Torah Teasers
Parshas Shemos
1. “Vayakutzu Mipnei Bnei Yisrael; The Mitzrim were disgusted with Bnei Yisrael,” (Shemos 1:12). The Ben Ish Chai asks, “Why is it that the Mitzrim were only disgusted with the male population and not the female? Ans… He answers with the Gemara Brachos 60a that says that if the man is mazria first, the child that is conceived will be girl, but if the woman is mazria first, the child will be a boy. Since the men were weakened from all the back breaking labor that the Mitzrim forced them to do, the women were typically mazria first, and most of the burgeoning population was male. It was this explosion of baby boys that disgusted the Mitzrim. “Furthermore,” says the Ben Ish Chai, “we see the hatred of the Mitzrim who just wanted to torture the Jews and were less interested in the actual building. If the Mitzrim were unhappy with the amount of male born, they could have lightened the workload of the men which would have resulted in less boys and more girls. Yet the next pasuk says that despite the male tendency of the births, ” they continued to work them to the bone.”
2. When told by Hashem to go to Mitzrayim and take out Bnei Yisroel, Moshe Rabbeinu asks Hashem why Bnei Yisroel will believe that Hashem sent him. Hashem tells him to tell them “Pakod Pakaditi” which is the Siman of the true Go’el that was passed down from Yosef throughout the generations. The Ramban asks, if everyone knew this siman, then it wasn’t much of a secret, so what guaranteed the integrity of the person saying it. Anyone can say it, even an impostor? Ans…He gives two answers. First that part of Hashem’s promise for the geula and the simanim was that no impostors would come. The first one that would come would be the true Go’el. Another answer he says is that this is the reason Moshe was cut off from his father’s house. Had he grown up by Amram, they would not have believed him, and they would have thought he knew the siman from his father. Growing up in Paroh’s palace and being exiled from Mitzrayim at a young age gave him credibility when he arrived fresh on the scene with the long awaited sign.
3. The Ramban says that between the time that Moshe ran away from Mitzrayim and the time he arrived at the well in Midyan, sixty years had elapsed. The Sefer HaMasiyos tells how Moshe became a powerful King in Kush and fought many wars. Yet the Torah doesn’t give the slightest hint to any of this. In fact the pasuk says Paroh wanted to kill Moshe and then, “Vayivrach Moshe Mipnei Paroh Vayeishev B’Eretz Midyan.” (Shemos 2:15). In one pasuk, in one breath, the Torah says he ran away from Mitzrayim and suddenly was in Midyan. Why the absolute total ignorance of these years? Ans…Rav Michel Feinstein says that we see a very important lesson here. The Torah is about Nitzchiyus, eternity. Nothing that is not related to eternity is mentioned or even hinted. Every last story, word, and letter are eternal. Despite that half the life of our great hero Moshe was as a major world leader, it made no difference whatsoever as far as the nitzchiyus of Klal Yisrael was concerned, and therefore was omitted even in any subtle hint. “We must realize,” says Rav Michel, “that when we come up to Shamayim the only thing that will be looked at are the things that contributed to our nitzchiyus. We may have been busy with great accomplishments during our life, but they will disappear in the eternal world. We will be quite saddened to come to Shamayim with only a tiny fraction of our lives that actually mattered.”
4. For days on end Moshe Rabbeinu argued with Hashem, who asked him to go to Mitzrayim. Then Moshe tells Hashem to send Aharon (Shemos 4:13). Why would Moshe refuse the command of Hashem? Why does Moshe recommend others for the job. Is Hashem not capable of finding the right man by Himself? Ans…Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that until now, Moshe was not a Navi. His older brother, Aharon, was a Navi and the great leader of Bnei Yisrael in Mitzrayim. Moshe expected Hashem to take Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim in grand fashion. In his modesty, when Hashem told him that he would be the Goel, he was sure that Hashem chose him because he was of far lower stature, and Hashem didn’t really want to take Bnei Yisrael out, but was only doing so to fulfill his promise to the Avos. Hashem was showing his displeasure by choosing Moshe. Moshe’s modesty was not about refusing Hashem, but rather about his desire to see a great geula filled with Hashem’s love. Being chosen pained Moshe tremendously. He davened and fought with Hashem to march them out with a great leader like Aharon, his brother, and not through the back door with a lowly leader like himself.
5. When Moshe was born, the Torah tells us (Shemos 2:2) “Vatitzpineihu Shlosha Yerachim; They hid him for three months.” Besides Rashi’s explanation that he was born six months after Amram and Yocheved remarried. So they had three months before the Mitzri came around to check if Yocheved had a baby. Is there another reason?. Ans… Rav Shia’le of Belz offers another explanation: In the Midbar Bnei Yisrael complained about their diet of Man and wanted meat, Hashem told Moshe that He will bring them an abundance of meat. Moshe Rabbeinu then said to Hashem (Bahalosecha 11:22) “Hatzon UBakar Yishachet Lahem…Im Es Kol Digei Hayam YeiAseif – that there are too many people to feed. How will You bring all necessary sheep, cattle, and fish?” This comment was a kitrug on Moshe for the way he spoke. Moshe Rabbeinu was born in Adar. The Mazal of Adar is Dagim (Fish). Nissan’s mazal is a sheep, and Iyar is a bull. Because Moshe questioned Hashem’s ability to feed Bnei Yisrael fish, sheep, and cows, the three corresponding months were dangerous months for Moshe and he needed to be hidden out of harm’s way.

