* PARSHA Q&A * In-Depth Questions on the Parsha with Rashi Parshas Behar-Bechukosai For the week ending 26 Iyar 5754 6 & 7 May 1994 ======================================================================== This issue is dedicated in memory of Samuel and Fannie Goldberg O.B.M. ======================================================================== Parsha Questions 1. Why does the Torah specify that the laws of Shemita were taught at Sinai? 2. What was taught 40 years after Sinai on the Plains of Moab? 3. Is it forbidden by Torah law to eat that which "grows by itself" during the Shemita year? 4. What is done with Shemita food in a home after it is no longer available in the field? 5. Which two "returnings" are announced by the Yovel Shofar? 6. What is the difference between the meaning of "ona'ah" in verses 25:14 and 25:17? 7. How much of a bumper crop is promised for the sixth year if Shemita is observed? 8. Name two guidelines for selling ancestral land. 9. How soon, and for how long, can one redeem: a ) a field; b) a home in a walled city; c) a home in an unwalled city? 10. Who is a "ger toshav"? 11. Regarding which mitzvah does the Torah stress that: "You shall fear your G-d"? 12. To what is exiting Eretz Yisrael compared, and what verse is the source for this idea? 13. List three prohibitions which demonstrate the dignity with which one must treat a Jewish indentured servant. 14. What do the words "bechukosai telechu" (walk in my statutes) refer to? 15. What does "rains in their season" mean? 16. Which "progression" of seven transgressions are taught in chapter 26, and why in that particular order? 17. What was the duration of the Babylonian exile, and why? 18. Why does the Torah say in 26:46 "Torot" (plural) and not Torah (singular)? 19. Verse 27:30 refers to which "ma'aser"? Bonus Question In Parshas Bechukosai the Torah promises physical reward for keeping mitzvos -- plentiful food, peace...How is this to be understood in light of the principle that "reward for mitzvos is in the World to Come"? I Did Not Know That! The American patriotic inscription on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, "Proclaim Liberty Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof," is a quotation from Parshas Behar (25:10). ======================================================================== Answers to Last Week's Questions - Parshas Emor Parsha Questions All references are to the verses and Rashi's commentary, unless otherwise stated. 1. 21:1 - To command parents to teach their children to avoid defilement. 2. 21:1 - All male Kohanim are bound by the laws of "tumah" even those who are disqualified from service in the Temple because of physical defects. 3. 21:5 - Yes, the Torah forbids cutting one's beard only with a razor. 4. 21:8 - He is first in all matters of holiness. For example, a Kohen reads from the Torah first, and is usually the one to lead in saying blessings before and after meals. 5. 21:10-12 - He may not allow his hair to grow long, nor attend to his close relatives if they die, nor accompany a funeral procession. 6. 21:24 - As a directive to Beis Din to enforce the laws that govern the purity of the "K'huna." 7. 22:3 - Eating. 8. 22:7 - "Teruma." 9. 22:11 - He, his wife, his sons and unmarried daughters, and his non- Jewish slaves. 10. 22:13 - If she is the daughter of a Kohen and has no descendants, or if her most recent husband who has descendants with her was a Kohen. 11. 22:18 - A "neder" is an obligation upon a person; a "nedavah" is a status of an object. 12. 22:28 - Yes, because the prohibition is against slaughtering an animal and its mother on the same day. 13. 22:32 - If someone willfully transgresses His commandments. 14. 23:11 - On the 16th of Nisan. 15. 23:15 - The Torah requires counting seven complete weeks. If we begin counting in the daytime, the seven weeks would not be complete. 16. 23:16 - It was made from barley. 17. 23:22 - This teaches that when one leaves these gifts for the poor, the Torah considers it as if he has built the Beis Hamikdash and offered korbanos. 18. 24:10 - The Egyptian killed by Moshe (Shmos 2:12). 19. 24:15 - "Kares" -- excision. 20. 24:21 - Death by strangulation. Bonus Question Question: A Kohen is permitted to become "tamei" only for his immediate family. Why is he not permitted to become "tamei" for the sake of others (21:1-4) ? Answer: A Kohen is a leader among his people. He must conduct himself with the utmost dignity for his words to have the proper impact. It is inappropriate for a Kohen to contract "tumah," because this would temporarily disqualify him from honoring G-d through his service in the Beis Hamikdash. 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