Parshas Tazria-Metzora - Parsha Stumpers

~ Something to Think About ~

פרשת תזריע

Parsha Stumpers

By: Daniel Listhaus

1.      (12:3) ”Rashi writes that just like man was created after animals, so too were the halachos of birth commanded after halachos of animals (kashrus).” Indeed sometimes the Torah instructs us that the proper order of teaching and responding is A-B A-B: That when two things are said the proper approach is to respond in the same order (See also when Eliezer responded to Lavan/Besuel). However there are also examples where the Torah orders in a A-B B-A format justifying that since the last thing taught is still fresh on the mind we respond to that first. (See Gemara Berachos 2a and Tosfos Bava Kamma 17a). What are the guidelines when to respond in the order of things mentioned and when to respond to the second item first?

2.      (13:14) Rashi writes that when a person thinks he has tzara’as he must go to the kohen have it inspected. However, there are two exceptions: A chossen (during sheva berachos) and any person on a Yom Tov. How could we understand this? Why would the Torah push aside a pressing matter for personal happiness? Clearly the person deserves the tzara’as so why consider the fact that the afflicted will suffer on his “personal days”? It’s his own fault!

3.      Tzara’as is a physical effect of something non-physical (harmful speech). The truth is that all speech creates realities. Where is that hinted to in the Hebrew word for “speech” and where do we hint to this idea in davening?

~ Something to Think About ~

פרשת מצורע

Parsha Stumpers

By: Daniel Listhaus

1.    Where is there an acronym for Motzee Shem Ra in this week's parsha?

2.      (14:4) The Rambam writes (Mishna Torah and Shemoneh Perakim) that one who has failed in a particular middah and now wants to work on fixing it, should first balance it out by going to the other extreme. So, for example, one who had become a big ba’al gaivah and want to now work on suppressing his ego and becoming more humble, he should do things on the opposite extreme of what he had been doing until he is able to find the proper balance in the middle. If so, granted the hyssop is very necessary as part of the metzora’s tahara as Rashi explains, but why the cedarwood? Shouldn’t that specically be left out?

3.    Rabbah bar bar Shila says on Daf Beis amud beis in Berachos that if in the passuk of “u'va ha'shemesh v'taheir”, u'va hashemesh=beeas ohro and v'taheir=tahor gavra; then the passuk should have used the word “vayitaheir” to illustrate the active requirement to become tahor instead of the word “tahor” which is a more passive sounding word (even without a kaparah).....Ask a question on this from this week's parsha.

4.    (14:34) Why is tzara’as also Hashem’s method of letting people know when there are treasures behind the wall of a house?

Parshas Shemini - Parsha Stumpers

~ Something to Think About ~

פרשת שמיני

Parsha Stumpers

By: Daniel Listhaus

1. Rashi (Vayikra 9:1) on the first passuk in this week's parsha comments that Hashem had Moshe call over the elders of B'nei Yisorel to let them know that it was according to Hashem's command that Aharon be the one to assume the position of Kohen Gadol, so that they should not say that Aharon took the position by himself. Was this really a worry? The Kohen Gadol had a very scary job going into the Kodesh HaK'doshim on Yom Kippur. Why would anyone assume this position unless told by Hashem to do so? Why would the elders of Yisroel allow such a possibility to enter their mind?

2. Rashi (Vayikra 9:2) writes that Hashem commanded Aharon to take a calf as a karbon in  order to grant an atonement for partaking in the cheit Ha'Eigel (sin of the golden calf). How could this be a proper atonement for Aharon if we know that there is a principle of ein k'teiger na'aseh sneiger (that one does not get the prosecutor to be the defendant)?

3. Rashi (Vayikra 10:2) offers two explanations as to why Nadav and Avihu received such strict punishment. The second explanation he gives is that really the Torah had never warned the Kohanim yet not to do the avodah after drinking wine. Nonetheless, Hashem used this opportunity as a means of example for future kohanim. However, if the kohanim were never warned at this point yet that doing so was a problem, why is it that Nadav and Avihu were punished for it? 

4. Rashi (Vayikra 10:16) comments that after the episode with Aharon and his remaining two sons eating a karbon improperly (at least according to Moshe's understanding), Moshe turned and displayed anger towards Aharon's sons (Elazar and Isammar). Rashi writes that the reason for this was to spare Aharon's dignity. Since when does Moshe save someone's dignity by not telling them they did something wrong? Moshe should have displayed anger towards Aharon as well in order to show that what he does was wrong!?

