15
votes
Accepted
Why a burning bush?
The midrash in Sh'mot Rabbah (2:5) offers some explanations:
Why fire? To inspire him with courage so that when he comes to Sinai later he is not afraid of the fire.1
Why a thornbush? R' Yehoshua b....
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14
votes
Accepted
Moshe and filicide
R. Avraham Ibn Ezra seems to say that she put him in the river not because that would save him but so that she shouldn't have to witness his death:
ויוכבד עשתה זאת כי אמרה אל אראה במות הילד
R. ...
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13
votes
Moses' Hebrew name was given to him in Egyptian?
You had a number of very good suggestions.
Ibn Ezra to Exodus 2:10 suggests 2 possibilities, namely, that Pharaoh's daughter had learned the Hebrew language, or that she asked someone how to say this ...
- 20.9k
13
votes
Accepted
Who First Knew of the Messiah
The first individual to know of the Messiah was Adam HaRishon. This is stated explicitly in Sanhedrin 38b in the name of Reish Lakish, by Yose ben Chalafta in Seder Olam Rabbah 30 and Rabbi Yehuda bar ...
- 14.3k
12
votes
What's the reason for the gravesite of Moshe Rabbeinu not being Known?
Deuteronomy 34 6:
ולא ידע איש את קברתו עד היום הזה.
In סוטה י׳ד ע׳א we find רבי חמא בר חנינא giving the reason it was hidden so that the Jews would not be able to go pray at his grave when going into ...
- 33.4k
12
votes
Why does Hashem make Moshe go look at the Land?
While there are various other answers to this question, I will highlight a few of them:
One simple answer is that Moshe wanted to see the land, and this is what Rashi (Devarim 3:27) suggests:
וראה ...
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12
votes
Accepted
What kind of tree or bush was the "burning bush" of Moses?
Most commentaries render this as some sort of thorny bush (see Rashi, Ibn Ezra).
In terms of identifying which exact species it may have been, a great resource is Rabbi Kaplan's Living Torah ...
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11
votes
What did Hashem sound like?
See the Medrash Raba on Shemos (Exodus) פרשה ג that states that (at least initially, at the burning bush) Hashem sounded just like Moshe's father Amrom when He spoke to him.
אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ...
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10
votes
Accepted
Were there two Arks constructed, one by Bezaleel and one by Moshe?
Rashi in his commentary to Devarim 10:1 writes that there were indeed two; the one made by Moshe was the one that the Bnei Yisrael carried with them when they went into battle.
At that time: At the ...
- 6,487
10
votes
What did Amram and Yocheved do to merit raising leaders of Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam?
Firstly, there is a fascinating philosophical point that relates to this question. Maharal (Gur Aryeh to Shemot 1:15) points out that neither Yocheved, nor Amram's names were mentioned prior to Moshe'...
- 20.9k
9
votes
Accepted
What Egyptian/Greek text was Ibn Ezra consulting for his commentary on the name "Moshe"?
The ibn Ezra is almost certainly referring to the Nabatean Agriculture, a work that was widely cited by many rishonim (medieval authorities), most notably the Rambam. (Ibn Ezra appears to have ...
- 5,565
9
votes
What did Hashem sound like?
Midrash Tehilim 18:29 (in the name of R. Luliani) says that Hashem spoke with Moshe with the voice of Moshe himself:
רבי לוליאני בשם רבי ישמעאל אמר בנוהג שבעולם הרב אומר והתלמיד עונה. אבל
הקב"ה ...
- 6,874
9
votes
Is it mentioned in the Talmud that Moses time traveled into the distant future
Masechet Menachos 29b states that Moshe Rabeinu was allowed to sit in the bais medrash of Rabbi Akivah, but could not follow the learning there.
They told that when Moses went above to receive the ...
- 42.9k
9
votes
Accepted
How did Paro's daughter explain suddenly having a child?
