15
votes
Accepted
Where were Yaakov's sons buried?
Yerushalmi Sota 8b Chapter 1 Halacha 10 says that all the 12 Shevatim were taken to Eretz Yisrael by their Shevet.
תלמוד ירושלמי סוטה דף ח' ע"ב, פרק א' הלכה י' – ככתוב בראשית מו אנכי ארד עמך מצרים ...
- 138k
13
votes
Accepted
Tribe of Converts
No, at present male Gerim and their male children do not have an inheritance in the land of Israel. Inheritance of property comes through the male line, meaning father to son.
Male converts do not ...
- 13.9k
10
votes
Was Dan born out of wedlock?
You're possibly referring to the Maharsha to Shabbos 55b.
To explain how Reuven didn't sin with Bilhah, he explains based on the gemarra in Yevamos that Avaraham's children couldn't marry a shifchah. ...
- 19.6k
9
votes
What is the significance of the Choshen stones assigned to each tribe?
To answer the last part of the question that wasn't addressed yet.
Is there any significance as to why a specific stone was assigned to a specific tribe? Was it something within the color, or the ...
- 1,723
8
votes
What tribe were Eldad and Medad from?
According to Bamidbar Rabba 15 19, Eldad was Alidad ben Kislon and Meidad was Kemuel ben Shaftan.
That would put Eldad as the Nasi of Binyamin and Meidad as the Nasi of Ephraim as found in Parshas ...
- 33.2k
7
votes
Did Prof. Rabbi Umberto Cassuto have any insight behind the biblical character Yehudah?
Nechama Leibowitz used Rabbi Cassuto as a source for his view of the story of Yehudah and Tamar as a punishment for the sale of Yoseph.
3) Measure for Measure
Cassuto also believes that ...
- 42.8k
7
votes
Accepted
What tribe was Jehu from?
From Menashe. See Pesikta Rabbati 3
ובמלכים ירבעם בן נבט משל אפרים ואחרי כן יהוא בן (מנשה) [נמשי] משבט
מנשה
- 6,854
7
votes
Was Dan born out of wedlock?
You are probably thinking of the son of an Egyptian man and an Israelite woman, who cursed God's name (Leviticus 24:10). His mother was Shlomit the daughter of Divri from the tribe of Dan (24:11). ...
- 24k
7
votes
Accepted
Tribal affiliation through the father
In the Talmud-GemaraTractate Bava Bathra 109b
משפחת אב קרויה משפחה אמשפחת אם אינה קרויה משפחה דכתיב (במדבר א, ב) למשפחותם לבית אבותם
The Family of the Father are family the family of the mother ...
- 11.3k
6
votes
Limud for Levi not being part of the spies
Sifsei Chachamim brings this question from Rabi Elazar Mizrachi who left it as a question.
The Sifsei Chachamim goes on to suggest that this limud is to tell us that Shevet Levi was not even ...
- 33.2k
6
votes
Accepted
What is "birthright" really?
The "birthright" as used here that went to Yoseph is the "double portion".
The Artscroll commentary on Reuven cites Targum Yonasan as pointing out that there were three items that had been originally ...
- 42.8k
6
votes
Accepted
Canaanite wives of the Bnei Ya'akov (Sefer HaYashar)
According to Pesahim 50a, the very premise of the question; that Jacob's sons married Canaanite women is wrong. Indeed, the very notion is so inconceivable that that the Talmud interprets Genesis (38:...
- 35.4k
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 ...
- 42.8k
6
votes
Accepted
How could they call Yaakov by name?
Ohr HaYashar to Hilkhot Mamrim (6:3) points this out, but doesn't seem to answer.
Daf Al Hadaf to Pesahim (56a) quotes several answers: the Sefer Merafsin Igra (page 233) is cited as suggesting that ...
- 35.4k
6
votes
Was Dan born out of wedlock?
From the simple reading of the Torah it seems that it was in wedlock
Beraishis 30:3-6 or here
She said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Consort with her, that she may bear on my knees and that through ...
- 7,466
6
votes
Accepted
Giyur l'chumrah + tribal/family affiliation
Giyur lechumra by definition, is a giyur that may or may not be necessary. It is performed when someone's lineage is questionable, or if they underwent a questionable giyur in the past.
As such, the ...
