Questions tagged [moshe-rabbeinu]
the biblical personage Moses
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How did the writer of the pseudo “Assumption of Moses” calculate the time from Moses' death till the advent of a messenger?
I need help understanding a section of a first century Jewish apocryphal apocalyptic work.
The Assumption of Moses also known as The Testament of Moses chapter 10:
And then His kingdom shall appear ...
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Does the Talmud say mishenichnas for Adar to allude to Moshe?
The Talmud say "mishenichnas" for Adar and not just "nichnas". I understand Hebrew grammar of course, but someone suggested there's an allusion to Moshe from the mishe prefix. Is ...
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Moshe's exact month of birth
In a recent shiur, the Rav said that Moshe told Yehoshua to pick men to fight Amalek. The reason appears in the following passage:
למה ליהושע, כדי שיבחר אנשים שנולדו באדר שני כמותו
On the source ...
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Moshe and Aharon never sinned
The gemarra in Shabbos 55a says a rule: אין מיתה בלא חטא, no one dies without having sinned. As an attempt to refute this rule, the gemarra brings a baraisa that says:
מֵיתִיבִי: אָמְרוּ מַלְאֲכֵי ...
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What did Amram and Yocheved do to merit raising leaders of Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam?
Although Amram and Yocheved were influential leaders in their own right (seen in Sotah 12a where Klal Yisroel followed their lead in divorcing from their spouses), do any Chazal or Torah commentators ...
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What became of Moshe's staff?
Tradition teaches us that the staff used by Moshe was created on the sixth day (source: Pirkei Avot 5:6) and was given to Adam, then to Noach, then to Avraham and so on. After Moshe's death, what ...
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Do the commentators describe how Amram and Yocheved felt through the events involving Paro's daughter and Moshe?
The intervention of Paro's daughter in the life of Moshe was clearly miraculous. Basya went against her father's wishes and Moshe's mother was paid to nurse him. One can imagine the feelings of wonder ...
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Did the Jews know that Moshe was the future redeemer and being raised in the palace?
It's quite plausible to suggest that Moshe's birth which lit up the room was known to more than just the family. Also, the fact that Yocheved weaned him for 2 years then sent him to the palace could ...
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Why does the Torah end before fulfilling the promise of entering the Promised land?
Most mundane facts are the most fascinating to question.
The Torah ends with Moses dying in the wilderness and the Israelites still camping on the other bank of the Jordan River. This plot sounds ...
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Do we ignore the language differences interpreting Moses being not a man of words (לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי)?
Do we ignore the language differences interpreting Moses being not a man of words (לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי)?
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֣ה אֶל־יְהוָה֮ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנָי֒ לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי ...
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Three times Moshe begged to enter אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל
According to Rashi to Devarim 3:24 (here):
לאמר TO SAY (i.e. that God should say) — This is one of the three occasions where Moses spoke before the Omnipresent: I will not let You go until You tell ...
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How old was Pharoah's daughter (Exodus/Shemoth) when she took in Moshe?
In 1st Chronicles 4:18 it mentions a man by the name of Mered taken Pharoah's daughter Bithiah to wife. While researching who exactly these individuals were, the consensus states that this Bithiah ...
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Did Moses ask to spare Yitroh in his war on Midyan?
To continue why-didnt-moses-argue-to-spare-lives-of-midianites:
We know that Moses was very מכיר טובה (grateful) even to inanimate objects: he didn't want to hit the dirt or Nile, etc.
Yitroh took ...
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2answers
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Are you allowed to pray for your own death?
No suicide or euthanasia is allowed in Judaism. But are you allowed to pray for your own death?
You can pray for the death of someone who is incurably sick, in pain and dying. This is based on ...
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What did Moses understand in Rabbi Akiva's class?
The Talmud records a story about how Moses could not understand even laws expounded in his name:
Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: When Moses ascended on High, he found the Holy One, Blessed be He, ...
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Was Moses really angry or pretending?
The Rambam said in his Mishneh Torah that it's sometimes useful to act angry:
If one desires to instill reverence in his children and his household, or in public if he is the head of a community, and ...
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Was the Oral Law only oral?
After Moses broke the first set of tablets, according to the Midrash:
God told [Moses]: Do not feel bad about the first tablets, for they only contained the Ten Commandments. However, the second set ...
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Did Moses throw or drop the tablets?