2:10 וַיִּגְדַּ֣ל הַיֶּ֗לֶד וַתְּבִאֵ֙הוּ֙ לְבַת־פַּרְעֹ֔ה וַֽיְהִי־לָ֖הּ לְבֵ֑ן וַתִּקְרָ֤א שְׁמוֹ֙ מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַתֹּ֕אמֶר כִּ֥י מִן־הַמַּ֖יִם מְשִׁיתִֽהוּ׃
2:11 וַיְהִ֣י׀ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֗ם ...
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9
votes
Why does Hashem make Moshe go look at the Land?
Your premise is that God forced Moshe to go up the mountain and look at the land in some torturous fashion, driving home the point that he would never enter it.
I believe this is an incorrect premise....
- 49.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Would someone please translate this midrash on the death of Moshe?
Here's the first version (some of the punctuation is based on Eisenstein's edition) (some question marks in-between for words I wasn't sure how to translate):
“This is none other than the house of ...
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8
votes
Avuncular marriage in the Torah
Avunculate marriage is marriage between an uncle and a niece or between an aunt and a nephew.
The latter is Biblically forbidden (Leviticus 18:12-3). The former, however, is not, and the Talmud ...
- 35.4k
8
votes
Where is exactly is שָֽׁם in the pasuk גַּם־בִּי֙ הִתְאַנַּ֣ף יְהוָ֔ה בִּגְלַלְכֶ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר גַּם־אַתָּ֖ה לֹא־תָבֹ֥א שָֽׁם (Devarim 1:37)
שמה is not the feminine form of שם. Inasmuch as there is a difference in meaning, שמה may mean "to there" (as in מצרימה - "to Egypt" in, e.g., Genesis 12:11) whereas שם just means "there". See also, ...
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8
votes
How would the new "Moses" nation be called?
According to the Talmud God's statement to Moses actually came true, so we just have to check what they are actually called.
Berachot 7a
וא"ר יוחנן משום ר' יוסי כל דבור ודבור שיצא מפי הקב"ה לטובה ...
- 49.1k
7
votes
How long did Miriam wait by the river before Basya retrieved Moshe?
Exodus 20:5-6
"You shall neither prostrate yourself before them nor worship them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a zealous God, Who visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, upon the third and ...
- 10.7k
7
votes
Moses' Hebrew name was given to him in Egyptian?
Some thoughts from Rabbi Kaplan's Living Torah on that passuk.
He writes that moshe means son in Egyptian. He quotes Ibn Ezra & Hadar Zekenim who say this and uses this idea to translate the ...
- 33.4k
7
votes
Accepted
Why did Moshe have the voice of a grown up boy?
This may very well be one of Ramban's objections to Rashi's explanation:
ועוד מה טעם שיזכיר הכתוב עובי קולו
And furthermore, what reason is there that Scripture should mention the thickness of his ...
- 49.1k
7
votes
If Moshe received ALL future Torah at Har Sinai, why didn't he understand R' Akiva's shiur (Menachos 29b)?
I once heard Rav Herschel Schachter discuss this question. He gave an analogy, that if one were to bring out Euclid, and show him a modern suspension bridge, and tell him it was built using Euclidean ...
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7
votes
Why did Jethro want Moses' son to be an idolater?
Rabbi Schwab explains that Yisro wanted at least one grandson to take the path he did which was worship all avoda zara and recognizing the worthlessness and ultimately come to recognize Hashem as the ...
- 33.4k
7
votes
What became of Moshe's staff?
At least some versions of Avot DeRabbi Natan 41:12 have "the staff" listed along with the Ark, the container of manna, and a few other things which was hidden away. But other lists of things ...
- 97.4k
6
votes
How do we know that Moses' wife was Hamitic?
Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro1, who was a Midianite2. The Midianites are descendants of a man named Midian, who was the son of Abraham from his second wife Keturah3. From this we can ...
- 18.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Is there a source for Og throwing a mountain?
It comes from Devarim Rabba 1:24 in the name of Rabbi Yochanan commenting on Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman.
- 14.3k
6
votes
Accepted
Reuben, Simeon, Levi...But what about the other tribes?
Rav Hirsch says that it starts with Reuven and Shimon to show that Moshe was definitively not of "godly" origin as the mythologies of the goyim will have their heroes. However he and Aharon were in ...
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