5. After Aharon explained their reasoning that eating from that particular karbon was the right thing to do, despite the fact that he was an onein (because Nadav and Avihu had just died), the Passuk (Vayikra 10:20) says that Moshe heard and he approved. Rashi on this passuk comments that Moshe admitted Aharon was right and that he was not embarrassed to say that he had not heard that particular halacha (law).

a.    How could it be, though, that Moshe had not heard of a halacha ?

b.    How could Aharon have made a halachik decision without Moshe? Wasn’t that precisely what Nadav and Avihu had done wrong (according to some opinions) which caused them to be killed?

6. How is it possible to get fleishig  milk?

7. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 17a) says that in order to be appointed as a member of the Sanhedrin, one must know how to deem a sheretz – tahor. What is the point of this if the Torah specifically states that it is tamei ? And what is a way to arrive at the (mistaken) conclusion that a sheretz should be tahor?

8. Where in the Parsha do we see the inyan that it is not respectful to grow one’s hair long or walk around with ripped clothing? (Bonus: Where do we see this concept in Megillas Esther as well?).

9. The midpoint of the Torah, in terms of words, is in this week’s parsha. Where is it and what is special about it?

10. How do you reconcile the concept of ivdu es Hashem b’simcha with the negative commandment against drinking wine before doing the ultimate for of avodas  in the beis Ha’mikdash?

11. What do the simanim regarding kosher animals represent – both by fish and land animals? What lesson could be learned from “vayidom Aharon”?

12. What is the deal with pig?

1.     What is so tricky about pigs?

2.      Which nation is compared to a pig? Why?

3.      Why are pigs called chazir? And which passuk in Ovadiah do we say multiple times a day which alludes to this idea?

Parshas Vayikra - Parsha Stumpers

~ Something to Think About ~

פרשת ויקרא

Parsha Stumpers

By: Daniel Listhaus

1. (1:1) The Baal Haturim writes that the small aleph in “Vayikra” was a compromise between Moshe and Hashem. Moshe only wanted the Torah to say “Vayakar” to express that Hashem only happened to appear to Moshe as the Torah expresses when Hashem went to Billam. So, the compromise was to have the aleph but in smaller font. The question is though: Granted Moshe was the humblest man who ever lived, however, humility does not mean sinking to a low-life level of Billam. The middah of anavah sometimes requires one to utilize his full self esteem and specifically do things to show that he represents the will of Hashem. So, how could Moshe suggest that The Torah recall his encounters with Hashem in the same way it does for Billam?

2. Besides for in this week's parsha by Hashem talking to Moshe by the Ohel Moed, there are two other times in the Torah when Hashem “calls” Moshe before speaking to him. When were they?

3. (1:2) The passuk says, “When a person from among you will bring a karbon...” Rashi comments that the Torah uses the word “Adam” to teach us that just as Adam, the first man, did not bring any offering from that which was stolen since everything was his, so too any person must never bring an offering of a stolen animal. Why would the Torah go out of its way to give such a dramatic example? The idea of not being allowed to bring a stolen animal is one that is already taught in the passuk, and the concept of mitzva ha'ba'ah b'aveira (not being allowed to do a mitzva brought about through a means of doing an aveirah) is already known. So why is this extreme example also necessary?

4. There is a concept in this week’s parsha (Rashi 1:3) as well as many times throughout the Gemara that we sometimes force people to do things against their will until they say “okay, I'll do it”. At that point it is actually considered as if it is indeed their will. How could that be if they were forced to say it?

5. Where is there a hint in the parsha to the concept that an idea becomes a reality and “created” in a sense only when a person speaks out the idea verbally?

6. Why does Rashi repeat multiple times regarding karbon chatas (sin offering) that it must be brought with the intent for the sake of being a sin-offering?

Parshas Ki Sisa - Parsha Stumpers

~ Something to Think About ~

פרשת כי תשא

Parsha Stumpers

By: Daniel Listhaus

1.    (30:12) Why must B'nei Yisroel be only counted indirectly by using an object?

2.    (30:13) When the Torah uses an expression of “zeh” (“this”), it means Hashem showed something to Moshe. What was so complicated about the shekel that Moshe needed a prop to visualize it?

3.    (30:18) Why is the kiyur listed in this week's parsha and not in Terumah or Tetzaveh  with the other keilim in the mishkan?

4.    (30:19) Why was it necessary for the Kohanim to be mekadeish their feet with the kiyur?

5.    (31:3-4) Once the Torah already tells us that Betzalel had ruach Elokim, why was it necessary that he have wisdom, understanding, and knowledge? Furthermore, Rashi explains that “da'as” (knowledge) refers to ruach hakodesh. What is the difference between ruach Elokim, which is mentioned explicitly in the passuk, and ruach hakodesh which is hinted to in “da'as”?

6.    (31:18) The passuk and Rashi tell us that Moshe learned the Torah from Hashem Himself, and yet right after he he finished he needed to review it. How could this be? If Hashem, surely the best teacher, was teaching Moshe, certainly the best student, why would it be necessary to already start review immediately after completing?

