Questions tagged [pentateuch-chumash]
Questions pertaining to the Five Books of Moses (Chumash)
176
questions
3
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1answer
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What is the difference between Vayomer and Vayomar?
In Chumash, sometimes it says vayomer, but other times it says vayomar. What is the difference? Don't they both just mean "he said"?
5
votes
1answer
105 views
Do any of the Rishonim or earlier commentators attempt to suggest what clothing the Ovos wore?
Midrash (Minor Pesikta, Ki Savo 41a) says the Bnei Yisroel didn't change their clothing in Mitzrayim. I presume (but correct me if I'm wrong), that this means they dressed like the Ovos did. My next ...
1
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0answers
34 views
Pesukim in Chumash where Rashi adds in extra words or switches order
I have been trying to remember examples in chumash where Rashi uses dikduk rules to significantly change the order of words or add words to a passuk so that it has another meaning.
What are some ...
1
vote
1answer
104 views
Use of “please” in Torah
How many times is the word "please" used in the Torah?
In the Akeida Hashem asks Abraham to "Please take your son"
Are there any other places in the Torah where Hashem uses the word "please"?
-1
votes
1answer
55 views
What is the exact formatting of the Chumash [duplicate]
I am looking for the rules for the exact formatting (the visual look) of the Chumash. I thought I was interested in the Torah Scroll, but it turns out that I'm actually looking for info on the Book ...
2
votes
1answer
117 views
Did Mesushelach survive the flood according to any other sources?
See this Yalkut Reuvein at the fourth and fifth line, that brings a Pshat that Mesushelach dies 14 years after the flood. As far as I am aware this cannot be resolved with the timeline that exists in ...
4
votes
0answers
55 views
How did the older Torah books look formatting wise?
I'm wondering what the sort of evolution of the Torah's syntactic / punctuation structure looks like. Were the books always divided into "books" with titles like Genesis (in Hebrew of course)? Were ...
0
votes
2answers
87 views
Tamim tihye and predicting the future
On the pasuk "Tamim tihye im Hashem Elokecha" (Devarim 18:13), Rashi says :
Conduct yourself with Him with simplicity and depend on Him, and do not inquire of the future; rather, accept whatever ...
3
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0answers
35 views
Why didn't Moshe apply the rule that stam mittah in the Torah, if not specified otherwise, is henek?
Rashi explains (14:34) that Moshe knew that the "mekoshesh eitzim" was mehuyav mittah, but he didn't know which one because it wasn't said anywhere befeirush. Why didn't Moshe apply the rule that ...
6
votes
1answer
106 views
When beseeching God, why does the kohein gadol appeal to “the torah of Moshe” and not directly to “your torah”?
Yoma 6:2 reports what the kohein gadol says over the goat to be offered:
“Please, ‘Hashem’! They have done wrong, they have transgressed, they have sinned before You, Your people the House of ...
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vote
3answers
100 views
Origin of Chumashim (“unholy” Torahs)
Torah says many times that we're obligated to write Torah scrolls, read them in public and study them.
Writing a Kosher Torah scroll while following all the requirements (parchment, ink, intentions, ...
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1answer
82 views
Why do we use the term “Jew” or “Jewish” when referencing people in the Torah/Chumash passages?
Why do we use the term "Jew" or "Jewish" when referencing people in the Torah/Chumash passages?
In the Torah (the Chumash), the "children of Israel" are called just that "בני ישראל" or Israelite.
...
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1answer
63 views
Online chumash with kometz katans indicated
Is there a free site online that has a chumash online with kamatz katans indicated?
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0answers
27 views
5 or 6 - Written vs Oral Torah (Z"A vs Malchus)
This question is intended only for those familiar with some basic Kabbalistic concepts.
As we know (from יהו"ה), that ו (Vav, number 6) stands for Z"A (masculine) and ה (He, number 5) stands for ...
4
votes
1answer
56 views
Hashem referred as Hamelech in Torah
In Megillah Esther it is said that the word Hamelech is a indirect reference to Hashem.
Is there a word Hamelech or Melech in the Torah that is a reference to Hashem?
Only in the five Books of ...
0
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0answers
30 views
Pocket Chumash recommendations
I'm looking for a new pocket Chumash to keep in my tallis bag for following along during leining. While there are a few features I'd like, but I'm fairly loose on some of them, if not all are ...
8
votes
1answer
149 views
Who wrote Ikar Siftei Chachamim?
Siftei Chachamim (שפתי חכמים) is a super-commentary on Rashi's commentary on the Torah, written by the 17th-Century CE Polish scholar Shabbethai Bass. It tends to be included in Mikraot Gedolot ...
