Parshas Va'etchanan

For the week ending 11 Av 5759; 23 & 24 July 1999

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Contents:

Parsha Questions

I Did Not Know That!

Recommended Reading List

Answers to Parsha Questions

Back issues of Parsha Q&A

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Parsha Questions

Answers | Contents

1. "And I prayed to Hashem at that time..." Why ‘at that time?’
2. What is Ha’Levanon?
3. Part of Moshe's request was granted. Which part?
4. What did Hashem tell Yehoshua after the battle of Ai?
5. When do the nations view the Jews as a wise people?
6. How did the decree that Moshe not enter the Land affect him even in death?
7. What is hinted by the word V’noshantem?
8. "You’ll serve man-made gods..." Is this literal?
9. Why is East called Mizrach?
10. How often is Mitzraim mentioned in the 10 commandments?
11. "Keep the Shabbos day as I have commanded you." When did Hashem command us to keep Shabbos.
12. What is meant by ‘Hashem, our G-d, Hashem is One?’
13. What are two meanings of loving Hashem ‘with all your might?’
14. How well-versed must one be in Torah?
15. ‘And teach them to your children...’ Your children refers to whom?
16. Where does the word Totafos come from?
17. Who is fit to swear in Hashem’s name?
18. What does it mean that the Jews are the "smallest nation."
19. When someone serves Hashem with love, how many generations receive reward?
20. Why are evil-doers rewarded in this world?

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I Did Not Know That!

"And you will be careful to do (the mitzvos) ... a land flowing with milk and honey." (6:3) If we carefully observe the mitzvos, then it is a land flowing with milk and honey. If not, it is transformed into a barren wasteland.

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Recommended Reading List

Ramban 4:2 Adding or Subtracting 4:9 Mt. Sinai 4:27 Dispersion 6:5 Love and Fear 6:18 Spirit of the Law 6:20 Significance of the Mitzvos 7:6 Hashem’s People Sforno 4:3 Baal-Peor 4:9 Philosophy 4:39 Aleinu 6:4 Shema Yisrael

Sefer Hachinuch 416 Coveting Property 418 Loving Hashem 419 Learning Torah 420 Reading the Shema 421 Tefillin of the Hand 422 Tefillin of the Head 423 Mezuza 427 Intermarriage

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Answers to this Week's Questions

Questions | Contents

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

1. "And I prayed to Hashem at that time..." Why 'at that time?'
   3:23 - Defeating Sichon and Og, whose lands were part of Eretz Canaan, Moshe thought perhaps Hashem had annulled the vow against his entering the Land.

2. What is Ha'Levanon?
   3:25 - Ha'Levanon means the Beis Hamikdash, which 'whitens' (lavan), i.e., atones for, the Jewish People.

3. Part of Moshe's request was granted. Which part?
   3:27 - Moshe was allowed to see the Land.

4. What did Hashem tell Yehoshua after the battle of Ai?
   3:28 - Joshua must lead the army into battle.

5. When do the nations view the Jews as a wise people?
   4:6 - When we study Torah and do mitzvos.

6. How did the decree that Moshe not enter the Land affect him even in death?
   4:22 - Even his bones weren't buried in the Land.

7. What is hinted by the word V'noshantem?
   4:25 - The gematria of V'noshantem, 852, hints at the number of years until the first exile.

8. "You'll serve man-made gods..." Is this literal?
   4:28 - No. It means you'll serve others who serve idols.

9. Why is East called Mizrach?
   4:41 - It's the direction from which the sun shines. (Mizrach means shining.)

10. How often is Mitzraim mentioned in the 10 commandments?
    5:6, 5:15 - Twice.

11. "Keep the Shabbos day as I have commanded you." When did Hashem command us to keep Shabbos?
    5:13 - Before Matan Torah, at Marah. (Shmos 15:25)

12. What is meant by 'Hashem, our G-d, Hashem is One?'
    6:4 - Hashem, who is now our G-d, but not [accepted as] G-d of the other nations, will eventually be [accepted as] the one and only G-d.

13. What are two meanings of loving Hashem 'with all your might?'
    6:5 - 1) With everything you own. 2) Whether Hashem treats you with kindness or harshness.

14. How well-versed must one be in Torah?
    6:7 - If asked a Torah question, one should be able to reply quickly and clearly.

15. 'And teach them to your children...' Your children refers to whom?
    6:7 - Your students

16. Where does the word Totafos come from?
    6:8 - Tot means two in Caspi. Fos means two in Afriki. Together they allude to the four sections of tefillin.

17. Who is fit to swear in Hashem's name?
    6:13 - One who serves Hashem and reveres His name.

18. What does it mean that the Jews are the "smallest nation."
    7:7 - The B'nei Yisrael are the humblest nation.

19. When someone serves Hashem with love, how many generations receive reward?
    7:9 - 2,000

20. Why are evil-doers rewarded in this world?
    7:10 - So that they get no reward in the next world.

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