The Yerushalmi, corroborated by Tanhuma, says that the tablets were two large sapphire stones, and weighed too much to be possibly carried by one person. The letters God engraved on them miraculously ...
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Did Miriam Criticize Moshe for being Haughty?
Avos Derebbi Nassan 9:2 says that Miriam criticized Moshe for being haughty by divorcing his wife.
אבל הוא מפני שדעתו גסה עליו פירש הוא מאצל אשתו
But Moses, because he is so arrogant, separated from ...
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What is the point of Moshe asking for a successor?
Bamidbor 27, 15 &16
יִפְקֹ֣ד יְהוָ֔ה אֱלֹהֵ֥י הָרוּחֹ֖ת לְכָל־בָּשָׂ֑ר אִ֖ישׁ עַל־הָעֵדָֽה׃
“Let the LORD, Source of the breath of all flesh, appoint someone over the community"
Moshe ...
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Why is the *nun* raised?
The Book of Judges says:
The Children of [the Tribe of] Dan erected graven images [idols] for themselves; and Jonathan son of Gershom son of Menashe [וִ֠יהוֹנָתָן בֶּן־גֵּרְשֹׁ֨ם בֶּן־מְנַשֶּׁ֜ה], ...
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Why did Jethro want Moses' son to be an idolater?
The Midrash tells a strange story:
When Moses said to Jethro, "Give me your daughter Tzipporah as a wife", Jethro answered, "If you do what I ask of you, I will give her to you as a ...
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Ma'ayan HaChochmah - Written by Moshe?
I found the book Ma'ayan HaChochmah in many editions, all of which are attributed to Moshe Rabbeinu. Here are some examples: 1, 2, 3, 4.
What is the history of this book? Is it unanimous that it was ...
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If Moses was just supposed to “speak” to the rock, what was the “rod” for? [duplicate]
In this week's Torah portion, Chukat, the people complain that they have no water to drink. So God tells Moses:
You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their ...
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Moses at fault for spies?
Looking to better understand if, per the sources, Moses was at fault for sending spies, especially as it relates to sending them on a seemingly military mission.
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How did the elders help?
In Bamidbar (11:11-15) Moshe tells Hashem how the difficult it is to carry the people and questioning where he would procure meat for he entire nation. Hashem's response was to gather the elders so ...
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Why does Moses use a euphemism in talking to God?
In this week's portion, Behaalotecha, Moses tells God:
If this is how You are going to treat me, then, if I have found favor in Your eyes, kill me, and do not let me witness my evil. [Num. 11:15]
...
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Is the use of referring to a Torah prescription through the expression “Moses said / commanded” attested in Jewish tradition?
I am an Italian Noahide.
I read in Jewish sources that the expression "Torah of Moses" is sometimes used.
In the Christian Gospels, on the other hand, I have seen that in certain passages it is ...
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Moshe instructed Betzalel to do other than Moshe had been commanded?
The Gemoro Berachos 55a quoted by Rashi on Shemos 38 (22) seems to say that Moshe ordered that the vessels should be made before the Mishkan that was to contain them.
Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said ...
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Contradiction about Moshe
It says in Shemot 17:12:
"But Moses’ hands grew heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur, one on each side, supported his hands; thus his hands ...
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Who First Knew of the Messiah
In Parashah Shemot 4:13, Moses says to G-d, "Send, I pray You, by the hand of whom You will send." On p. 77 of Rabbi M. Schneerson's book "Torah Studies" he explains that midrash (Lekach Tov) ...
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How was Moshe Rabbeinu buried?
This website (thetorah.com) raises some points about Moshe Rabbeinu's death.
https://www.thetorah.com/article/moshe-rabbeinu-never-died-the-hidden-ending
A few points that they make is:
If Moses ...
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Did God want converts in the early days of Judaism?
The Midrash says that Abraham and Sarah made many converts, presumably with God's blessing:
Abraham made converts, for it is written, "And Abraham took Sarai his wife... and all the souls that they ...
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Why is the narrative of Moses growing up in Pharaoh's house important?
I begin with the assertion that nothing is arbitrary in the Torah and the history followed the big plan as envisioned by the Creator.
The narrative of Moses' origin is fascinating but its necessity ...
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Did Moses ever meet his parents after the separation?
IIRC the Biblical narrative, after being born, Moses spends 3 months at home and then moving to the royal palace. His mother continues to breastfeed him for a certain period of time but then the link ...