7.    (32:13) Rashi brings from the gemara Berachos that after Hashem threatened to wipe out klal yisroel and restart with Moshe's family alone, that Moshe argued back that “If a chair with three legs cannot stand, then certainly a chair with one leg cannot stand...” The three legs Moshe was referring to were: Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov...

1.    Moshe came from them as well obviously so whatever zechusim they had to offer would not cease if Hashem would continue B'nei Yisroel with Moshe's family alone. So what was Moshe's argument?

2.    Even if Moshe was arguing that their zechusim would be no longer, still from the fact that Hashem was offering must be that the key qualities in Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov were all in Moshe as well. So what was Moshe's response of being a one-legged chair? That may be true, but perhaps he was a three-in-one with a massive leg just as able to hold up the table.

8.    (32:15) Why is it important that The Torah tells us here about this specific attribute of the luchos?

9.    (32:18) Moshe says to Yehoshua that he does not hear the sound of shouting of might nor the sound of shouting of weakness, rather a distressing sound. The word “a'nos” used to say “distressing” is also part of the first two expressions “kol a'nos gevurah” and “kol a'nos chalusha”. Why did Moshe not just simply say “kol gevurah” and “kol chalusha”?

10. (32:19) When Moshe threw down the luchos, Rashi describes that Moshe thought to himself, if for transgressing on karbon pesach where it says that you can't feed it to a stranger, and that is only one commandment, so certainly the whole torah I cannot give to klal yisroel who are now “strangers” for having sinned with the cheit ha'eigel! What was this kal v'chomer exactly?

11.  (32:34) Rashi tells us that in every bad thing that comes to the world there contains an element of the cheit ha'eigel in it. Why is this 'fair' that we are punished for something done at Har Sinai? Hashem says he does not punish children for their fathers, providing they do not follow in his bad ways?

12.  (33:4, 33:6) The passuk at first says that  each man did not put on his crown, and then one passuk later says that Hashem told Moshe to tell klal yisroel to take off their crowns. Which crowns were being referred to? And how could we resolve this contradiction?

13.  (33:11) Rashi, all the way at the end explains in the passuk that Hashem said to Moshe, “ I am angry at Yisroel and you are angry at Yisroel, who will draw them near to repent....?” Why not answer simply: No one. If they were both furious with klal yisroel, who cares what will ultimately happen to them?

14.  (34:6) Why is Hashem's rachamim (mercy) necessary before a person sins?

15.  (34:27) Why are we forbidden to write down Torah she'ba'al peh? And why do we in fact have it written down?

16.  Where is there a hint in this week's parsha as to what to do if one is lost in the desert                and does not know which day is shabbos?

Parshas Tetzaveh - Parsha Stumpers

~ Something to Think About ~

פרשת תצוה

Parsha Stumpers

By: Daniel Listhaus

1.    The Rosh and Ba'al Ha'Turim along with others point out that this is the only parsha which does not contain Moshe's rabbeinu name (since his birth in parshas shemos). Why is this? And why was this parsha chosen to be the one to leave out Moshe's name (especially considering the fact that the reason Moshe's name was erased has to do with an episode in next week's parsha)?

2.    The passuk (verse) tells us (28:12) that the avnei shoham were placed on the shoulder straps so that Hashem would remember the B'nei Yisroel as a zechus for us. Why does Hashem need us to remind Him of the greatness of the shevatim ?

3.    Rashi (29:24) tells us that the “wavings” were to hold back the harmful winds and the harmful dews. What does waving back and forth, up and down have anything to do with chasing away harmful winds and dews?

4.    If the Urim V'tumim had incredible powers to let the Kohen Gadol know answers to difficult questions, then why couldn't Shlomo Ha'Melech ask it where he could find the shamir instead of capturing and asking Ashmedai?

1.    Depending on how you answered, how do you understand how Eili the Kohen Gadol could have used it to find out whether Channah (shmuel han'avi's mother) was drunk or not?

2.    What is wrong about asking the Urim V'tumim questions that you could obtain from another source?

5.    What was the purpose of the bigdei kehuna?

6.    How could there be a mitzva to wipe out Amalek and yet a mitzva to remember them?

Parshas Mishpatim - Parsha Stumpers

~ Something to Think About ~

פרשת משפטים

Parsha Stumpers

By: Daniel Listhaus

1. The Ba'al Ha’turim sees a remez (hint) in the parsha to the fact that a Jewish judge must first try to create a compromise between two fighting parties before judging the case. Why is this true though? Shouldn't we focus on getting the correct judgment rather than settling on a compromise which is definitely not the truth?

