Torah Parallels

~ Something to Think About ~ פרשת ראה Parsha Stumpers By: Daniel Listhaus (13:6) The passuk says, with regards to a  navi sheker  (false prophet), that “he should be put to death, for he has spoken fabrication against Hashem you G-d – Who takes you out of the land of Egypt”. The  passuk  uses the word “ motzee ” which is the present tense of the word for “take out”. Why does the Torah use the present tense “Who  takes  you out of…Egypt” instead of “Who  took  you out of…Egypt”? (15:10) Rashi writes even one who merely commits verbally to give will receive reward for the statement along with reward for the act. Why does one receive reward for merely committing?

~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~ Parshas Re'eh Baseless Beliefs By: Daniel Listhaus אֵת כָּל הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם אֹתוֹ תִשְׁמְרוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת לֹא תֹסֵף עָלָיו וְלֹא תִגְרַע מִמֶּנּוּ                                                                                            “The entire matter that I command you, you shall guard it to do; you shall not add to it and you shall not subtract from it.” - Re'eh  13:1              Rashi [1]   explains that when the Torah here commands us not to add to the  mitzvos , it means that we are prohibited from adding to the details of the  mitzvos  themselves, such as bringing a fifth species on  Succos  with the  lulav  or adding in a fourth  beracha  (blessing) to  birkas kohanim  (the blessing that the  kohanim  give which is divided into three parts). Presumably we could assume that  Rashi  would similarly explain that when the  passuk  (verse) says not to subtract from the  mitzvos  it means not to, for example, bring three s

~ Something to Think About ~ פרשת עקב Parsha Stumpers By: Daniel Listhaus (7:12) Why does the parsha open with the word “ v'haya ” as opposed to “ im ” or just start with “ eikev ”? (7:21) Why does the Torah refer to Hashem here as “ keil gadol v'nora ” without the expression of “ gibbur ” as Moshe uses later in the  parsha ? (8:1)  Rashi  writes that deeds are attributed to those who complete it. As an example he brings that although it was Moshe who took charge of bringing Yosef Ha'Tzadik's bones out of Mitzrayim, the deed was attributed to B'nei Yisroel since they were the ones who ultimately brought the bones into Eretz Yisroel. Why is this “fair” that the full deed be attributed to the one who completed it despite the difference in proportion of effort put in and time spent? (8:4) The Torah and Rashi describe that Hashem promises that the feet of those walking barefoot will not swell. However in  parshas  Ki Savo (29:4) the Torah mentions the population having

~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~ Parshas Eikev The Bottom Line of Bribery   By: Daniel Listhaus כִּי ה '  אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הוּא אֱלֹקי   הָאֱלֹקים וַאֲדֹנֵי הָאֲדֹנִים הָקל הַגָּדֹל הַגִּבֹּר וְהַנּוֹרָא אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִשָּׂא פָנִים וְלֹא יִקַּח שֹׁחַד “For Hashem, your God – He is the God of the powers and the Lord of the lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, Who does not show favor and does not take a bribe....” -Eikev  10:17             In the middle of Moshe’s ultimate speech to the  B’nei   Yisroel  before his death, Moshe reminds them that there is no “cheating the system” because Hashem does not take bribes.  Rashi [1]   comments that this means that Hashem cannot be appeased with money. However, this  Rashi  is very hard to understand. Why would the idea even enter one’s mind to try to appease Hashem with money? The whole idea is ridiculous. How could man attempt to bribe Hashem with money?             The  S’forno [2]   has a different approach and writes that Moshe was relating the