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Page Zero of Torah Tidbits 833Lead Tidbit cont. from page 1 (below)a bad sign.
• Although we mention that Gd is the Morid HaGashem on Shmini Atzeret /Simchat Torah, we don't ask for rain until two weeks later (in Israel; outside,T&M isn't said until the beginning of December.)
• The ruleofthumb as stated in the Mishna is that we only ask for rain"close to the rain", i.e. the time it usually begins to rain.
• Outside of Israel (standardized to the original situation in Bavel), "near therain" is defined as 60 days after the beginning of Fall. (That would be in lateNovember, but because of the adjustment of the calendar from the Julian tothe Gregorian, and the fact that T&M is based on the old Julian calendar, thedate is currently the 5th 0r 6th of December.)
• In Israel, we should ask for rain right after Sukkot, but we wait the twoweeks until 7 Cheshvan to allow the last Jew (who came to Jerusalem for theChag) to return to his home near N'har P'rat. This applies even in our timewhen we don't have real Aliya L'Regel and when modern methods oftranspor tation and conditions would remove the necessity of the two weekpost ponement. We still learn much from the message of the reason for thetwoweek "delay".
• On the other hand, the G'mara teaches us (as does the Seder Avoda in therepetition of Yom Kippur's Musaf) that the Kohein Gadol prayed on YomKippur that Gd should not listen to the prayers of "people on the road" (orastanding guard duty at two in the morning during Milu'il) who ask for Gd towithhold the rain, when we all need it.
• These next two facts are supplied by the TT stats department, just in caseyou were curious.
[1] Our starting date for T&M can be as early as October 11th or as late inthe season as November 10th. This might indicate that for Eretz Yisrael, weconsider "the time of rain" to be linked to Gd's judgment for water (Sukkot),rather than a date related to "seasons" per se.
[2] In Eretz Yisrael, we will ask for rain 396402 times during a 12monthyear, and 174180 times during a twoAdar year.
• Taking the second passage of our twicedaily recited Sh'ma, the secondparsha of the Mezuza, the second parsha of our T'filin... bene ficial rain isour reward for following Gd, and the lack of rain is to be our punishment forturing away from him.
• One more important ingredient in this Recipe for Rain is the passage in theTorah (D'varim 11:1012) "For the land, which you enter to possess, is not
as the land of Egypt, from where you came out, There's more on page 3U 0 q
Correct for TT 833 • Rabbeinu Tam (J'm) 6:03pm4:14 Yerushalayim 5:27pm4:33 S'derot 5:30pm4:30 Gush Etzion 5:28pm4:31 Raanana 5:28pm4:31 Beit Shemesh 5:28pm4:31 Rehovot 5:29pm4:30 Netanya 5:28pm4:30 Be'er Sheva 5:29pm4:30 Modi'in 5:28pm4:14 Petach Tikva 5:28pm4:14 Maale Adumim 5:27pm4:30 Ginot Shomron 5:27pm4:29 Gush Shiloh 5:27pm4:30 K4 & Hevron 5:28pm4:30 Giv'at Ze'ev 5:27pm4:31 Yad Binyamin 5:29pm4:32 Ashkelon 5:30pm4:17 Tzfat 5:25pm
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833h"qyz oeyg 'bOct.31 Nov.1, '08 •
Shabbat 3:00pm (Mincha 4:00)
Rabbi Yaakov Moshe PoupkoMotza'ei Shabbat 8:30pm
Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher
This Shabbat is the 33rd day (of 354), 5th Shabbat (of 50) of 5769
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Tel: (02) 9998440US toll free: 18663766716res@traveldealisrael.comwww.traveldealisrael.com
cont. p.10
Chuva, regen, yu, agasga, kisa, xita...This Lead Tidbit has been in active progress since Yom Kippur and has somany components that we are presenting it recipestyle. We'll first list theingredients and then try to put them together...
• Cheshvan is the month most associated with rain bad rain, i.e. the Flood,and hopefully good rain which we hope and pray for. The Mabul began on 17Cheshvan and ended on the 27th of Cheshvan a solar year later. Cheshvan iswhen we (in Eretz Yisrael) start asking for rain in the weekday Amida with
V'TEIN TAL U'MATAR LIVRACHA.
