Questions tagged [parashat-lech-lecha]
The weekly Torah portion of Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:1-17:27)
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On the status of Melchizedek as a Kohen [closed]
In Genesis 14:18 it is stated that "And MelchiZedek, king of Shelem, brought out bread and wine and he was a Kohen to the Most High God." A number of questions arise from this: How is it ...
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How can Ramban give this reason?
The Gemara in Nedarim 32a gives 3 reasons for why the Jews were put into slavery in Egypt because of Abraham (one is because he made his students fight in the war against the kings, the other is that ...
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Anesthetics during Brit milah [duplicate]
Is it permissible to use Anesthetics (for the purpose of pain relief) during circumcision (Brit milah)? I would imagine it would not be problematic per se, but perhaps being conscious is preferable ...
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Who curses Abraham?
In Genesis 12:3, God tells Abraham:
וַאֲבָֽרְכָה֙ מְבָ֣רְכֶ֔יךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ֖ אָאֹ֑ר
וְנִבְרְכ֣וּ בְךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת הָאֲדָמָֽה׃
-- And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses ...
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Lech Lecha: Avraham fulfilled G-ds mitzvos with joy
Rabbi Yerucham Brodianski in his sefer Siach Yitzchak (Parashas Vayigash, p. 480, sv. תשמע לאומרים) quotes the Nesivos Shalom and says that bitachon in Hashem will give a person inner joy when ...
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Why didn't Avraham tell Sarah about Hashem's promise to have Yitzchak?
At the end of Lech Lecha, Hashem promises Avraham that Sarah will give birth to Yitzchak, which is followed by Avraham performing a bris on his entire household including himself. Three days later, ...
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Parshat Lech Lecha - Hagar having a separate malach
Does anyone know a pshat in what is the depth behind Hagar having a separate malach for every single dibbur like Rashi brings, why couldn't there just be one malach for the whole story?
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Why Abraham noticed Sarah's beauty in Egypt?
When Abraham went with Sarah to Egypt, he said: "Now I know that you are a beautiful woman." Why did this happen on their way to Egypt? I heard that this happened specifically there because ...
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Why would Sarah need to convince Hagar?
Asking for someone else. Rashi on the parsha, Beresheet 16:3, brings a midrash from Beresheet Rabbah 45:3 which says:
"And Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maidservant (...
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Signing off the bracha of 'magen Avraham' with just Avraham
In Parshas Lech Lecha 12:2, the pasuk famously reads:
וְאֶֽעֶשְׂךָ֙ לְג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל וַאֲבָ֣רֶכְךָ֔ וַאֲגַדְּלָ֖ה שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃
I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; ...
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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 ...
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Where was Malkitzedek of Jerusalem at the time of the Akedah?
ארץ המוריה: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Rashi Genesis.22.2)
"And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine...", Targum "וּמַלְכִּי צֶדֶק מַלְכָּא דִירוּשְׁלֶם" Genesis.14.18
If ...
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Why is God unspecific with directions to Abraham?
The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth ... to the land that I will show you." Genesis.12.1
And He said, “Take your son... and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will ...
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Circumcision of Yishmael's descendants
In Bereishit 17:13 we are commanded to circumcise all children born in our households and all servants bought for money, consequently Abraham performed it on Yishmael too. This is one reason why ...
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Did Abraham give Maaser after earning from Pharaoh and Abimelech?
In Parashat Lech Lecha we learn that after returning the spoils of the war, Abraham gave Maaser to Malkitzedek. Commentators deduct that this was Maaser Ksafim (monetary tithes).
In Parshiyot Lech ...
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What made Malkitzedek a Cohen more than Abraham?
IIRC, before Mt. Sinai, priestly rights were given to the firstborns.
For those who say, Malkitzedek was Shem Ben Noah, he wasn't Noah's firstborn.
I don't know if Abraham was a firstborn, but, unlike ...
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How did Abraham give Maaser of Sodom's property?
וּבָרוּךְ אֵל עֶלְיוֹן אֲשֶׁר־מִגֵּן צָרֶיךָ בְּיָדֶךָ וַיִּתֶּן־לוֹ מַעֲשֵׂר מִכֹּל׃ וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ־סְדֹם אֶל־אַבְרָם תֶּן־לִי הַנֶּפֶשׁ וְהָרְכֻשׁ קַח־לָךְ׃ וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָם אֶל־מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם ...