During the dark days of the Holocaust, a seventeen year old boy named Chaim Tzvi Solomon who learned in a chassidishe yeshivah in Hungary was rounded up for slave labor. Before he left the yeshivah, he approached the Rebbe of Saklid, and asked for a bracha. The Rebbe placed his two hands on him and said, “Promise me that you will maintain a constant connection between yourself and the Borei Olam.” The bachur was very moved by his words and he gave his promise. The Rebbe again placed his hands on his head and said, “This connection will guard you everywhere you go.”
Chaim Tzvi, whose parents and seven siblings were sent to their deaths in Auschwitz, not only maintained his connection to Hashem, but put on his tefillin every day. He took them with him everywhere he went, even to slave labor. Once, the Germans decided to conduct a search, and they told everybody to remove their clothing. In a flash, while everybody was undressing, Chaim Tzvi dug a small hole in the earth and placed his tefillin inside it. He stood on top of the hole, but one of the Germans noticed what he was doing. Chaim Tzvi whispered in his ear that he wouldn’t gain anything from what he had placed in the hole, but he would gain from what he would give to him. He took out an expensive gold watch and gave it to the German, and incredibly, the German left him alone.
Chaim Tzvi continued to maintain his connection with Hashem, and with great mesiras nefesh strived to fulfill as many mitzvos as he could. He survived until the liberation, and eventually returned to his hometown. There, he found everything destroyed – in complete shambles.
Chaim Tzvi sat on a stone and began to weep over the churban. With bitter tears, he davened to Hashem, “I’m willing to forego everything except for the ancient Sifrei Torah which were in my father’s shul. Ribbono Shel Olam, if the Sifrei Torah are still in this area, help me find them.”
These sifrei Torah were extremely ancient, and the ksav was unusually mehudar. All the rabbanim and talmidei chachamim of the area always preferred to read from these sifrei Torah.
Suddenly, Chaim Tzvi heard the sound of loud barking. He opened his eyes and saw a dog running towards him. As it got closer, he recognized it as the dog that used to belong to his family and which they had used as a guard dog for his father’s factory. The dog was barking frantically in a way that Chaim Tzvi, in all the years of the dog’s faithful service, had never heard before. Chaim Tzvi sensed that the dog was trying to tell him something.
As Chaim Tzvi stood up, the dog began to run, and Chaim Tzvi ran after him. The dog ran to the edge of the town, next to a wheat field. The dog stopped and began to dig with his feet into the ground. Chaim Tzvi started to dig as well, but he found nothing. He almost gave up and left but the dog refused to move; he continued to bark and dig with his feet. Chaim Tzvi started to dig again. When he had reached a depth of two and a half meters, he heard the sound of metal. After digging another few centimeters, he found a huge metal suitcase. Inside the suitcase were the two Sifrei Torah, completely intact. The dog, however, did not calm down, and continued to bark. Chaim Tzvi continued to dig, and tens of centimeters deeper, he found a box filled with a huge sum of money. It was his father’s fortune that he had managed to hide together with the Sifrei Torah before he was taken away. A week later, the dog died. (Source: Aleinu Leshabeach)
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In the beginning of the twentieth century, a Jewish boy in Chicago lost his father at an early age, and ended up growing up on the streets. Eventually, he became a gangster, and in time became the leader of his gang. One morning, he and his gang were about to carry out a daring robbery which he himself had planned. Suddenly, this Jewish gangster changed his mind, not only about committing the robbery itself, but about his entire life of crime. That morning, he abruptly walked away, leaving his gang and his life of crime permanently behind him.

