Parsha Q&A - Emor

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Parsha Q&A

Parshas Emor

For the week ending 10 Iyar 5757; 16 & 17 May 1997
Contents:
  • Parsha Questions
  • Bonus Question
  • I Did Not Know That!
  • Recommended Reading List
  • Answers to Parsha Questions
  • Answer to Bonus Question
  • Back issues of Parsha Q&A
  • Subscription Information
  • Ohr Somayach Home Page
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    Parsha Questions

    Answers | Contents
    1. Which male descendants of Aaron are exempt from the prohibition against contacting a dead body?
    2. Does a kohen have an option regarding becoming ritually defiled when his unmarried sister passes away?
    3. How does one honor a kohen?
    4. How does the Torah restrict the Kohen Gadol with regard to mourning?
    5. The Torah states in verse 22:3 that one who "approaches holy objects" while in a state of tumah is penalized with excision. What does the Torah mean by "approaches"?
    6. What is the smallest piece of a corpse that is able to transmit tumah?
    7. Who in the household of a kohen may eat terumah?
    8. If the daughter of a kohen marries a "zar" she may no longer eat Terumah. What is a zar?
    9. What is the difference between a neder (vow) and a nedavah (free-will offering)?
    10. May a person slaughter an animal and its father on the same day?
    11. How does the Torah define "profaning" the Name of Hashem?
    12. Apart from Shabbos, how many days are there during the year about which the Torah says that work is forbidden?
    13. How big is an omer?
    14. On what day do we begin to "count the omer"?
    15. Why do we begin counting the omer at night?
    16. How does the omer differ from other minchah offerings?
    17. The blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is called a "zichron teruah" (sound of remembrance). For what is it a reminder?
    18. What is unusual about the wood of the esrog tree?
    19. Who was the father of the blasphemer?
    20. What is the penalty for intentionally wounding one's parent?
    Bonus Question
    Answer
    Contents
    "And you shall count from the day after Pesach, from the day you bring the omer offering, seven complete weeks…." (23:15)
    'Counting the omer' is not the only place the Torah commands a mitzva of counting. A man or woman who has a certain type of emission must count seven clean days after the emission ceases and then immerse in a mikveh. This commandment is stated clearly in the Torah. Why, then, do we make a blessing each day when counting the omer, but a person counting the seven clean days does not make a blessing at all?

    I Did Not Know That!

    The Torah forbids slaughtering a mother animal and its offspring on the same day. Therefore, if someone sold an animal to be slaughtered later that day, it is then forbidden for him to sell its offspring, unless he informs the second buyer of the sale of the mother.

    Aruch Hashulchan 16:9, Chullin 83a

    Recommended Reading List

    Ramban
    21:6
    Holiness
    22:32
    Sanctifying G-d
    23:17
    Leavened Bread
    23:27
    Judgment and Repentance
    23:40
    The Esrog
    Sefer Hachinuch
    291
    Perfection of Creation
    294
    Divine Providence
    296
    Purpose of Creation
    306
    Counting the Omer
    313
    Yom Kippur
    324
    The Lulav
    325
    The Succah

    Answers to this Week's Questions

    All references are to the verses and Rashi's commentary, unless otherwise stated

    1. 21:1 - Challalim - those disqualified from the priesthood because they are descended from a relationship forbidden to a kohen.
    2. 21:3 - No, he is required to do so.
    3. 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 the blessings before and after meals.
    4. 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.
    5. 22:3 - Eats.
    6. 22:5 - A piece the size of an olive.
    7. 22:11 - He, his wife, his sons, his unmarried daughters, and his non-Jewish slaves.
    8. 22:12 - A non-kohen.
    9. 22:18 - A neder is an obligation upon a person; a nedavah is an obligation placed upon an object.
    10. 22:28 - Yes. The Torah only prohibits slaughtering an animal and its mother on the same day.
    11. 22:32 - Willfully transgressing the commandments.
    12. 23:7-36 - Seven.
    13. 23:10 - One tenth of an eipha.
    14. 23:15 - On the 16th of Nissan.
    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. 23:24 - The akeidas (binding of) Yitzchak.
    18. 23:40 - It has the same taste as the fruit.
    19. 24:10 - The Egyptian killed by Moshe (Shemos 2:12).
    20. 24:21 - Death.
    Bonus Question
    Question
    Contents    		 If a person has a recurrence of the emission during the seven days, he must start counting all over again from the beginning. Therefore, he can not make a blessing on the counting, because it's impossible for him to know if his counting will be successful. The 49 days between Pesach and Shavuos, on the other hand, are certain to occur. Therefore, we make a blessing.
    Tosafos Kesuvos 72a
    Written and Compiled by Rabbi Eliyahu Kane & Rabbi Reuven Subar
    General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
    Production Design: Lev Seltzer
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