Parshas Noach - Parsha Stumpers

פרשת נח

Parsha Stumpers and Something to Think About

A Riddle:

סוף סוף ראשי 1.

תחילת סוף סופי

ויבא נח...אל התבה

מי אני?ג

2. Where do we see from this week's parsha that the day starts at night? Why is it that there is a concept of miktzas hayom k'kulo only if the night is part of the “miktzas”, yet if have even the full day without the preceding night, this concept is not applicable?
3. Rashi (6:13) says that despite all the things that the dor ha'mabbul were doing, the gezairah was sealed because of robbery. Why robbery more than avodah zarrah or giluy arayos?
4. Where is there a remez in the beginning of the parsha that Noach was not involved in any of these three things?
5. What are some of the similarities between Noach and Moshe found in this week's parsha?
6. Rashi both in 6:18 and 7:7 writes that it was forbidden to have marital relations in the teivah. However, Rashi in 7:7 adds that the reason for this was because the world was in a state of distress...

(a) Why does Rashi repeat himself? (b) Why does Rashi in 7:7 add the reason? (c ) Why is this a valid reason? Clearly the people dying in the mabbul deserved it. Shouldn't it have been considered a “joyous” time for the world?

2. The Torah uses the phrase “בעצם היום הזה” in this week's parsha as well as three other times in chumash in the same way. Where are these four times and what is the connection between them? [BERAISHIS 7:17 ; BERAISHIS 17:37 ; SHEMOS 12:21 ; DEVARIM 32:48]
3. Why did Hashem punish the world through means of a mabbul of water?
4. There is a machlokes when the mabbul started. The same machlokes exists regarding the creation of the world. What is this machlokes and what is the connection?
5. The passukim (Noach 8:10-11) describe that the second time Noach sent out the dove, it came back with an olive branch in its mouth. Rashi comments that the dove was trying to tell Noach the following: “Better let my food be bitter as an olive and provided by the hand of Hashem, and not sweet as honey but provided by the hand of man.”...(a) The dove should have had hakaras hatov to Noach and his family. Why at the first opportunity does the dove say such a remark? (b ) The dove's statement makes absolutely no sense! The entire time Noach and the animals were in the teivah they experienced open miracles. The whole teivah was something which opposed teva. Wasn't it pretty apparent that Hashem was present every step of the way?
6. Why did Hashem (9:1) need to give Noach a beracha that the animals would fear him? Wasn't this already built into the world from the sheishes y'mei beraishis?
7. How did Noach know it was Cham who dishonored him?
8. One of the reasons Rashi (11:1) gives as the reason behind why the dor haflaga began to build the tower is because they thought that the world was on a cycle that every 1656 years Hashem wold bring another flood, so they wanted to be prepared with supports for the skies. If so, why was Hashem so upset? Why not just let the people think this incorrectly as long as they aren't bothering anyone?
9. If the dor haflaga wanted to 'wage war' with Hashem, why did they buildמגדל בבל in a valley? They should have built it on top of a mountain!?
10. Rashi (11:28) brings down the story from the famous medrash how Haran (Avraham's brother) stood and observed the episode of Avraham being thrown into the fiery furnace. Haran decided that Avraham's fate would determine his own faith in Hashem. The medrash continues that indeed when Avraham emerged unscathed, Haran joined his side and was consequentially thrown into the fire – and burned to death. What did Haran do wrong? The Ramban at the end of Parshas Bo writes that Hashem does not perform miracles for every kofeir that decides not to believe in Hashem. This is why we have t he Torah and mitzvos which direct us to remember Yetziyas Mitzrayim and Kriyas Yam Suf as a forever certificate of Hashem's capabilities. Haran obviously lived before matan Torah and kriyas yam suf, so what was so bad with him wanting to see Hashem perform an open miracle first before fully believing in Hashem? 

Parshas Beraishis - Parsha Stumpers

פרשת  בראשית

Parsha Stumpers and Something to Think About

 

1. The Torah begins with “Beraishis bara Elokim”. Why not start with “Elokim bara beraishis” which would (a). Allow the first letter of the Torah be an ‘aleph’, (b). allow the first word to be the name of Hashem and (c). not cause any possible misunderstanding in someone chas v’shalom thinking that something called “beraishis” created Hashem?

2. Rashi (1:1) writes that it is important to start the Torah with a recount of Hashem being the master and creator because this way it is clear to the goyim that Hashem has the only right to decide who gets Eretz Yisroel – the B’nei Yisroel. If we are counting on the goyim accepting the story of the Torah, then for the same price it should be enough for them to just read that Hashem promised us Eretz Yisroel without going into detail of days of Beraishis. So how did Rashi answer his question? Furthermore, what good did it do? Still our enemies try to take Eretz Yisroel from us and claim it for themselves? We have always had to conquer Eretz Yisroel, it was never just handed to us, so what good did it do to put the story of beraishis first in the Torah?

3. Rashi (1:1) writes that both Yisroel and Torah are called “reishis”. What else is referred to as such and what is the connection between them?

4. What was the first thing created?

5. The mishna mentions a number of things which were created both before beraishis and right before shabbos. What is unique about these things that they were created on the bookends of the six days of creation?

6. What is the “logic” and “reasoning” behind the order of when everything was created?

7. Rashi (1:5) comments that angels were created on the 2^nd day of Creation, Why at that particular point?

8. Rashi (1:8) describes that shamayim (heavens) is made of eish (fire) and mayim (water). Why?

9. Rashi (1:11) explains that the trees did not listen to the commandment of Hashem. (a) How could they not listen? They are just trees!? (b) Why could they only get punished once man sinned?

10. Rashi (1:12) writes that the vegetables made a kal v’chomeir based on what the trees were commanded. What exactly was the kal v’chomeir? And how could the greens be so sure of the kal v’chomeir? Hashem was creating the world for the first time and maybe His rules for trees wouldn’t apply to vegetables?

11. Rashi (1:16) relates that the moon complained that there cannot be two rulers over the same domain. As a result, Hashem reduced its size. Was the moon incorrect?

12. The passuk uses the phrase “let us make man”, which Rashi explains was is Hashem’s expression of humility that He – so to speak – consulted with the angels. This was done deliberately to teach this lesson of humility despite the tremendous risk of people possibly reading the Torah and be misled to believe that there was more than One Creator. Was it really worth this risk? Certainly a better place could be found to demonstrate Hashem’s humility without risking such a possibility?

13. How many mitzvos did Adom have?

14. Rashi (3:3) seems to understand that the disaster of the eitz ha’da’as had a lot to do with the fact that Chava added that Hashem told them not to touch the eitz ha’da’as, when in reality all that Hashem said was not to eat from the eitz ha’da’as. How is this any different, though, from that which we learn in the first mishna in Avos – that one should make for himself a protective fence around the Torah’s mitzvos? We have many mitzvos m’d’rabanan (from the Rabbis) as a fence to the Torah. Why was what Chava did any worse?