9
votes
Accepted
What was red in the stew that Jacob made for Esau?
I heard once, do not remember from who, questioning the word נא from הלעיטני נא מן האדם האדם הזה - since when did Eisav say please? The answer I was told was Eisav was not saying please, Eisav was ...
- 138k
8
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Esav try to kill Ya'akov while Ya'akov was in Lavan's home?
Yitzchak was still alive long after the events in Vyishshlach so Eisav would not have gone to Lavan's house to kill Yaakov. Yitzchak was still alive when Yosef was sent to Mitzraim. Yitzchak died at ...
- 42.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Does anyone draw a parallel between Haman selling himself to Mordechai and Esav selling the birthright to Yaakov?
Yes, the Manos Halevi brings what the actual Shtar said:
אני המן בן המדתא מזרע אגג, שלח אותי מלך אחשורוש במלחמה על עיר הינדקא, ומנה אותי המלך על ששה רבוא אנשי הצבא, ונתן לי המלך צידה לפרנס אותם, ...
- 40.3k
8
votes
Accepted
How could Avimelech not know that Yitzchak didn't have a sister?
Toldos 26:7 shows that it was not Avimelech but the residents of the place who asked him as soon as he arrived. He then, as he later explained to Avimelech, suspected that they would behave in the ...
- 42.7k
6
votes
Accepted
Who were Esav's wives?
There are basically two lists of wives and each one contains 3 names. Traditional sources differ on exactly how to answer the contradiction, with the opinions ranging from Esau having 3,4,5, or 6 ...
- 5,954
6
votes
Why two lambs to make a meal for Isaac?
Kitzur Baal Haturim on Genesis 27:9:1:
לך נא אל הצאן ר''ת נאה לך. פירוש נאה לך ונאה לבניך כי פסח היה
ולקח ב' אחד לפסח וא' לחגיגה:
Synopsis - it ws Pesach. One lamb for the Pesach sacrifice and ...
- 69.6k
6
votes
How did Beeri the Hittite come up with naming his daughter Yehudit?
Rashi in Bereishis 35,2 says that her real name (presumably her father called her) was Oholivomo, but Eisav called her Yehudis to connote that she denied Idol worship and believed in One G-d to fool ...
- 11.3k
6
votes
Accepted
Why the weird spelling of וַאֲבָרֶכְכָ֛ה in Breisheet 27:7?
The Midrash Lekach Tov by R' Tuviah ben Eliezer teaches exactly the idea you have mentioned regarding the additional letter ה:
הביאה לי ציד [וגו'] ואברככה – מלא על שם העולם הזה שנברא בה"א. לכך ...
- 7,272
5
votes
Accepted
Marriage: get out of jail free card?
Apirion L'Shlomo brings the following in the name of the Imrei Emes.
Rashi in Parshas Tazriah says that a Chasan that sees Tzora'as we wait until after the seven days of Simcha end before going to ...
- 138k
5
votes
What was red in the stew that Jacob made for Esau?
The Ramban on that passuk writes that the food was red either from the lentils, or it was red from some other ingredient, but Esav did not know what it was, so he just called it red.
So he does ...
- 33k
5
votes
Does anyone draw a parallel between Haman selling himself to Mordechai and Esav selling the birthright to Yaakov?
I just stumbled across the Ba’al HaTurim on Bereishis 25:30:
הלעטיני נא מן - ראשי תיבות המן. לומר כשם שיעקב קנה מעשו בכורו בלחם ועדשים כך קנה מרדכי את המן לעבד בפת לחם
”Pour into me, please, ...
- 33.8k
5
votes
Accepted
Why did Yitzchok use the same subterfuge for his wife that had not worked for Avraham?
The subterfuge was actually successful. Yitzchak was afraid of the people of the country and the trick worked until they had been there for long enough to get careless and get caught.
Toldos 26:7 - ...
- 42.7k
4
votes
Why is the birth of twins a Chidush for Rivka?
The העמק דבר says that the wonder is that they were so different. She thought they would be more similar, but it turned out surprising that they were twins in the same womb, given how different they ...
- 31.7k
4
votes
Accepted
Esav took his wives from among the girls of Cana'an? (Breishit 36:2)
To start with, there is the question of whether one accepts the Midrashic interpretation that he had a total of three wives who went by different names. However, whether or not one does, the question ...
- 35.2k
4
votes
Why doesn't Yaakov ( תתן אמת ליעקב) object to his mother's plan on the grounds that it does not reflect truth?
There are a few answers to this question.
