Questions

1. What benefits did G-d promise Avraham if he would leave his home?
2. "And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you." What does this mean?
3. Who were the souls that Avraham and Sarah "made?"
4. What were the Canaanites doing in the Land of Canaan when Avraham arrived?
5. Why did Avraham build an altar at Ai?
6. What two results did Avraham hope to achieve by saying that Sarah was his sister?
7. Why did Avraham's shepherds rebuke Lot's shepherds?
8. Who was Amrafel and why was he called that?
9. Verse 14:7 states that the four kings "smote all the country of the Amalekites". How is this possible, since Amalek had not yet been born?
10. Why did the "palit " tell Avraham of Lot's capture?
11. Who accompanied Avraham in battle against the four kings?
12. Why couldnt Avraham chase the four kings past Dan?
13. Why did Avraham give "ma'aser " specifically to Malki-Tzedek?
14. Why didnt Avraham accept any money from Sodom's king?
15. When did the decree of 400 years of exile begin?
16. What did G-d indicate with His promise that Avraham would "come to his ancestors in peace"?
17. How did G-d fulfill His promise that Avraham would be buried in "a good old age"?
18. Why did the Jewish People need to wait until the fourth generation until they returned to Eretz Canaan?
19. Who was Hagar's father?
20. Why did Avraham fall on his face when G-d appeared to him?

Answers

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

1. What benefits did G-d promise Avraham if he would leave his home?
   12:1 - He would become a great nation, his excellence would become known to the world, and he would be blessed with wealth.
2. "And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you." What does this mean?
   12:3 - A person will say to his child, "You should be like Avraham."
3. Who were the souls that Avraham and Sarah "made?"
   12:5 - People they converted to the worship of G-d.
4. What were the Canaanites doing in the Land of Canaan when Avraham arrived?
   12:6 - They were in the process of conquering the land from the descendants of Shem.
5. Why did Avraham build an altar at Ai?
   12:8 - He foresaw the Jewish People's defeat there in the days of Yehoshua due to Achans sin. He built an altar to pray for them.
6. What two results did Avraham hope to achieve by saying that Sarah was his sister?
   12:13 - That the Egyptians would not kill him, and would give him presents.
7. Why did Avraham's shepherds rebuke Lot's shepherds?
   13:7 Lot's shepherds grazed their flocks in privately owned fields.
8. Who was Amrafel and why was he called that?
   14:1 - Amrafel was Nimrod. He said (amar ) to Avraham to fall (fel ) into the fiery furnace.
9. Verse 14:7 states that the four kings "smote all the country of the Amalekites". How is this possible, since Amalek had not yet been born?
   14:7 - The Torah uses the name that the place would bear in the future.
10. Why did the "palit " tell Avraham of Lot's capture?
    14:13- He wanted Avraham to die trying to save Lot so that he himself could marry Sarah.
11. Who accompanied Avraham in battle against the four kings?
    14:14 - His servant, Eliezer.
12. Why couldn't Avraham chase the four kings past Dan?
    4:14 - He saw prophetically that his descendants would make a golden calf there, and as a result his strength failed.
13. Why did Avraham give "ma'aser " specifically to Malki-Tzedek?
    14:20 - Because Malki-Tzedek was a kohen.
14. Why didn't Avraham accept any money from Sodom's king?
    14:23 - G-d had promised Avraham wealth, and Avraham didn't want Sodom's King to say, "I made Avraham wealthy."
15. When did the decree of 400 years of exile begin?
    15:13 - With the birth of Yitzchak.
16. What did G-d indicate with His promise that Avraham would "come to his ancestors in peace"?
    15:15 - That his father, Terach, would repent and become righteous.
17. How did G-d fulfill His promise that Avraham would be buried in "a good old age"?
    15:15 - Avraham lived to see his son Yishmael repent and become righteous, and he died before his grandson Esav became wicked.
18. Why did the Jewish People need to wait until the fourth generation until they returned to Eretz Canaan?
    15:16 - They needed to wait until the Amorites had sinned sufficiently to deserve expulsion.
19. Who was Hagar's father?
    16:1 - Pharaoh.
20. Why did Avraham fall on his face when G-d appeared to him?
    17:3 - Because he was as yet uncircumcised.

YIDDLE RIDDLE

Some people once found a discarded, yet complete, Torah Scroll and wondered whether it was kosher or not. If it was written by a competent, certified scribe it would be kosher, but if by someone else, it would not be kosher. They posed their question to the renowned Noda B'Yehuda, Rabbi Yechezkel Landau. His ingenious answer was simply "Minhag Yisrael Torah He" (which literally means "Jewish custom has the status of Torah").

Question: What did his answer mean?

(Hint: There is a widespread Jewish custom concerning the writing of a Torah scroll that could indicate whether or not the scroll had been duly commissioned by a Jewish community.)

Answer:

It is a widespread Jewish custom that the scribe omits the last few letters from the Torah scroll, and at the completion ceremony allows a number of people the privilege of writing them. Therefore, by looking at the final letters of the Torah it should be evident whether or not they were written by one person or several. If they were written by several people — evidence of Minhag Yisrael (Jewish custom) — then “Torah He”— it is a validTorah scroll!

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