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The sources of Abraham's wealth
The Torah specifies that Abraham profited well from deceiving Pharaoh and Avimelech by presenting Sarah as his sister:
וַיַּעַל אַבְרָם מִמִּצְרַיִם הוּא וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וְכָל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ וְלוֹט עִמּוֹ ...
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How could Abraham give himself a Brit Milah?
According to Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer 29, Shem Ben Noach performed Avraham’s Bris. My question concerns the other opinion in Beresheit Rabba 49b that Avraham performed it himself.
According to this ...
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What did Avrohom know about the war in Shechem (Rashi on Beraishis 12 (6))?
Rashi on Beraishis 12 (6) says
And Abram passed through the land until the place of Shechem: to pray
for Jacob’s sons when they would come to wage war in Shechem.
So Avrohom knew (prophetically) ...
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Was Hagar part of Abraham's punishment?
The Ramban chastised Abraham for going to Egypt to escape a famine in the Holy Land and for lying about Sarah:
And you should know that our father Abraham committed a great sin unintentionally, when ...
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Why does Rashi leave out an example?
In Devarim 32:48 the pasuk says:
וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה בְּעֶ֛צֶם הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה לֵאמֹֽר
That very day the LORD spoke to Moses
Rashi on Devarim 32:48 writes:
וידבר ה' אל משה בעצם היום ...
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How many covenants did Hashem make with Abraham?
How many covenants did Hashem make with Abraham?
When reading Bereshit/Genesis, on the Chabad website, one comes across various passages of Hashem's conversation with Abram/Abraham (chapters 15, 17 ...
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Why did Avraham respond to Avimelech but not Pharaoh?
There are two instances recorded in the Torah where Avraham and Sarah have to leave their home and go to a dangerous region. Both times Avraham tells people that Sarah is his sister, and both times ...
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Why did Yitzchok use the same subterfuge for his wife that had not worked for Avraham?
When I read the Parashas Toldos, I was surprised to see that when Yitzchok went to the land of Avimeleh, he said that Rivka was his sister to protect his life in Bereshis, 26, 7.
It is obvious that ...
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Deep Sleep Genesis 15:12
I would like to know if the "deep sleep" of Abraham (Genesis 15:12) is literally a "sleep", or a state of "trance" as The Midrash of Philo says (15:12). What does the ...
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Why translate a vav, "but"?
I know that this is quibbling over a translation, but I don't have access to the translators themselves, so I'm wonering if anyone knows of a justification.
In Bereishit 14:18, the text reads
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Rashi's explanation of why we are told that Avram was 86 at the birth of Yishma'el
Bereishit 16:16:
וְאַבְרָ֕ם בֶּן־שְׁמֹנִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֵׁ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֑ים בְּלֶֽדֶת־הָגָ֥ר אֶת־יִשְׁמָעֵ֖אל לְאַבְרָֽם׃
Avram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Yishma'el to Avram.
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Why is Sarah faulting Avraham for impregnating Hagar?
Breishit 16:5:
וַתֹּאמֶר שָׂרַי אֶל־אַבְרָם: חֲמָסִי עָלֶיךָ, אָנֹכִי נָתַתִּי שִׁפְחָתִי בְּחֵיקֶךָ וַתֵּרֶא כִּי הָרָתָה וָאֵקַל בְּעֵינֶיהָ. יִשְׁפֹּט ה' בֵּינִי וּבֵינֶיךָ׃
And Sarai said to ...
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Why count the stars in the daytime? [closed]
It says in Lech Lecha that Hashem took Abraham outside and asked him to count the stars. And from the word "habet" we learn it was during the daytime.
Why would it be during the daytime when stars ...
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“As many as the stars in the sky”- literally or allegorically?
In Bereishis 15:5 HaShem promises Avraham that his descendants will be as many as the stars in the sky:
וַיּוֹצֵ֨א אֹת֜וֹ הַח֗וּצָה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַבֶּט־נָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה וּסְפֹר֙ הַכּ֣וֹכָבִ֔ים אִם־...
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How can we say "it would have been enough" when Hashem had already sworn to do it?
In Dayeinu, there are a few stichs which make no sense: how can we say "it would have been enough" without these promises, when Hashem already promised that He would have given them long before we ...
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Why Moses named his son Eliezer "after" Avraham's slave?
"וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָם ה"א מַה תִּתֶּן לִי וְאָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ עֲרִירִי וּבֶן מֶשֶׁק בֵּיתִי הוּא דַּמֶּשֶׂק אֱלִיעֶזֶר." (Gen 15,2)
"וְשֵׁם הָאֶחָד אֱלִיעֶזֶר כִּי אֱלֹהקי אָבִי ...