• Parshat No'ach is obviously associated with rain, for its account of theFlood and for its always being read onthe Shabbat before 7 Cheshvan, whenwe start saying T&M.
• The first Mishna in Taanit tells usthat R' Eliezer felt that we should startmentioning Gd's role as the Rainmaker from the beginning of Sukkot,because it is on Chag (Sukkot) thatthe world is judged for rainfall. R'Yehoshua's opinion prevails, and wewait until the last day of Chag (ShminiAtzeret) for T'filat Geshem, becauserain on Sukkot is considered
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where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden ofvegetables; But the land, which you are going over to possess, is a land ofhills and valleys, and drinks water from the rain of the skies; A land whichHaShem your Gd cares for; the eyes of HaShem your Gd are always uponit, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year."
This recipe has many different ingredients, but they come together in acomplex blend of tastes and ideas.
Rain, per se, is not necessarily good. Too much is destructive read thisweek's sedra or the reports about Katrina and her ilk. None or too little is asbad. It is beneficial rain that we want and ask of Gd. Tal U'Matar Livracha.G'shamim b'itam. Rain in its proper time.
The physical blessing of rain is tied to the spiritual status of our people.
Prayer is not the whole story, but it is a powerful tool within the wholepicture of things.
The prayers of each Jew are import ant. That's why the Kohein Gadol"bothered" with that addon request to his main prayer for a good year andfor good rain.
We might not be Kohein Gadol, but every Jew is gifted with the power ofprayer. Every time a Jew asks for Tal U'Matar, it means somethingsignificant. Why else would halacha invalidate an Amida in essence voiding19 brachot because a person inadvertently omitted T&M. This, although hesaid in its place, V'TAIN BRACHA, asking Gd for a blessing. Not enough. Saythe whole Amida over because you are part of Klal Yisrael and every Jew isneeded in our prayerefforts for Gishmei B'racha. Rain is a goal, but it is alsoa symbol of Torah and spirituality and our constant quest for both.
WORD of the MONTH cont. from p.2
A weekly TT feature to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, therebyenhancing our appreciation of Gd's gift to us of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem...
The molad of Cheshvan was on Wednesday, October 29, at 2:22pm (IsraelStandard Time adjust for your locale accordingly). Three full days later isthe first op for Kiddush L'vana according to Minhag Yerushalayim. Thatmeans Motza'ei Shabbat, eve of the 4th of Cheshvan (November 1st).
This allows combining the concept of taking the first op for a mitzva with thespecial time for KL namely, Motza'ei Shabbat. For most months, one has tochoose depending upon whom he follows between the first op andMotza'ei Shabbat. But this week, weather permitting (which is the same assaying IY"H), we can say KL on the first op and on Motza'ei Shabbat.
7day people have their first op on Wednesday, November 5th. Rememberthat cloudy/rainy nights can delay KL at this time of the year, so be on thelookout for a clear shot at the moon.
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NO'ACH STATS2nd of 54 sedras (2nd of 12 in B'reishit)
Written on 230 lines in a Sefer Torah, rank: 15th
18 Parshiyot; 5 open, 13 closed; rank 12th
153 p'sukim ranks 4thLargest in B'reishit tied with Vayishlach
1861 words ranks 11th (6th in B'reishit)
6907 letters ranks 13th (6th in B'reishit)
Drop in ranking for words and letters is due toNo'ach's very short p'sukim. No'ach ranks 49th inwords/pasuk and 51st in letters/pasuk. No sedra inB'reishit has shorter p'sukim.
MITZVOTNone of TARYAG are counted from No’ach, yet thereare mitzvot in the sedra, specifically (but not only)references to the Noahide laws. So too is P'RU URVUrepeated to No'ach it is counted as a mitzva fromB'reishit, when it was commanded to Adam andChava.
AliyabyAliyaSedra Summary[P> X:Y (Z)] and [S> X:Y (Z)] indicatestart of a parsha p’tucha or s’tumarespectively. X:Y is Perek:Pasuk of thebeginning of the parsha; (Z) is thenumber of p'sukim in the parsha.
Kohen First Aliya 14 p'sukim 6:922The sedra of B'reishit began with theglorious account of creation and"went downhill" from there: The
exile of Adam and Chava from GanEden, Kayin and Hevel, thecontinuous degeneration throughsuccessive generations until Gd's"regret" for having created the worldand his "decision" to destroy it.
