Parsha Q&A - Parshat Lech Lecha
Parshat Lech Lecha
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Parsha Questions
- What benefits did Hashem promise Avraham if he would leave his home?
- "And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you." What does this mean?
- Who were the souls that Avraham and Sarah "made?"
- What were the Canaanites doing in the Land of Canaan when Avraham arrived?
- Why did Avraham build an altar at Ai?
- What two results did Avraham hope to achieve by saying that Sarah was his sister?
- Why did Avraham's shepherds rebuke Lot's shepherds?
- Who was Amrafel and why was he called that?
- 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?
- Why did the "palit" tell Avraham of Lot's capture?
- Who accompanied Avraham in battle against the four kings?
- Why couldn't Avraham chase the four kings past Dan?
- Why did Avraham give "ma'aser" specifically to Malki-Tzedek?
- Why didn't Avraham accept any money from Sodom's king?
- When did the decree of 400 years of exile begin?
- What did Hashem indicate with His promise that Avraham would "come to his ancestors in peace?"
- How did Hashem fulfill His promise that Avraham would be buried in "a good old age?"
- Why did the Jewish People need to wait until the fourth generation until they returned to Eretz Canaan?
- Who was Hagar's father?
- Why did Avraham fall on his face when Hashem appeared to him?
Kasha
(kasha means "question")
QUESTION: Avraham didn't accept any money from the king of Sodom, not wanting the king of Sodom to say "I made Avraham rich." Why then was he willing to take presents from Pharaoh, king of Mitzrayim?
ANSWER: If Avraham had refused the gifts offered for Sarah, he may have aroused Pharaoh's suspicion that he was indeed her husband, and spoiled the charade.
Abarbanel
OR: Avraham suspected that the king of Sodom would publicize the fact that he enriched Avraham. Pharaoh, on the other hand, wouldn't brag about his gifts to Avraham. Since they were given under embarrassing circumstances, Pharaoh would avoid mentioning them in order to avoid drawing attention to the incident.
Heard from Rabbi Michael Bachar
Do you have a KASHA? Write to [email protected] with your questions on any Parsha!
I Did Not Know That!
"And you will call his name Yitzchak... (17:19)"
Avraham's name was changed from Avram (Bereishet 17:5), and Yaakov's name was changed to Yisrael (Bereishet 32:29). Why was Yitzchak's name never changed? Because Avraham and Yaakov received their names from their parents, while Yitzchak received his name from Hashem.
Jerusalem Talmud - Berachot 1:6
Recommended Reading List
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Answers to this Week's Questions
Questions | Contents
All references are to the verses and Rashi's commentary, unless otherwise stated
12:1 - He would become a great nation, his excellence would become known to the world, and he would be blessed with wealth.
12:3 - A person will say to his child, "You should be like Avraham."
12:5 - People they converted to the worship of Hashem.
12:6 - They were in the process of conquering the land from the descendants of Shem.
12:8 - He foresaw the Jewish People's defeat there in the days of Yehoshua due to Achan's sin. He built an altar to pray for them.
12:13 - That the Egyptians would not kill him, and would give him presents.
13:7 - Lot's shepherds grazed their flocks in privately owned fields.
14:1 - Amrafel was Nimrod. He said (amar) to Avraham to fall (fel) into the fiery furnace.
14:7 - The Torah uses the name that the place would bear in the future.
14:13- He wanted Avraham to die trying to save Lot so that he himself could marry Sarah.
14:14 - His servant, Eliezer.
14:14 - He saw prophetically that his descendants would make a golden calf there, and as a result his strength failed.
14:20 - Because Malki-Tzedek was a kohen.
14:23 - Hashem had promised Avraham wealth, and Avraham didn't want Sodom's King to say, "I made Avraham wealthy."
15:13 - With the birth of Yitzchak.
15:15 - That his father, Terach, would repent and become righteous.
15:15 - Avraham lived to see his son Yishmael repent and become righteous, and he died before his grandson Esav became wicked.
15:16 - They needed to wait until the Amorites had sinned sufficiently to deserve expulsion.
16:1 - Pharaoh.
17:3 - Because he was as yet uncircumcised.
Written and Compiled by Rabbi Eliyahu Kane & Rabbi Reuven Subar
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
Production Design: Michael Treblow
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