2. The Jewish slave who decides to stay by his master must get his ear pierced. The mechilta (34) comments that this is because he became a slave by not listening to the commandment at Har Sinai not to steal. Why then should the ear be pierced more here than by one who does any other aveirah?

3. Rashi writes that even if non-Jews judge regarding certain matters as Beis Din, still one should not go to them to judge even in such a case. Why is this? Why would this be considered giving chashivus to avodah zarah if it is well known that the Torah's perspective is the same as society's perspective in this area?

4. Why does the Torah interrupt between the passukim of hitting and cursing one's parents with “וגנב איש ומכרו...מות יומת” ?

5. The passuk in Perek 22 Passuk 17 says, “מכשפה לא תחיה”. Sorcery is against the Torah and is taken seriously.

                   a. What is fundamentally wrong with sorcery?

                   b. Why is the mitzva worded as “The sorcerer you should not let live”.                             Instead of: “Don't practice sorcery” or “If you practice sorcery, you                           will be put to death”, or at least. “One who does sorcery, you should                              kill”?

                   c. I am not sure if this would fall under “כשוף" , but what is the origin of                Avada Kedavra [והמבין יבין ]?

6. Rashi (22:24) says that every word אם in the Torah implies a voluntary act – except for in three places. What are these three places? And is there a connection between them?

7. Rashi (23:7) writes that one could not accept a bribe even to judge correctly. What is this case? Is someone offering a bribe to judge correctly? Is a bribe being offered to judge one way which the judge feels is correct? Either way, why not take the bribe? It shouldn't even be considered a bribe in such a case but more like an incentive to judge correctly?

8. Which mitzva in this week's parsha was neglected by the Jews during the time of ירמיה הנביא?

Parshas Yisro - Parsha Stumpers

~ Something to Think About ~

פרשת יתרו

Parsha Stumpers

By: Daniel Listhaus

1.     What did Yisro hear that no one else did?

2.     According to the one who holds that Yisro was attracted by the fact that B'nei Yisroel won the war against Amalek, what was so special about it? Granted they were untrained, but still the B'nei Yisroel had an army of 600,000 men between 20 and 60. Certainly it couldn't have been such a tremendous surprise that they won.

3.     Rashi writes that Yisro had 7 names. One of them was Yeser – which became Yisro after he converted. If so, didn't Yisro really only have 6 names at any given time?

4.     Yisro is called Choveiv because of his love for the Torah. Why did Yisro receive such a name any more than Moshe, Aharon, or any of Bnei Yisroel in the midbar?

5.     (18:2) Rashi sounds good in the broad sense but what specifically was Aharon worried about? Moshe’s wife and children would not have become slaves? Moshe was from shevet Levi?

6.     Yisro came over to Moshe and asked “What are you doing?” Moshe responded, “Judging the people and helping them with their questions.” Yisro then clarified and said that he meant why is Moshe the only one judging instead of creating a system of ranks where more people could be helped at a time. What was this conversation between Moshe and Yisro? And why didn't Moshe think of this himself?

7.     Where did Yisro get his “da’as Torah” from which seems to have been good enough to match Moshe?

8.     (18:21) Where did Yisro get his qualifications from that he suggested be requirements for people to judge k’lal Yisroel?

9.     When describing Moshe's two sons the Torah writes “Shem Ha'echad Gershom...” and “Shem Ha'echad Eliezer...” The Torah refers to them both as “The first” even though Gershom was older because Eliezer was named for an earlier event that Moshe experienced. What is the significance behind each of their names? And why did Moshe name his first son for a later event and his second son for the earlier one?

10.  The Aseres Hadibros are a Pangrammatic Lipogram (consists of all the letters in Hebrew Aleph Beis except for one). Which letter is missing? Why? [See Parshas Yisro - The Ten Commandments: A Pangrammatic Lipogram]

11.   The Aseres Hadibros in this week's parsha are slightly different from the ones found in Parshas Va'eschnan. What are the differences? Why are there differences?

12.   (20:5) We see that Hashem is referred to as a “jealous G-d”. How could we understand Hashem’s “jealousy”?

13.   There are many examples throughout chumash that one should knock on a door before entering, as to not startle those inside. Where is there an example in this week's parsha?

14.   Rashi (18:7) writes that he does not know who bowed to who but when the passuk says “ish”, we figure out that it refers to Moashe....How could Rashi be so sure? Yisro too is called an “ish” by the torah (see Shemos 2:21)?

15.   Why in the aseres ha'dibros does Hashem refer to Himself as the one who took us out of Eretz Mitzrayim, and not the One Who created the world?

16.   How could Hashem give us such a commandment not to desire something? How is it possible to control our emotions to the point of not having a feeling of wanting something?

17.   Why wasn't the Torah given in Eretz Yisroel?