The only high note of this universaldownslide comes at the end of thesedra: "But No'ach found favor inGd's eyes".
[P> 6:9 (4)] The sedra of No'achcontinues this thread and tells usthat No'ach was "completelyrighteous IN HIS TIME".
SSSSSDDDDDTTTTT::::: Rashi presents the divergentopinions as to whether "in his time" iscomplimentary or derogatory. Was No'achgreat EVEN in his very wicked generation,or was he great only by comparison to thegeneration in which he lived. AlthoughRashi does not seem to favor onepossibility over the other, it seems obviousthat No'ach was not as great as AvrahamAvinu. A look at the fifth chapter of PirkeiAvot will reveal a significant differencebetween No'ach and Avraham. Tengenerations between Adam and No'ach andbetween No'ach and Avraham, both toteach us about Gd's long patience. Same.Yet when the first full run of tengenerations was up, the Flood came. Whenthe second one was up, the Mishna tells us,that Avraham's merit sustained the wholeworld. No'ach's merit seems to have beenonly enough only to save his own family.On the other hand, there was a significantdifference between the generations ofNo'ach and Avraham that cannot beignored, and make comparisons unfair.
Ponder this: Concerning the twodifferent ways to evaluate No'ach'srighteousness. Remember back afew short (but busy) weeks to the
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Musaf of Rosh HaShana, specificallyto the ZICHRONOT bracha. Not onlyis one of the 10 p'sukim from Tanachabout Gd's remembering of No'ach,but the pasuk is introduced in a waythat the following p'sukim of Gd'sremembering the cry of the people inEgypt and of Gd's remembering theAvot are not similarly introduced.
"Of Noah also You were mindful in Your love,and did remember him with a promise ofsalvation and mercy, when You brought thewaters of the flood to destroy all flesh on accountof their evil deeds. So his remembrance camebefore You, HaShem our God, to increase hisseed like the dust of the earth, and his offspringlike the sand of the sea."
The Torah essentially repeats thatNo'ach had three sons Sheim,Cham, and Yefet, and that theworld was totally corrupt.
[S> 6:13 (48)] Then No'ach isinformed by Gd of His plans todestroy the world and is commanded to build an ark, bring intoit two of every kind of animal andsufficient food for his family andthe animals.
Commentaries point out thatNo'ach was given ample time to tryto influence his generation to mendits ways. He either didn't succeedor didn't try too hard. He didexactly as he was told (implying,and not more).
Think about this...Gd could have destroyed the worldand saved No'ach and family and thepairs of animals with a miraculoussnap of His finger. In no time. Withno human involvement. He could
have, but He didn't. He could haveleft No'ach on his own, to do thewhole job of saving his family andsample pairs of all the animals. Hedidn't do that either. (It probablywould have been humanly impossible for No'ach to have done thewhole job on his own.)
What Gd did do is command No'achto build an ark of a specific size, athreetiered floating structure, andto gather all the food necessary tofeed many, many animals and hisfamily for a year. This, say somecommentaries, cannot be donewithout a heavy dose of miracle, ofsuspension of the laws of nature.
But it wasn't all supernatural. No'achwas part of it. And that is what Gdusually wants when it comes tomiracles. We, as humans, relate somuch better to that kind of miracle.Nachshon b. Aminadav needed tojump into the Sea before it wouldsplit. We need to see some familiarnature inside a miracle... and wealso need to see the miracle insidenature.
SSSSSDDDDDTTTTT::::: Baal HaTurim points out that theTorah says EILEH TOL'DOT... four times(as opposed to V'EILEH PC), and eachtime it comes to negate what came beforeit. EILEH TOL'DOT SHAMAYIMVA'ARETZ... nullifies the TOHU VAVOHU(chaos and emptiness that precededformation of this world). ...NO'ACH, tonegate the generations that came beforehim. ...SHEIM (No'ach's son), to negateCHAM and YEFET. ...YAAKOV, to negateEISAV.
