Parsha Q&A - Parshas Ha'azinu

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Parsha Q&A

Parshas Ha'azinu

For the week ending 13 Tishrei 5759 / 2 - 3 October 1998
Contents:
  • Parsha Questions
  • Recommended Reading List
  • I Did Not Know That!
  • Answers to Parsha Questions
  • Back issues of Parsha Q&A
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    Parsha Questions

    Answers | Contents

    1. What is so special about the heavens and the earth that Moshe chooses them as witnesses?
    2. Why is the Torah compared to rain?
    3. In what way is Hashem "faithful without injustice?"
    4. Why is Hashem called a "Tzaddik"?
    5. How many major floods did Hashem bring upon the world?
    6. Which group of people does the Torah call "fathers"? Cite an example.
    7. Why did Hashem separate the peoples of the world into exactly 70 nations?
    8. Why is the merit of the Jewish People's ancestry called a "rope"?
    9. How is Hashem's behavior toward the Jewish People similar to an eagle's behavior toward its offspring?
    10. Hashem says regarding punishment of the Jewish People "I will spend my arrows on them" (32:23). What is the positive aspect of this punishment?
    11. How does the idea of "chillul Hashem" not allow the nations to destroy the Jewish People?
    12. What will happen to the nations that conquer the Jewish People?
    13. When Hashem overturns a nation that persecutes the Jewish People, His attribute of Mercy is "replaced" by which attribute?
    14. When Hashem punishes the heathen nations, for whose sins does He exact punishment?
    15. How will Hashem's punishment change the way the nations view the Jewish People?
    16. On what day was Ha'azinu taught to the Jewish People?
    17. In verse 32:44 Yehoshua is called Hoshea. Why?
    18. In verse 32:47 what does "it is not empty from you" mean?
    19. Why did Hashem tell Moshe that he would die a similar death to that of his brother Aaron?
    20. If Moshe had spoken to the rock rather than striking it, what would the Jewish People have learned?

    Recommended Reading List

    Ramban
    32:1
    Biblical Witnesses
    32:16
    The Rebuke of Ha'azinu
    32:40
    The Testimony of Ha'azinu
    Sforno
    32:2
    Waters of the Torah
    32:13
    Purpose of Eretz Yisrael
    32:19
    Purpose of Galus
    32:27
    Salvation of Dispersion

    I Did Not Know That!

    The Torah is often compared to water. In 32:2, the Torah is likened to rain, dew, light rain, and showers, corresponding to the four types of students in the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avos. One who is quick to learn and quick to forget, one who is slow to learn and slow to forget, one who is slow to learn but quick to forget, and one who is quick to learn but slow to forget.

    (Ba'al HaTurim)

    Answers to this Week's Questions

    1. What is so special about the heavens and the earth that Moshe chooses them as witnesses?
      32:1 - They endure forever.

    2. Why is the Torah compared to rain?
      32:2 - Just as rain gives life and promotes growth, so too does the Torah.

    3. In what way is Hashem "faithful without injustice?"
      32:4 - He is "faithful" and rewards the righteous, and He is "without injustice" and rewards even the wicked for any good deeds.

    4. Why is Hashem called a "Tzaddik"?
      32:4 - Everyone will agree that his judgments are righteous.

    5. How many major floods did Hashem bring upon the world?
      32:7 - Two. The first was in the generation of Enosh the grandson of Adam, and the second was in the time of Noach.

    6. Which group of people does the Torah call "fathers"? Cite an example.
      32:7 - The Prophets are called "fathers." When Eliyahu was leav ing this world, his student Elisha called after him, "My father, my father" (Melachim II 2:12).

    7. Why did Hashem separate the peoples of the world into exactly 70 nations?
      32:8 - Corresponding to the 70 Bnei Yisrael who entered Egypt.

    8. Why is the merit of the Jewish People's ancestry called a "rope"?
      32:9 - Their merit is "woven from" the merits of the Avos.

    9. How is Hashem's behavior toward the Jewish People similar to an eagle's behavior toward its offspring?
      32:12 - He is merciful by waking them gently, hovering over them, and carrying them on His "wings."

    10. Hashem says regarding punishment of the Jewish People "I will spend my arrows on them" (32:23). What is the positive aspect of this punishment?
      32:23 - "The arrows will be spent" implies that the supply of arrows will come to an end, but the Jewish People will not.

    11. How does the idea of "chillul Hashem" not allow the nations to destroy the Jewish People?
      32:27 - The nations would attribute their success to their own might and to the might of their own gods. Hashem would not allow His name to be dese crated through the complete annihilation of His people.

    12. What will happen to the nations that conquer the Jewish People?
      32:35 - They will eventually be punished.

    13. When Hashem overturns a nation that persecutes the Jewish People, His attribute of Mercy is "replaced" by which attribute?
      32:41 - His attribute of Justice.

    14. When Hashem punishes the heathen nations, for whose sins does He exact punishment?
      32:42 - For their own sins, and the sins of their ancestors.

    15. How will Hashem's punishment change the way the nations view the Jewish People?
      32:43 - They will view the Jewish People as praiseworthy for cleav ing to Hashem.

    16. On what day was Ha'azinu taught to the Jewish People?
      32:44 - The Shabbos on which Moshe died, and Yehoshua took over as leader.

    17. In verse 32:44 Yehoshua is called Hoshea. Why?
      32:44 - To indicate that although he was the leader of the Jewish People, he still maintained a hum ble bearing.

    18. In verse 32:47 what does "it is not empty from you" mean?
      32:47 - That you will receive reward for studying Torah, and that there is nothing meaningless in the Torah.

    19. Why did Hashem tell Moshe that he would die a similar death to that of his brother Aaron?
      32:50 - Because Moshe wanted this.

    20. If Moshe had spoken to the rock rather than striking it, what would the Jewish People have learned?
      32:51 - If the rock had produced water without being struck, then the Jewish People would have rea soned that if a rock, which receives no reward or punish ment, obeys Hashem's commands, all the more so they should too.

      Written and Compiled by Rabbi Eliyahu Kane & Rabbi Reuven Subar
      General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
      Production Design: Eli Ballon
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