Parsha Q&A - Parshat Ki Teitze

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Parsha Q&A

Parshat Ki Teitze

For the week ending 9 Elul 5760 / 8 & 9 September 2000

Contents:
  • Parsha Questions
  • Kasha
  • Recommended Reading List
  • Answers to Parsha Questions
  • Back issues of Parsha Q&A
  • Subscription Information
  • Ohr Somayach Home Page

  • This publication is also available in the following formats: [Text] Explanation of these symbols


    Parsha Questions

    Answers | Contents
    1. Why must a captured woman mourn her family for a month in her captor's house?
    2. What fraction of the inheritance does a first-born receive if he has
      1. one brother?
      2. two brothers?
    3. What will become of a ben sorer u'moreh if his parents don't bring him to court?
    4. Why is it a degradation to Hashem to hang a criminal's body on the gallows overnight?
    5. What do you do if you find a lost object that costs money to maintain?
    6. Why does the Torah forbid wearing the clothing of the opposite gender?
    7. Why does the Torah link the mitzvah of sending away the mother-bird with the mitzvah of making a railing on the roof of your house?
    8. What mixture of wool and linen is permitted to be worn?
    9. What three things happen to a man who falsely slanders his bride?
    10. Although the Egyptians enslaved the Jewish People, the Torah allows marriage with their third-generation converts. Why?
    11. Why is causing someone to sin worse than killing him?
    12. If one charges interest to his fellow Jew, how many commandments has he transgressed?
    13. What is the groom's special obligation to his bride during their first year together?
    14. When is a groom required to fight in a non-obligatory war?
    15. What type of object may one not impound as collateral?
    16. "Remember what Hashem did to Miriam." To what event does the Torah refer?
    17. If a poor person finds money, the one who lost it receives a blessing. From where do we derive this?
    18. Who has the primary obligation to perform yibum?
    19. Which two people in this week's Parsha are required to speak in Lashon Hakodesh.
    20. How does the Torah describe those who cheat in business?

    Kasha
    (kasha means "question")

    "Neither an Ammonite nor a Moabite may marry into Hashem's community…
    because they did not offer you bread and water on the journey
    when you left Egypt, and because they hired Bilaam ben Be'or
    from Aram's Twin Rivers to curse you." (23:4
    )

    Kasha: The above verse portrays the Moabites as not offering food to the travel-weary Jews. But an earlier verse implies that the Moabites did offer food. In the earlier verse Moshe asks King Sichon to allow the Jews passage, food, and water "as the Children of Esav who dwell in Seir and as the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for us." (Devarim 2:29).

    How do you resolve this contradiction?

    Answer: The above verse criticizes the two nations of Amon and Moav for two sins: Denying food and hiring Bilaam to curse. But the verse does not necessarily mean that both nations were guilty of both sins. Rather, the Ammonites alone denied food and water to the Jews, while the Moabites were free of that blemish. The Moabites alone, on the other hand, are the ones who hired Bilaam to curse the Jews.

    Siftei Chachamim, Devarim 2:29

    Do you have a KASHA? Write to kasha@ohr.edu with your questions on any Parsha!


    I Did Not Know That!

    "Don't wear shatnez, a mixture of wool and linen. (22:11)

    If there is a long fabric (a blanket, for example) with wool and linen mixed together at one end, it is forbidden to cover yourself even with the other end.

    Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 301:3


    Recommended Reading List

    Ramban
    21:18
    Gluttony and Rebellion
    21:22
    Hanging
    22:6
    Reason for Mitzvos
    23:10
    Wartime Morality
    23:20
    Usury
    24:9
    Lashon Harah
    25:17
    Remembering Amalek

    Sforno
    21:16
    The Birthright
    21:23
    Hanging
    22:7
    Torah Ecology
    23:20
    Kindliness
    Sefer Hachinuch
    533
    Avoiding Exploitation
    545
    Compassion
    550
    Unnatural Combinations
    552
    Marriage
    561
    Ingratitude
    579
    Divorce
    599
    Filial Responsibility


    Answers to this Week's Questions

    Questions | Contents

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

    1. Why must a captured woman mourn her family for a month in her captor's house?
      21:13 - So her captor will find her unattractive.

    2. What fraction of the inheritance does a first-born receive if he has
      1. one brother?
      2. two brothers?
      21:17
      1. 2/3
      2. 1/2

    3. What will become of a ben sorer u'moreh if his parents don't bring him to court?
      21:22 - He will eventually rob and kill to support his physical indulgences.

    4. Why is it a degradation to Hashem to hang a criminal's body on the gallows overnight?
      21:23 - Because humans are made in Hashem's image; and because the Jewish People are Hashem's children.

    5. What do you do if you find a lost object that costs money to maintain?
      22:2 - Sell it and save the money for the owner.

    6. Why does the Torah forbid wearing the clothing of the opposite gender?
      22:5 - It leads to immorality.

    7. Why does the Torah link the mitzvah of sending away the mother-bird with the mitzvah of making a railing on the roof of your house?
      22:8 - To teach that one mitzvah leads to another, and to prosperity.

    8. What mixture of wool and linen is permitted to be worn?
      22:12 - Wool tzitzit on a linen garment.

    9. What three things happen to a man who falsely slanders his bride?
      22:18 - He receives lashes, pays a fine of 100 silver selah, and may never divorce her against her will.

    10. Although the Egyptians enslaved the Jewish People, the Torah allows marriage with their third-generation converts. Why?
      23:8 - Because they hosted Yaakov and his family during the famine.

    11. Why is causing someone to sin worse than killing him?
      23:9 - Murder takes away life in this world, while causing someone to sin takes away his life in the World to Come.

    12. If one charges interest to his fellow Jew, how many commandments has he transgressed?
      23:21 - Three; two negative commandments and a positive commandment.

    13. What is the groom's special obligation to his bride during their first year together?
      24:5 - To gladden her.

    14. When is a groom required to fight in a non-obligatory war?
      24:5 - When he remarries his ex-wife.

    15. What type of object may one not impound as collateral?
      24:6 - Utensils used to prepare food.

    16. "Remember what Hashem did to Miriam." To what event does the Torah refer?
      24:9 - Hashem punishing Miriam with tzara'at for speaking lashon harah.

    17. If a poor person finds money, the one who lost it receives a blessing. From where do we derive this?
      24:19 - From the mitzvah to leave the "forgotten bundle" for the poor.

    18. Who has the primary obligation to perform yibum?
      25:6 - The eldest brother.

    19. Which two people in this week's Parsha are required to speak in Lashon Hakodesh.
      25:8 - The yavam (brother-in-law) and the yavamah (his childless brother's widow).

    20. How does the Torah describe those who cheat in business?
      25:16 - "An abomination (to'evah) to Hashem."

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

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