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Levi Second Aliya 16 p'sukim 7:116Gd tells No'ach and his family togo into the Teiva (ark) and to takewith him seven pairs of each kindof kosher animal and bird. Noa'chis told that in seven more days itwill rain for 40 days and nightsduring which time all life on earthwill be wiped out. No'ach was 600years old at the time of the Flood.And so it happened.
Gd's commands to No'ach to takepairs of animals as well as 7 pairsof kosher animals and birds, aretwo separate matters. The pairs ofanimals were for the survival andcontinuation of the species. Theseanimals, we are taught, came ontheir own by instinct of selfpreservation. On the other hand,No'ach had to bring into the Teivathe other animals, whose destiny,so to speak, was the Altar and thedinner table.
How many deers were in the Ark?Seven pairs because the deer is a kosheranimal, or only two (one pair) because thedeer is never brought as a Korban? Sincesome say that the reason for the sevenpairs was because of sacrifices, and otherssay it was to provide kosher food, what'sthe answer for deer? Similarly, how manychickens? Sacrifices? No. Food? Yes. Sowhich was it?
Rabbi Zev Leff explains that B'nei No'achare permitted to offer sacrifices from ANYkosher animal or bird; No'ach was notrestricted to cow, goat, sheep, and twotypes of doves the only acceptable
Korbanot for Jews in the Mikdash. Hence,for either reason, it would seem that therewere seven pairs of deer, giraffe, okapi,gnu, chicken, sparrow, peafowl, etc.
Shlishi Third Aliya 22 p'sukim 7:178:14The rains fell and the waters of thedeep surged for 40 days and nights,but the Flood remained at itshighest level for an additional 150days. Gd 'remembered" No'achand all with him in the ark, and thewaters began to recede. The arksettled on Mt. Ararat and 40 dayslater (Remember the first 40 dayswhich represent death of all livingthings? This time the 40 representsthe rebirth of those who survivedthe Mabul), No'ach opened the"window" of the ark and sent out araven. Then he sent out a dove,and again, and finally after a full(365 day) year, the earth was readyto receive its new inhabitants.
R'vi'i Fourth Aliya 15 p'sukim 8:159:7[S> 8:15 (15)] Gd tells No'ach toleave the ark with his wife, his sonsand their wives, and all the animalsand birds. No'ach builds an altarand sacrifices upon it from all thekosher species. Gd's "reaction" toNo'ach's offerings is that in spite ofthe basic evil potential of humannature, He will not destroy in the"wholesale fashion" of the Flood(but rather punish on a more
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restricted and specific basis).
The laws of nature are altered toprovide the world with a neverceasing cycle of seasons andclimactic conditions.
HERE'S A THOUGHT... We cansee in the account of the Flood andits aftermath, a continuation ofcreation. It is as if stage 1 ofcreation was recorded in Breishit andhere we have stage 2. In otherwords, the world as we know it cameinto existence during the 6 days ofcreation AND during the Flood whichtook place 10 generations later. Sortof like a rough draft and a furtherrevision. And we, by the way,constantly affect the continuousfurther dynamic revisions.
Gd blessed and commandedNo'ach and his family (and all ofmankind) to "be fruitful andmultiply".
No'ach receives permission to eatmeat (this was denied to theprevious generations), but waswarned not to eat from a liveanimal. Murder and the otherNoahide Laws are referred toand/or inferred, at this point. Again(third time?), No'ach and family aretold to be fruitful and repopulatethe world.
Chamishi Fifth Aliya 10 p'sukim 9:817[S> 9:8 (10)] Gd makes a promiseto mankind that He will never againdestroy the world as He did withthe Flood. The rainbow will serve
as sign and reminder of thispromise.
We acknowledge the significance of arainbow by reciting a bracha whenwe see one "...He Who remembersthe Covenant, is faithful to it, andkeeps His word.” Of the 10 itemsmentioned in Avot as having beencreated at the instant between theSix Days of Creation and the firstShabbat, all but the rainbow aresupernatural. The rainbow, by virtueof its inclusion on this special list,can be seen as a bridge between thenatural and the supernatural. Putdifferently, we should see Gd'shandiwork in all the elements ofnature, not just in obvious miracles."The mouth of the Earth" was aonetime creation to dispose ofKorach and his gang. But regularrocks and hills, crags and clefts areno less part of Gd's handiwork.