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How come the Torah doesn't recount how Avraham and Sarah met?
We know how Yitzchak met Rivka, and how Yaakov met Rachel & Leah- but why doesn't the Torah tell us how Avraham and Sarah met?
If you want to say that it's because they weren't Jewish at the time ...
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(Why) did Sarah allow herself to be put in a compromising situation
Starting in Genesis 12:13 Avraham and Sarah deceive Pharaoh into thinking that Sarah was not married. It seems from the verses that Avraham and Sarah understood that if Pharaoh thought Sarah was ...
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Four hundred years afflicted in Mitzraim - Bersheit 15:12; Four hundred thirty years - Shemot 12:40, Why this discrepancy? [duplicate]
Beresheit 15:13 "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years."
Shemot 12:40 "Now the ...
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According to Rashi, how old was Avraham at B'rit Bein HaB'tarim?
Rashi to Shemot 12:40 says that B'rit Bein HaB'tarim took place thirty years before the birth of Yitzchak (when Avraham was one hundred years old), meaning that Avraham was seventy years old at the ...
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Angels Frequently Visiting Avraham
Rashi (Bereishis 16:13) notes that Hagar wasn't frightened to see angels because she normally saw angels frequenting Avraham's household:
לְשׁוֹן תֵּמַהּ; וְכִי סְבוּרָה הָיִיתִי שֶׁאַף הֲלוֹם ...
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Where, and what, is Elonei Mamre? And who is Mamre?
In Sefer Bereshit (specifically Parshat Lech Lecha, Vayera, and Chayei Sarah) the is a place called Elonei Mamre. This is usually translated something along the lines of "the trees of Mamre."...
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Radak comment on Lot
The verse Bereshit 13:1 tells us (Sefaria translation):
"From Egypt, Abram went up into the Negeb, with his wife and all that he possessed, together with Lot."
On this verse, the RaDaK comments ...
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How did Lot become so rich?
We are told in Bereshit 13:5-6 (Sefaria translation) :
"Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents..."
"..so that the land could not support them staying together; ...
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Why does the Torah mention that Lot went with Avram twice?
Why does the Torah in Parshas Lech Lecha feel the need to say "vayeilech ito Lot", and Lot went with him (Avram)? The very next passuk tells us how Avram took Sarai his wife, Lot his nephew,...
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Avraham's Strange Happiness to Death?
Since והיה generally refers to something not bad,
Vayikra Rabba (11:7) - כל מקום שנאמר ויהי אין שמחה והיה אין צרה
why does Avraham use the word to start the following potentially tragic statement (...
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Dividing the world for the sons of Noah
Rashi (Gen 12,6) mentions that Noah divided the world between his sons and that Israel was given to Shem and his descendants:
והכנעני אז בארץ. הָיָה הוֹלֵךְ וְכוֹבֵשׁ אֶת אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל ...
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Why are the Kenites translated as Shalmites?
In the verse where Hashem promises to give Avraham's descendants the land of the 10 Canaanite nations, one is listed as the Kenites (Genesis 15:19):
אֶת־הַקֵּינִי֙ וְאֶת־הַקְּנִזִּ֔י וְאֵ֖ת ...
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In what way was the test of לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ greater than the test of א֣וּר כַּשְׂדִּ֗ים?
I assume that Avrohom's tests increased in difficulty.
The first test was whether or not to go into the furnace.
The test of leaving his birthplace has to be more difficult.
HKB”H made three ...
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Why did we deserve 400 years?
After Avraham's mistake of asking "How will I know?" (Nedarim 32a - ושמואל אמר מפני שהפריז על מדותיו של הקב"ה שנאמר במה אדע כי אירשנה), his great grandchildren needed 400 years of slavery.
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How old was Avraham when Nimrod threw him into the fire in Ur Kasdim?
Rashi, the Midrash Rabbah, and many others mention the story of Avraham being thrown into a fiery furnace by Nimrod for refusing to worship Avoda Zara and being miraculously saved. I've spent a while ...
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Bris Bein Habesarim Peshat
The Passuk in Bereishis 15:9, describing the opening of the Bris Bein Habesarim says:
קחה לי עגלה משולשת ועז משולשת ואיל משולש ותור וגוזל.
There are a boatload of opinions on what Meshuleshes and ...
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Was Hagar Abraham's second wife or his pilegesh?
In Genesis 16:3 it is written:
"So Sarai, Abraham's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, at the end of ten years of Abraham's dwelling in the land of Canaan, and she gave her to Abraham her ...
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