One is that in essence, Eisov was the one who was doing the initial tricking here. He would have been receiving the brochos because (1) Eisav had been ...
- 4,359
4
votes
Why did Abraham give his sons impure gifts?
So the Daas Zekeinim asks your question and gives a reason albeit a somewhat mystical one - that Avraham gave them strength to overpower demons and the like:
נתן אברהם מתנות, “Avraham had already ...
- 25.4k
4
votes
Accepted
"And the older shall serve the younger."
According to the first pasuk, the Chizkuni understands this 'servitude' mentioned in the verse as merely pointing to the fact that Yaakov will end up being the older one by virtue of him gaining the ...
- 25.4k
3
votes
Accepted
How did Yitzhak get blind?
Rashi on Genesis 27:1:1:
ותכהין. בעשנן של אלו דבר אחר כשנעקד על גבי המזבח והיה אביו רוצה
לשחטו, באותה שעה נפתחו השמים וראו מלאכי השרת והיו בוכים וירדו דמעותיהם
ונפלו על עיניו, לפיכך כהו עיניו. ...
- 69.6k
3
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Yitzhak bless Eisav the same way he blessed Yaakov?
Yitzchok told him in 27:37 that he already made Yaakov the master, so he can't give that to Eisav. He already gave Yaakov control over grain and wine, so it's too late for that as well. But of dew and ...
- 4,934
3
votes
Why is the birth of twins a Chidush for Rivka?
Darosh Darosh Moshe page 73 says that the surprise was that it was immediately noticeable that Yaakov was a Ish Tam and that Eisav was not.
- 138k
3
votes
Why is the birth of twins a Chidush for Rivka?
Rav Hirsch says that the fact that they were going to be "two nations" and were completely different nations implied that they were non-identical twins. However he states that the word used implies ...
- 42.7k
3
votes
Accepted
צידה vs צָיִד? kri ksiv
Kitzur Baal Haturim on Genesis 27:3:3:
ציד
צידה כתיב ה''א יתירה שלמדו ה' הלכות שחיטה וה' סימני טהרה בעוף, אינו
דורס. אצבע יתירה. זפק. קרקבו נקלף. אינו חולק את רגליו. ובחיה, מפרסת
פרסה. מעלה ...
- 69.6k
3
votes
Why didn't Rivka summon Yaakov?
Note that besides answering the question, I also deal with the suggestion that Devorah was carrying the message as @GershonGold says in his answer..
Rav Hirsch points out in 35:8 that we do not know ...
- 42.7k
3
votes
Accepted
Why should Yitzchok have to give a brachah to the person whom he thought was Eisav, if he had wrongly suspected Yaakov?
Yitzchak suspected that the person in front of him was worthy of a curse. When he realized that that suspicion was in error, he had to bless him.
- 73.6k
3
votes
Why is it a benefit for Avraham to die before Esav 'breaks bad'?
You’re asking a kasha on a Maaseh :-) Rashi doesn’t spell it out further so we need to conjecture.
The Gemara in Brachos seems to conclude that dead people are aware of what’s going on in the world. I’...
- 183
2
votes
Why is Edom considered to be "Western culture" and not southern Jordan?
To quote the ParshaBlog:
Shadal writes:
ודע כי אדום האמור בתורה ובשאר ספרי הקודש הוא עם השוכן בין ים סוף וים המלח, ומעולם אין הכוונה על מלכות רומי ולא על אחד מגויי אירופה, וכל ימי עמידת הבית ...
- 35.2k
2
votes
Why the name Beer Sheva
Peirush Radak to bereishis 26:33 explain this simply: they are not the same place (since Avraham named the site (or the well) and Isaac named the city (or the entire region). And even if one suggest ...
- 6,825
2
votes
Is Rivkah implying any responsibility to Ya'akov for having "stolen" Esav's blessing?
This interpretation I am providing is Rabbi David Fohrman's from alephbeta.org
The problem with looking at the Biblical stories is that we often read them quickly, and we know how the story ends ...
- 10.1k
2
votes
Why does Rashi describe Mahalath as "Another unsuitable wife"?
On a peshat level, once Esav realized his father disapproved of his Canaanite wives (Genesis 28: 8) he righteously married wives from his extended family as per his father's general wish (Genesis 28: ...
- 35.2k
2
votes
Why did Yacov suddenly ask for the first-born rights?
The following possibility occurred to me, but I haven't seen it written in any sefer. The Midrash Rabbah in Bamidbar 4:8 states that the right to perform the avodah originated with Adam and was ...
- 6,414
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