunciation of "Mol" in Devarim 1:1

Devarim 1:1 uses the phrase "Mol Suf". The word is pronounced "Mol" vs. "Mul". I assume that the literal definition of the word is "against" or "near". In other locations in the Torah, the word is ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
2 votes
1 answer
141 views

Did the Moabites give water and food to B'nai Yisra'el or not? Contradictory verses?

Devarim 23:4 - 5 says that we should not accept a Moabite into the nation of Israel because they did not give B'nai Yisra'el food and water as they left Egypt. But, there is a seemingly contradictory ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
2 votes
1 answer
103 views

Is there a difference in commands, statues & rules?

In Deuteronomy there is a repeated triad that appears in its full form first in Deut 5:28: ‏וַאֲדַבְּרָה אֵלֶיךָ אֵת כָּל־הַמִּצְוָה וְהַחֻקִּים וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים And I will tell you the whole ...
Michael16's user avatar
  • 327
2 votes
1 answer
109 views

What is the mountain of the Amorite?

Moshe discusses in Devarim how the people were supposed to approach the Mountain of the Amorite and conquer the land. Then, after Where is this mountain geographically? Does it have any special ...
Daniel Kagan's user avatar
  • 2,631
2 votes
0 answers
60 views

Why does the Torah use the term עַשְׁתֵּֽי־עָשָׂ֥ר instead of אַחַ֨ד עָשָׂ֥ר for the number 11? [duplicate]

There are two places in the Torah that I can recall (if there are others, please inform me) where the term עַשְׁתֵּֽי־עָשָׂ֥ר is used for the number 11. Numbers 7:72: בְּיוֹם֙ עַשְׁתֵּ֣י עָשָׂ֣ר ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
1 vote
1 answer
89 views

Why isn't borrowing from non-Jews forbidden because of Devarim 15:6?

Devarim 15:6 says "For the Lord, your God, has blessed you, as He spoke to you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule ...
Nosson's user avatar
  • 785
1 vote
1 answer
292 views

How am I to understand this passage "13: He made them ride upon the high places of the earth"

In Parshat Ha'azinu, 3rd Portion (Devarim (Deuteronomy) 32:13-32:18) It is written "13 He made them ride upon the high places of the earth" But if you create a simple search in google you'll ...
TheTribeOfJudah's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
96 views

Respect the stranger?

The word גר is commonly translated convert. However, we are commanded to love the גר as we were גרים in Egypt. Exodus 22:21, ibid 23:9, Deuteronomy 10:18-19. How can the Jewish people be said to have ...
yonatanhakatan's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
71 views

Had B'nai Yisra'el not sent the spies, would they have had to fight against Amalek?

Rashi on Devarim 1:8 says that if it weren't for the sin with the spies, we would have never needed armaments. Bamidbar 14:25 tells us that Amalek lived in the valleys, and Devarim 25:29 states that ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
1 vote
1 answer
134 views

Why did Moshe complain about the Spies in Bamidbar if he thought it was a good idea?

The Posuk (Deut 1, 23) says: ,וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינַי, הַדָּבָר .וָאֶקַּח מִכֶּם שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֲנָשִׁים, אִישׁ אֶחָד לַשָּׁבֶט [Moses replied to people's offer] It was good in my eyes... ...
SimchasTorah's user avatar
  • 33.2k
1 vote
0 answers
23 views

וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַחוּצָה, וַיֹּאמֶר הַבֶּט-נָא הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וּסְפֹר הַכּוֹכָבִים--אִם-תּוּכַל, לִסְפֹּר אֹתָם; וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ, כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ [duplicate]

As you can tell from my previous posts I am not a Torah scholar. I figured I try and post a question that is relevant to Torah. וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַחוּצָה, וַיֹּאמֶר הַבֶּט-נָא הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וּסְפֹר ...
Channan's user avatar
  • 131
1 vote
0 answers
208 views

Esau, Edom, Rome and the Jews

In parshat Devarim, Hashem tells the Israelites to leave the Edomites alone and bypass them: "You shall not provoke them, for I will not give you of their land...because I have given Mount Seir to ...
Maurice Mizrahi's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
78 views

Where is exactly is שָֽׁם in the pasuk גַּם־בִּי֙ הִתְאַנַּ֣ף יְהוָ֔ה בִּגְלַלְכֶ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר גַּם־אַתָּ֖ה לֹא־תָבֹ֥א שָֽׁם (Devarim 1:37)

In Devarim 1:37, Moshe tells us that גַּם־בִּי֙ הִתְאַנַּ֣ף יְהוָ֔ה בִּגְלַלְכֶ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר גַּם־אַתָּ֖ה לֹא־תָבֹ֥א שָֽׁם Because of you the LORD was incensed with me too, and He said: You shall not ...
Ploni Almoni's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
99 views

Why does Moses give `Tochecha` to people who did not sin

Acording to Rashi (and the sifrei, onklos and probably much more mefarshim), the first few psukim(1-4) do not describe a place as the Pshat suggests: אֵ֣לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר מֹשֶׁה֙ ...
eliavs's user avatar
  • 342
0 votes
2 answers
111 views

וקמת ועלית - how did they measure Jerusalem's highest point?

On the Pasuk (Deut 17,8): כִּי יִפָּלֵא מִמְּךָ דָבָר ... וְקַמְתָּ וְעָלִיתָ אֶל־הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר ה' א' בּוֹ׃ If a case is too baffling for you to decide, ... you shall promptly ascend to ...
Al Berko's user avatar
  • 25.9k
0 votes
1 answer
78 views

Immediately after the sin of the spies, did B'nai Israel travel or did they stay in Kadesh?

There appear to be contradictory verses / explanations. Numbers 14:25: וְהָֽעֲמָלֵקִ֥י וְהַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֖י יוֹשֵׁ֣ב בָּעֵ֑מֶק מָחָ֗ר פְּנ֨וּ וּסְע֥וּ לָכֶ֛ם הַמִּדְבָּ֖ר דֶּ֥רֶךְ יַם־סֽוּף׃ ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
-1 votes
1 answer
49 views

Why is meat eating sanctioned by G-d if it's potentially bad for us? [duplicate]

In parsha Noach, G-d ALLOWS man to eat meat but there is no literal commandment to do so. Later, when the Mishkan and then ultimately the Beis Hamikdash are built, there are commandments for the ...
Ephraim77's user avatar
  • 1,512