What had changed his mind? The former Jewish gangster revealed the answer in an article he authored. That morning, an early childhood memory of stealing an apple from a pushcart had suddenly entered his mind. When his father found out about it, he put him on his lap and tearfully said, “The Torah says, ‘Lo signov, do not steal,'” and then slapped him. Twice more, he tearfully repeated the same words and slapped him.
The gangster had remembered this scene in vivid detail that morning, picturing in his mind’s eye the anguish on his father’s face. This picture was enough to jolt him out of his life of crime, and lead him to a more honest and productive period of life.
“To hit or not to hit” that is not the question. The question is, “How will our children remember the way we punished them?”

“In Washington, right next to the Holocaust museum, is the Federal Reserve where they print the money.” “Is that an accident?” Louis Farrakhan, in October 2012, getting him on the list of the 10 worst Anti-Semites of 2012.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s all over, all that hard work, just because of one stubborn judge. It still hurts — but I have no regrets. I did what I had to do.” Akiva Finkelstein, 18, a Shavei Chevron yeshiva student, upon being disqualified for not weighing himself on Shabbos before judges at the AIBA (International Amateur Boxing Association) Youth World Boxing Championships in Armenia.

“Somehow word of what the Rebbe had said got around and suddenly, there were so many buy orders on the stock exchange for Tofutti that the SEC halted trading on the stock for half an hour and called us to find out what had happened to generate so many buy orders.” David Mintz, creator of Tofutti ice cream, on the success of his company once the Lubavitcher Rebbe told him that they were “partners” in the business.

Who Knows One
Q. When did Hashem turn the waters of the world into chocolate (this is a pun)? Answer: Vayoshoku Hamayim.
Q. Who is the most mentioned woman in Navi? Answer: “Tziruya”, as in Yoav ben Tziruya.
Q. Two different and unrelated activities, each one is assur when done by itself, but when done at the same time they are both mutar Answer: 1. gazing in a mirror 2. allowing a goy to cut your hair. It is mutar to even concentrate on your image in a mirror to protect you from the goy. It is mutar for a goy to cut your hair if you can observe him in a mirror.
Q. Where do you find a pasuk in the Torah with aramaic words in it? Answer: y’gar sahadusa (Bereishes 31:47)

Know Your Gedolim…

Talk the Talk — Walk the Walk
Moishe Rabinowitz in the late 1930s fled his native land of Germany. He sold all his assets and converted it to gold and then had 5 sets of solid gold false teeth made.
When he arrived in New York the customs official was perplexed as to why anybody would have 5 sets of gold teeth. So Moishe explained. “We Orthodox Jews have two separate sets of dishes for meat products and dairy products but I am so kosher and religious I also have separate sets of teeth.” The customs official shook his head and said, “Well that accounts for two sets of teeth. What about the other three?” Moishe then said “Vell us very religious Orthodox Jews use separate dishes for Passover, but I am so religious I have separate teeth, one for meat and one for dairy food. The customs official slapped his head and then said, “You must be a very religious man with separate teeth for food and dairy products and likewise for Passover. That accounts for four sets of teeth. What about the fifth set?”
Vell to tell you the truth, once in a while I like a ham sandwich.”
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Four Jewish brothers left home for college, all became doctors and prospered. Some years later, chatting after a Chanukah dinner, they discussed the gifts that they were able to give to their elderly mother.
The first said, I had a big house built for Mama. The second said, I had a hundred thousand dollar theater built in the house. The third said, I had my Mercedes dealer deliver her an SL600 with a chauffeur.
The fourth said, Listen to this. You know how Mama loves reading the Torah, and you know that she can’t see very well. So I sent her a parrot that can recite the entire Torah. It took twenty rabbis 12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $100,000 a year for twenty years. But it was worth it. Mama just has to name the chapter and verse and the parrot will recite it.
Soon thereafter, Mom sent out her “Thank You” notes. She wrote:
Moshe, the house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house. Thanks so much.
Dovid, I am too old to travel. I stay home. I have my groceries delivered, so I never use the Mercedes. Moreover, the driver is a Nazi.
A million thanks.
Menachim, you give me a theater with Dolby sound, it could hold 50 people, but all my friends are dead. I’ve lost my hearing and I’m nearly blind. But thanks, anyway.
Dearest Sholom, you were the only son to have the good sense to give a little thought to your gift.
Such a delicious chicken!