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Seeking a source for a claim about Rabbi Akiva
I saw in a modern book as follows:
דהנה איתא בגמ׳ דר׳ עקיבא היה לו מעלה יתירה ממשרע״ה אשר לו היתה הבנה גם בסודות הניגונים והטעמים, מכיון שמת במיתה משונה לכן זכה לזה המדריגה שמשה רבינו לא זכה לזה.
...
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Was the fact that Moshe broke the Tablets Halachicly stealing from the Jewish people?
Famously when Moshe came down from Sinai the first time and saw the Jews sinning he cast down the tablets of the law given to him by God. My question works on the basic assumption that these tablets ...
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Ramifications of lack of Brachah for the tribe of Shimon
I have a hard time understanding Moses' Brochos to the tribes and how it correlates to the actual course of history. As I can see, the interpreters felt the same problem and tried to pick single ...
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Why did some prominent prophets initially refuse to comply with G-d's commands? [duplicate]
Rambam in Yesodey Hatorah 7 writes that Prophets are very special people that prepare themselves thoroughly to detach themselves from this physical world and serve Hashem.
However, we can clearly see ...
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How can we recognize Moses' original scroll?
Let's imagine we excavate the Temple Mount area and find an Ark with a 3500-year-old scroll in good condition.
How would we know if it is the original scroll Moses wrote (besides being accompanied by ...
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Does Pharaoh's daughter speak Hebrew in Exodus 2:10 or is the book of Exodus simply translating what she said in Egyptian into Hebrew? [duplicate]
Exodus 2:10 says: "And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, and said: ‘Because I drew him out of the water.’" Is the text ...
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Does “לא בשמים היא” apply to Moses?
גופא אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל:
,שלשת אלפים הלכות נשתכחו בימי אבלו של משה
"אמרו לו ליהושע שאל א"ל "לא בשמים היא
Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: Three thousand halakhot were forgotten during ...
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Why no positive feedback from Moses in his reproof for everything Israel did good?
I'm a big fan of Positive Psychology approach to education, reinforcing positive behaviors instead of discouraging negative ones.
When Moses is scolding the nations for the sins [of the previous ...
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Why did G-d get angry with Moses' prayers?
In Parshas Va'etchanan, Moses tells that he begged to enter the Land of Israel until G-d got angry:
וַיִּתְעַבֵּר ה' בִּי לְמַעַנְכֶם וְלֹא שָׁמַע אֵלָי וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֵלַי רַב־לָךְ אַל־תּוֹסֶף ...
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What official position did Moses have acc. to Torah?
The Torah speaks of a couple of official public positions, that have extensive Halachic Nafka-Minahs, e.g. Kohen Gadol, Jewish king, a Judge, maybe Nessi Shevet.
IIRC Moses wasn't officially any of ...
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Who wrote Deuteronomy?
I know this has been covered by many commentators in the past, and here also, but I am still looking for a clear resolution of the ambiguities.
Who wrote the Book of Deuteronomy? Does Tradition ...
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1answer
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Why did Moses have a ten-cubit-long axe?
The Talmud in Berachot 54b relates the following tale:
אבן שבקש עוג מלך הבשן לזרוק על ישראל גמרא גמירי לה אמר מחנה ישראל כמה הוי תלתא פרסי איזיל ואיעקר טורא בר תלתא פרסי ואישדי עלייהו ואיקטלינהו אזל ...
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Why fight the Midianites with such a huge army?
G-d promises the Israeli Nation that (Lev 26,6):
וְרָדְפוּ מִכֶּם חֲמִשָּׁה מֵאָה, וּמֵאָה מִכֶּם רְבָבָה יִרְדֹּפוּ
וְנָפְלוּ אֹיְבֵיכֶם לִפְנֵיכֶם לֶחָרֶב׃
Five of you shall give chase to ...
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How did the 2.5 tribes override a Deoraytah Mitzvah of settling the land of Israel?
IIRC, the Pshat of the Torah clearly implies that the purpose of the Exodus was to inherit the Land of Israel, and G-d commands Bney Israel many times to enter the promised land, to settle it, etc. It ...
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Why didn't Moses argue to spare lives of Midianites?
IIRC Avraham was praised for arguing with G-d about the fate of pious Sodomites asking G-d to spare their fate. G-d spared Lot and his family but the two cities were destroyed. Some speculate whether ...