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1answer
79 views
Razor used by Leviyim, Nezirim and Lepers
וְכֹֽה־תַעֲשֶׂ֤ה לָהֶם֙ לְטַֽהֲרָ֔ם הַזֵּ֥ה עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם מֵ֣י חַטָּ֑את וְהֶעֱבִ֤ירוּ תַ֙עַר֙ עַל־כָּל־בְּשָׂרָ֔ם וְכִבְּס֥וּ בִגְדֵיהֶ֖ם וְהִטֶּהָֽרוּ׃
This is what you shall do to them, to purify them; ...
0
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1answer
52 views
Torah Hebrew calligraphy [closed]
I want to know what was the calligraphy used in the first Torah manuscript? I searched Google but found no answer.
2
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0answers
66 views
What was given on Mt. Sinai at each of the 40-day intervals
It's known that Moshe was on the mountain for 120 days and nights total, although I personally am not sure exactly what was given when.
(I'm aware of this question How is the story of the Torah being ...
6
votes
2answers
107 views
Was Esav originally destined to be the fourth of the Avos?
I think I heard that Esav and Yaakov were supposed to be like Yissachar and Zevulun; partnering together in Avodas HaShem. So then would both have become our Avos?
I'm interested in the earliest ...
17
votes
3answers
393 views
Why didn't Avraham argue with HaShem about sacrificing Yitzchak just like he argued with Him about destroying Sodom? [duplicate]
It's known that when Avraham found out that Hashem was going to destroy Sodom and the other cities, he fervently argued with Hashem to save them.
My question is: when Hashem told Avraham to sacrifice ...
1
vote
3answers
170 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
371 views
Is “Roh-eh Hanoled” a classical expression?
In Maus from Art Spiegelman, a rabbi tells Vladek he's a "Roh-eh Hanoled", one that sees what the future holds. It is an invention of his or does it exist in any classical or sacred source ?
5
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1answer
1k views
Who was older, Miriam or Aaron?
Do we have any sources addressing which of Moshe Rabbeinu's older siblings, Miriam and Aaron, was older?
3
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4answers
333 views
Do the Torah codes offer scientific proof that the Torah is supernatural?
There was an experiment published in a journal called Statistical Science in 1994 that found that certain medieval Rabbis and their birth & yahrtzeit are referenced to in sefer Bereshit by running ...
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votes
1answer
321 views
How the irrational number Pi can be derived from the Torah?
Some traditions say, based on the Gemmorah in Taanis 9a (also מדרש רבה נשא י' ו', זוהר פנחס רכ"א א, and more):
"ליכא מידי דלא רמיזא באורייתא" (Is there anything that is written in the Writings that ...
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0answers
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What is special in “2000 ama” that it have the unique note [duplicate]
What is special in the words "2000 ama" in the verce numbers 35.5 that is has a conitasinal note that is unique in thw chumash (only found once)
Onther places in the bible that it is found
(במדבר לה ...
2
votes
1answer
132 views
One Volume Chumash with Rashi Menukad
I'm looking for a new Chumash for school.
I want it to be one volume, with Rashi menukad. Does anyone have a suggestion?
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0answers
38 views
Division of Parasha into seven Aliyos [duplicate]
Who is the author of the marks dividing Parashios into seven aliyos found today in almost all chumashim?
Notes: The halacha (Mishna in Megillah 21a, Shulchan Aruch OC 135) prescribes that 7 people ...
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2answers
134 views
Why arent the bartenura and the tur haaroch commentaries on chumash quoted/printed more? [closed]
I just recently discovered two interesting commentaries on the chumash on sefaria
Tur haaroch
Bartenura on the chumash
I guess my question is why havent I seen them before.
I have never seen either ...
6
votes
0answers
99 views
Why do most Chumashim mark the end of a Sidra with 3 parsha markings?
With the exception of the end of Vayigash, every Sidrah (Shabbat weekly Torah reading) ends at a parsha (paragraph end.)
When there is a parsha end in the middle of the sidrah, Chumashim use a single ...
6
votes
5answers
273 views
Who said that little Tzfardeaim jumped out of the big one's mouth?
Who said that little Tzfardeaim jumped out of the big one's mouth?
As far as I can tell, the gemara in Sanhedrin, as well as all of the mainstream medrashim, use a lashon of וישרצו, which, as Rashi ...
3
votes
1answer
164 views
The figure of “your enemy” in Exodus 23:4-5 according to Jewish Tradition
I am an Italian son of Noah.
How does the majority Jewish tradition interpret the figure of "your enemy" mentioned in Exodus 23:4-5?
"If you come upon your enemy's bull or his stray donkey, you ...