The Geula — What to Expect
Techiyas Hameisim…..Location, Please!
All the dead will be resurrected in the land of Israel. Those who are buried outside the Holy Land, their bodies will burrow through the earth until they reach Israel, and there, their souls will be reinstated into their bodies. For tzaddikim, special tunnels will form beneath the ground, in order to make the journey easier and more dignified. Avoiding this laborious process is one of the reasons why so many choose to be buried in the soil of Eretz Yisroel.
The Zohar explains the symbolic connection between the resurrection and the land of Israel. With the future redemption, the land of Israel will be rebuilt, never again to be destroyed or laid to waste. So, too, the souls which reenter the bodies during the resurrection will never again be subjected to death.
Who’s Body…..Somebody?
According to mystical tradition, a soul can be reincarnated in many bodies. In fact, nowadays it is exceptionally rare for a “new” soul to
be born. This raises the obvious question: which of its bodies will the soul occupy when it is resurrected?
First, though, we need to explain why souls are reincarnated.
Every soul has to complete all of the 613 commandments in order to elevate and rectify all its 613 spiritual components. A soul is
reincarnated when it did not accomplish all of its obligations during its stay in a specific body. The soul must descend once again to finish
the task. Every body which was inhabited by the soul assisted the soul in the fulfillment of its mission. Those components of the soul
which were rectified through the mitzvos fulfilled by a particular body always maintain a connection with that body, and will return to
that body to revive it with the Resurrection of the Dead. In short, this means that souls will be divided into different bodies.
Every individual soul is a reflection of its infinite source, G d Himself, and thus has the ability to vivify any number of bodies.
What About Non-Jews?
There are indeed ancient sources that teach that non-Jews will be resurrected as well.

For example, Abarbanel, writes that resurrection will apply to all of mankind. He notes two purposes in this: (1) It would be unfair to all the others if only those who had the good fortune to be alive at that time would be privileged to enjoy the benefits of the Redemption.
Therefore, all the dead will be resurrected – the righteous to enjoy the benefits they merited, and others in order to witness their own ultimate downfall. (2) The nations then to be resurrected will realize the folly of their beliefs and will be forced to acknowledge Hashem’s sovereignty, in the spirit of the prophecy, “For I shall then make the nations pure of speech, so that they will all call upon the Name of G-d and serve Him with one purpose.” Im Kol Zeh Achakeh Lo B’Chol Yom SheYavo!
1.
Halacha Trivia ­ Is a Poor Person Required To Give Tzedaka?
The Shulchan Aruch (YD 248:1) says that even a poor person who receives Tzedoka must give Tzedoka from the money he receives. The Shach says that this Din only applies if the poor person has enough to live on even after he separates the Tzedoka. However, if he doesn’t have enough to live on, he is not obligated to give Tzedoka.
The Yad Avrohom says (YD 248) that a poor person who doesn’t have enough to live on is only Patur from giving large sums to Tzedoka, however he is not completely Patur from Tzedoka and has to give a small amount of Tzedoka in order to be Yotzei the Mitzvah of Tzedoka.

This Week in History….
25 Teves: Yahrtzeit of Rav Moshe Levi Ehrenreich (1818-1899), chief rabbi of Rome who was instrumental in translating
part of the Chumash into Italian.
26 Teves: In 1826, Maryland adopted a law which allowed Jews to hold public office. The practice of Judaism was illegal in Maryland since 1776.
27 Teves: Yahrtzeit of Rav Samson Rafael Hirsch (1808-1888), the leader of Torah Judaism in Germany during the tumultuous times of Enlightenment.
28 Teves: Yahrtzeit of Rav Dovid Nieto (1654-1728), leader of the Sephardic community in London and rav of the oldest shul in London — the Bevis Marks Shul.
29 Teves: In 1808, Ezekiel Hart, the first Jew elected to Canadian Parliament, was denied his seat when he swore the oath
of inauguration on a Jewish Bible.

This week’s Torah is B’Zchus: Jewish doctors, nurses and midwives who still today help bring Jewish life into the world.
Distributed by the Chevre Marbitz Torah D’NMB

Created By Arov Allen Sherman