The purpose of this blog is to bring up questions for the purposes of discussions around the Shabbat table. I would be delighted to hear some of your thoughts and suggestions.
Vayeilech 5783
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Question: How do we understand the מצוה of הקהל? It seems to be given after משה finishes writing the תורה
Approach: It would seem, given that הקהל is in the same paragraph as the verse stating that משה finished writing the תורה and gave it to the tribes, that the purpose of הקהל is to recreate this initial giving of the תורה on a periodic basis. This is also based on the same phrase used in both contexts of התורה הזאת.
Question: Why are מנשה counted before אפרים, in distinction to most of the rest of the time when the two are mentioned? Approach: It's possible to suggest that the reason is based on the relative sizes of the counts of the two tribes; משנה being larger than אפרים (the opposite to the count in במדבר). Alternatively, we can suggest that the wish to mention the בנות צלפחד - apart from being a preview of the upcoming subject - gave מנשה more importance.
1. How does the לוי have cause to be happy with ביכורים? 2. When was the תורה meant to be written on the stones? 27:3 implies before moving them to הר גריזים והר עיבל, but 27:8 implies afterwards 3. In all other cases where the לויים are separated out from the rest of the nation, מנשה ואפרים replace יוסף. Why not with the ceremony on הר גריזים ועיבל? 4. Why are the punishments of bodily ailments split?
Question: What is the role of the כהן ולוי in the ceremony of עגלה ערופה? They seem to not actually do anything Approach: On the basis of the directives given earlier in the פרשה (and strongly implied here), it would seem that the role is to ensure that the ceremony is carried out completely correctly, so that the interim atonement for the murder can be achieved. This is possibly what leads תרגום אונקלוס to mention that it is the כהנים who make the statement at the end of the section.
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