6
votes
1answer
188 views
Does Jewish tradition report a narrative on what happened to the original manuscript of the Pentateuch?
I'm an Italian gentile believer in HaShem, who commits himself to observe the Noahide Laws, as commanded by the Creator in the Torah.
If I'm not mistaken, according to Jewish sources, the Pentateuch ...
3
votes
1answer
267 views
Ezra HaSofer and the text of the Pentateuch
I am an italian gentile believer in HaShem, who observes the precepts of Noah as taught by the Creator in the Holy Torah.
I ask for your response on the following question:
If I understand ...
3
votes
1answer
85 views
When did Eisav find out that Yaakov was still alive?
The pasuk in Bereishis 29:11 says:
וַיִּשַּׁ֥ק יַעֲקֹ֖ב לְרָחֵ֑ל וַיִּשָּׂ֥א אֶת־קֹל֖וֹ וַיֵּֽבְךְּ׃
Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and broke into tears.
Rashi says on that pasuk:
...Another ...
4
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0answers
99 views
When did Bliha and Zilpah die?
I heard that Seder Olam Rabbah writes that both Rachel and Leah had already passed away by the time of twenty two years after Yaakov married them. We wanted to know if there are any sources when Bilha ...
4
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2answers
105 views
What was Rachel expecting to be her fate when she let Leah marry Yaakov?
From what I understand from The Midrash Says, Rachel knew she was in-line to marry Yaakov, and Leah was supposed to marry Esav. And that's why Leah cried a lot.
When Rachel allowed Leah to marry ...
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vote
1answer
57 views
What does the phrase וַיִּשָּׂ֨א …אֶת־עֵינָ֗יו mean? [duplicate]
In parshas lech lecha, when lot's shepherds aren't getting along with Avraham's and is given the ultimatium of deciding where he wants to go, his decision is illustrated by the pasuk (יג:י).
...
2
votes
1answer
62 views
When was Yitzchok supposed to be born?
In Parshas Vayeira, there is the Besurah of the birth of Yitzchok in the coming year:
לַמּוֹעֵ֞ד אָשׁ֥וּב אֵלֶ֛יךָ כָּעֵ֥ת חַיָּ֖ה וּלְשָׂרָ֥ה בֵֽן
This means exactly one year later to the day, as ...
10
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1answer
610 views
First use of modern names for books of Torah
Today, it is common practice to use Bereshis, Shemos, Vayikra, Bamidbar, Devarim as the names of the five books of the Torah, but this was not always the case. As an example, the Talmud refers to ...
4
votes
1answer
209 views
Who killed Nimrod?
I used to think that Esav killed Nimrod and took the special garment that was originally Adam Harishon's. (Is this a Midrash?) But now I'm wondering if Avraham Avinu and Eliezer killed Nimrod during ...
1
vote
2answers
103 views
The tribe and the stick
Is there a connection of definition between the two words used for "tribe" - מטה and שבט which both mean "stick" or "rod"? If so, why is the term "rod" used to refer to a tribe?
Examples:
שבט - ...
4
votes
2answers
204 views
Chumash that is numbered according to Petuchot and Setumot?
Traditionally, the Torah is divided into paragraphs and sub-paragraphs graphically and is seen as being meaningfully categorized as such. As the Rambam codifies, the validity of a Torah scroll is ...
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0answers
42 views
Expressing benefit in the Pentateuch
Regarding the prohibition of deriving benefit from a murderous animal (shor haniskal), the gemara (e.g. Bava Kamma 41a) suggests (in an initial interpretation) that, from the fact that the Torah uses ...
1
vote
1answer
62 views
How is “Between the Evenings” Interpreted in the Aramaic Targums?
Shemot 12:6, (Exodus) - והיה לכם למשמרת עד ארבעה עשר יום לחדש הזה ושחטו אתו כל קהל עדת־ישראל בין הערבים [Between the Evenings]׃
Could someone help provide references from the Targums, (Jonathan, ...
2
votes
1answer
291 views
Rashi's explanation of B'etzem Hayom Hazeh
In Devarim, 32:48, the pasuk uses the phrase בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה (on that very day). Rashi there comments
בשלשה מקומות נאמר בעצם היום הזה,
(: Heb. בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה. In three places ...
4
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0answers
192 views
Reading Mishnah Torah on Hoshana Rabba
There is a minhag that many have to read in shul from a Sefer Torah the entire Chumash of Davarim on the night of Hoshanah Rabbah. What is the first makor (source) for this minhag and what is the ...
4
votes
3answers
260 views
How should we understand the Torah’s comparison of a tree to a “man”? What message is the Torah trying to convey?
Deuteronomy 20:19
(19) When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ax against them. Because you will eat ...