- 1,149
6
votes
Accepted
Order of Reuven and Gad
Bamidbar 32:2
וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ בְנֵֽי־גָ֖ד וּבְנֵ֣י רְאוּבֵ֑ן וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה֙
וְאֶל־אֶלְעָזָ֣ר הַכֹּהֵ֔ן וְאֶל־נְשִׂיאֵ֥י הָעֵדָ֖ה לֵאמֹֽר׃
2 The descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuben ...
- 42.8k
5
votes
Did the half tribe of Menashe have the same conditions as the tribe of Re'uven and Gad?
Sure. We see in Yehoshua 1:13-15 that he reminds all two and a half tribes of "what Moshe the servant of Hashem commanded you," and after it's all over he calls all of them (Yehoshua 22:1-3) and ...
- 1,667
5
votes
Why did Moses add part of the tribe of Menashe to join Re'uven and Gad on the east of the Jordan?
An aish.com article titled "Half of Menashe" offers a number of answers:
The first two tribes, Reuven and Gad, were involved in the negotiations with Moshe from the outset. How did the tribe or ...
- 37.6k
5
votes
Asara Haruge Malchut (Ten Martyrs), why were 10 Rabbis killed?
Yalkut Reuveini brings several answers. Here (end of the first full paragraph) he says Reuven was actually punished for moving the beds by Bilhah.
Here he says that Yishmael Kohen Gadol (who was very ...
- 5,335
5
votes
What is the significance of the Choshen stones assigned to each tribe?
There are a few opinions about the order of the names on the stones (Rashi says that they were ordered by age, from top-right to bottom-left), while Da'at Zekenim miBa'alei haTosfot think that the ...
- 3,804
5
votes
Reuben, Simeon, Levi...But what about the other tribes?
Rashbam to Shemos 6:14 explains that (according to Mehilta) this posuk provides only the genealogies of those three tribes that Yaacov had censured before he died in order to teach us that those ...
- 6,854
5
votes
Why didn't Binyamin die?
Excellent question. Note that R' Yosef Ibn Caspi makes the connection between these two Pesukim as well (although he doesn't mention the same idea as Rashi, nor does he generally subscribe to similar ...
- 20.9k
5
votes
Accepted
What families constituted 1/2 tribe of Menashe?
Joshua 17:1-2
וַיְהִי הַגּוֹרָל לְמַטֵּה מְנַשֶּׁה, כִּי-הוּא בְּכוֹר יוֹסֵף--לְמָכִיר בְּכוֹר מְנַשֶּׁה אֲבִי הַגִּלְעָד, כִּי הוּא הָיָה אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה, וַיְהִי-לוֹ, הַגִּלְעָד וְהַבָּשָׁן. ...
- 96.9k
5
votes
Why did the two tribes have significantly more livestock than others?
Mechilta d'Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, 12:38
ומקנה רב היה לבני (גד) [ראובן] ולבני (ראובן) [גד] יכול לבני ראובן ולבני גד היה לשאר שבטים לא היה? אלא מלמד שאלו פשטו ידיהם בו
How could it be that Reuven and ...
- 12k
5
votes
Accepted
Was Gad Strong or weak?
See Rashi to Bereishit 47:2, who notes that this is a matter of debate between Bereishit Rabbah, which believes Gad was strong, and Talmud Bavli and Sifrei which believe that Gad was weak.
Rashi to ...
- 41.3k
4
votes
Should the Ten Tribes observe Chanuka and Purim?
It seems that it is generally agreed that they would have to celebrate Chanukah and Purim (as is the case nowadays with Ethiopian Jews and Bnei Menashe and other groups).
The Chida wrote in Devarim ...
- 24.3k
4
votes
Why does the Torah specify only that Le'ah's children were born in Paddan Aram?
הרב איתן שנדורפי suggests that it is to give praise to those Shevatim, that despite all being born in Padan Aram, they were still tzadikim, based on Rashi Bereishis 25:20. He shows that this is a ...
- 20.9k
4
votes
Why was Judah named that: doesn't the name hurt Rachel?
Your analogy is incorrect as it does not apply to what happened to Leah. Leah did not attempt to "take away" a son from Rachel and it was thanks to Hashem who had done this. Rav Hirsch points out that ...
- 42.8k
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