Questions

1. Which male descendants of Aharon are exempt from the prohibition against contacting a dead body?
2. Does a kohen have a choice in becoming ritually defiled when his unmarried sister passes away?
3. How does one honor a kohen?
4. How does the Torah restrict the Kohen Gadol with regard to mourning?
5. The Torah states in verse 22:3 that one who "approaches holy objects" while in a state of tumah (impurity) is penalized with excision. What does the Torah mean by "approaches"?
6. What is the smallest piece of a corpse that is able to transmit tumah?
7. Who in the household of a kohen may eat terumah?
8. If the daughter of a kohen marries a zar, she may no longer eat terumah. What is a zar?
9. What is the difference between a neder and a nedavah?
10. May a person slaughter an animal and its father on the same day?
11. How does the Torah define "profaning" the Name of G-d?
12. Apart from Shabbos, how many days during the year does the Torah designate as days when work is forbidden?
13. How big is an omer?
14. On what day do we begin to "count the omer"?
15. Why do we begin counting the omer at night?
16. How does the omer differ from other minchah offerings?
17. The blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is called a zichron teruah (sound of remembrance). For what is it a reminder?
18. What is unusual about the wood of the esrog tree?
19. Who was the father of the blasphemer?
20. What is the penalty for intentionally wounding one's parent?

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

Answers

1. Which male descendants of Aharon are exempt from the prohibition against contacting a dead body?
   21:1 – Challalim—those disqualified from the priesthood because they descend from a relationship forbidden to a kohen.
2. Does a kohen have a choice in becoming ritually defiled when his unmarried sister passes away?
   21:3 – No, he is required to do so.
3. How does one honor a kohen?
   21:8 – He is first in all matters of holiness. For example, a kohen reads from the Torah first and typically leads the blessings before and after meals.
4. How does the Torah restrict the Kohen Gadol with regard to mourning?
   21:10–12 – He may not allow his hair to grow long, mourn his close relatives, or accompany a funeral procession.
5. The Torah states in verse 22:3 that one who "approaches holy objects" while in a state of tumah (impurity) is penalized with excision. What does the Torah mean by "approaches"?
   22:3 – “Approaches” means eats.
6. What is the smallest piece of a corpse that is able to transmit tumah?
   22:5 – A piece the size of an olive.
7. Who in the household of a kohen may eat terumah?
   22:11 – He, his wife, his sons, his unmarried daughters, and his non-Jewish slaves.
8. If the daughter of a kohen marries a zar, she may no longer eat terumah. What is a zar?
   22:12 – A zar is a non-kohen.
9. What is the difference between a neder and a nedavah?
   22:18 – A neder is a personal obligation, while a nedavah is an obligation tied to a specific object.
10. May a person slaughter an animal and its father on the same day?
    22:28 – No.
11. How does the Torah define "profaning" the Name of G-d?
    22:32 – By intentionally violating the commandments or conducting oneself in a way that desecrates G-d’s Name.
12. Apart from Shabbos, how many days during the year does the Torah designate as days when work is forbidden?
    23:7–36 – Seven days: the first and seventh of Pesach, one day of Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the first and eighth days of Sukkot.
13. How big is an omer?
    23:10 – One-tenth of an ephah.
14. On what day do we begin to "count the omer"?
    23:15 – On the second night of Pesach.
15. Why do we begin counting the omer at night?
    23:15 – Because the Jewish calendar day begins at night.
16. How does the omer differ from other minchah offerings?
    23:16 – The omer is brought from barley, unlike most minchah offerings, which are from wheat.
17. The blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is called a zichron teruah (sound of remembrance). For what is it a reminder?
    23:24 – It serves as a reminder of the binding of Yitzchak, in whose place a ram was offered.
18. What is unusual about the wood of the esrog tree?
    23:40 – It has the same taste as its fruit.
19. Who was the father of the blasphemer?
    24:10 – The Torah does not name him, but his mother was from the Tribe of Dan and his father was Egyptian.
20. What is the penalty for intentionally wounding one's parent?
    24:21 - Deat

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