Parshas Acharei Mos - Kedoshim

For the week ending 8 Iyar 5759 / 23 & 24 April 1999

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Contents:

Parsha Questions

I Did Not Know That!

Recommended Reading List

Answers to Parsha Questions

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Parsha Questions

Answers | Contents

ACHAREI MOS

1. Why does the Torah emphasize that Parshas Acharei Mos was taught after the death of Aharon's sons?
2. How long did the first Beis Hamikdash stand?
3. What did the kohen gadol wear when he entered the Holy of Holies?
4. How many times did the kohen gadol change his clothing and immerse in the mikveh on Yom Kippur?
5. One of the goats that was chosen by lot went to Azazel. What is Azazel?
6. After the Yom Kippur service, what is done with the four linen garments worn by the kohen gadol?
7. What is the penalty of kares?
8. Which categories of animals must have their blood covered when they are slaughtered?
9. What is the difference between "mishpat" and "chok"?
10. May a man marry his wife's sister?

KEDOSHIM

1. Why was Parshas Kedoshim said in front of all the Jewish People?
2. Why does the Torah mention the duty to honor one's father before it mentions the duty to honor one's mother?
3. Why is the command to fear one's parents followed by the command to keep Shabbos?
4. The Torah obligates one to leave the "leket" for the poor. What is "leket"?
5. In Shmos 20:13, the Torah commands, "Do not steal." What does the Torah add when it commands in Vayikra 19:11, "Do not steal"?
6. In verse 19:13, the Torah commands, "Do not wrong your neighbor." To what "wrong" is the Torah referring?
7. When rebuking someone, what sin must one be careful to avoid?
8. How does one fulfill the command "v'hadarta p'nei zakein"?
9. What punishment will never come to the entire Jewish People?
10. When the Torah states a death penalty but doesn't define it precisely, to which type of death penalty is it referring?

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I Did Not Know That!

The Torah forbids eating the blood of domestic animals "because the soul is in the blood." (Vayikra 17:11) The blood of wild animals is also forbidden, but with opposite phrasing: Because "its blood is in its soul." (Vayikra 17 14). Why does the Torah reverse the wording?

A domestic animal "sells its soul" to its human master. In exchange for food and shelter, it is milked, shorn, worked and...slaughtered. But a wild animal runs from such security. It prefers to face freezing winters, burning summers and prowling predators as the price of independence.

Thus, a domestic animal's "soul is in its blood;" i.e., its spirit of independence is prisoner within its "blood-desires" for safety and ease. By contrast, the wild animal's "blood is in its soul;" its "blood-desires" are engulfed by its overwhelming independent spirit.

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Recommended Reading List

Acharei Mos Ramban 16:21 The Scapegoat 17:2 Meat in the Midbar 17:7 Demons 17:11 Prohibition Against Eating Blood Sefer HaChinuch 184 The Sanctity of the Mishkan 185 Yom Kippur 187 Covering the Blood Sforno 16:30 Repentance 17:7 Demons

Kedoshim Ramban 19:2 Be Holy 19:14 Who May Not Be Cursed 19:17 Love and Rebuke 19:18 Love Your Neighbor 19:30 Shabbos 19:32 Honoring the Elderly Sefer Hachinuch 227 Swearing Falsely 236 Tale Bearing 237 Standing Idly 238 Hatred 239 Rebuke

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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

ACHAREI MOS

1. Why does the Torah emphasize that Parshas Acharei Mos was taught after the death of Aharon's sons?
   16:1 - To strengthen the warning not to enter the Holy of Holies except on Yom Kippur.

2. How long did the first Beis Hamikdash stand?
   16:3 - 410 years.

3. What did the kohen gadol wear when he entered the Holy of Holies?
   16:4 - Only the four linen garments worn by an ordinary kohen.

4. How many times did the kohen gadol change his clothing and immerse in the mikveh on Yom Kippur?
   16:4 - Five times.

5. One of the goats that was chosen by lot went to Azazel. What is Azazel?
   16:8 - A jagged cliff.

6. After the Yom Kippur service, what is done with the four linen garments worn by the kohen gadol?
   16:23 - They must be put into geniza and not be used again.

7. What is the penalty of kares?
   17:9 - The person's life is shortened and his offspring die .

8. Which categories of animals must have their blood covered when they are slaughtered?
   17:13 - Non-domesticated kosher animals and all species of kosher birds.

9. What is the difference between "mishpat" and "chok"?
   18:4 - A "mishpat" conforms to the human sense of justice. A "chok" is a law whose reason is not given to us and can only be understood as Hashem's decree.

10. May a man marry his wife's sister?
    18:18 - Not during his wife's lifetime.

KEDOSHIM

1. Why was Parshas Kedoshim said in front of all the Jewish People?
   19:2 - Because it contains the fundamental teachings of the Torah.

2. Why does the Torah mention the duty to honor one's father before it mentions the duty to honor one's mother?
   19:3 - Since it is more natural to honor one's mother, the Torah stresses the obligation to honor one's father.

3. Why is the command to fear one's parents followed by the command to keep Shabbos?
   19:3 - To teach that one must not violate Torah law even at the command of one's parents.

4. The Torah obligates one to leave the "leket" for the poor. What is "leket"?
   19:9 - "Leket" is one or two stalks of grain that are accidentally dropped while harvesting.

5. In Shmos 20:13, the Torah commands, "Do not steal." What does the Torah add when it commands in Vayikra 19:11, "Do not steal"?
   19:11 - The Torah in Vayikra prohibits monetary theft. In Shmos it prohibits kidnapping.

6. In verse 19:13, the Torah commands, "Do not wrong your neighbor." To what "wrong" is the Torah referring?
   19:13 - Withholding wages from a worker.

7. When rebuking someone, what sin must one be careful to avoid?
   19:17 - Causing embarrassment.

8. How does one fulfill the command "v'hadarta p'nei zakein"?
   19:32 - By not sitting in their seat nor contradicting them.

9. What punishment will never come to the entire Jewish People?
   20:3 - "Kares" - the entire Jewish People will never be "cut off."

10. When the Torah states a death penalty but doesn't define it precisely, to which type of death penalty is it referring?
    20:10 - "Chenek" (strangulation).

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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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