Some say that a rainbow is a signthat Gd is angry with the world andwould want to destroy it except Hepromised not to. On the other hand,Yechezkel describes the HeavenlyThrone as like a rainbow, and theradiance of the Kohen Gadol uponleaving the Holy of Holies on YomKippur is also likened to a rainbow inthe sky. And it's beautiful, too.
Shishi Sixth Aliya 44 p'sukim 9:1810:32Second longest Shishi in the Torah
[P> 9:18 (12)] Some time afterleaving the ark, No'ach becomes atiller of the soil and a grape grower.He produces wine and becomesdrunk. One of his sons, Cham,
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behaves immorally with his fatherin his drunken state; Shem andYefet behave admirably in thesituation. When No'ach realizeswhat has happened, he cursesCham and Cham's son Canaan, andblesses Shem and Yafet.
No'ach lives 350 years after theFlood, and dies at the age of 950.
The arithmetic of No'ach's years(600 before + 350 after = 950)seems not to take into account theyear of the Flood. There is a goodcase to be made for not consideringthe duration of the Flood in calculations of the chronology of theworld. We might look at the Flood asa period of "suspended animation" laws of nature were not in effect;perhaps time as we know it cannotapply to that interval either. Theanimals in the ark did not function intheir normal ways. No'ach had nosleep during the whole period (if wetake statements made as literal).[P> 10:1 (14)] The Torah nextoutlines the generations thatfollowed No'ach including mentionof Nimrod, the mighty rebel againstGd, and the nations that camefrom Sheim, Cham and Yefet.
These are the descendants of No’ach(numbers in brackets count the 70 nationsof the world).
We’ll call NO’ACH the zero generation.That makes SHEIM, CHAM, and YEFET,the first generation after No’ach.
The Torah starts the genealogy with Yefet.Generation 2 from Yefet are:
[1] Gomer, [2] Magog, [3] Madai, [4]Yavan, [5] Yuval, [6] Meshech, and [7]Tiras (who Rashi says is Paras, which
partners him nicely with his brotherMadai).
Third generation from Noach via Yefet’schildren:
From Gomer: [8] Ashkenaz, [9] Rifat, and[10] Togarma.
From Yavan: [11] Elisha, [12] Tarshish,[13] Kitim, and [14] Dodanim.
2nd generation from No’ach via Cham:
[15] Kush, [16] Mitzrayim, [17] Put, and[18] K’na’an.
3rd generation via Cham’s children:
From Kush: [19] S’va, [20] Chavila, [21]Savta, [22] Ra’ma, [23] Savt’cha
Ra’ma had [24] Sh’va and [25] D’dan.(These two being 4th generation.)
Kush also fathered Nimrod, not numberedamong the 70.
From Mitzrayim: [26] Ludim, [27] Anamim, [28] L’havim, [29] Naftuchim,[30] Patrusim, [31] Kasluchim, (fromeither 30 or 31 came [32] P’lishtim according to Rashi, Patrusim andKasluchim swapped wives a lot and theP'lishtim came from both of them), [33]Kaftorim (who might also have comefrom Patrusim/Kasluchim or fromMitzrayim disputed by commentaries).
No one mentioned from Put.
[S> 10:15 (6)] From K’na’an: [34]Tzidon, [35] Cheit, [36] the Yevusi, [37]the Emori, [38] the Girgashi, [39] theChivi, [40] the Arki, [41] the Sini, [42]the Arvadi, [43] the Tz’mari, and [44] theChamati.So far, 25 from Yefet, 19 from Cham.
[S> 10:21 (12)] From Sheim: [45]
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Eilam, [46] Ashur, [47] Arpachshad, [48]Lud, [49] Aram.
From Aram: [50] Utz, [51] Chul, [52]Geter, [53] Mash.
From Arpachshad came [54] Shelach andfrom him came [55] Eiver. Eiver is 4thgeneration. He had [56] Peleg and [57]Yaktan (5th generation).
From Yaktan: [58] Almodad, [59] Shelef,[60] Chatzarmavet, [61] Yerach, [62]Hadoram, [63] Uzal, [64] Dikla, [65] Oval,[66] Avima’el, [67] Sh’va (same name as24), [68] Ofir, [69] Chavila (same name as20), and [70] Yovav.
That’s 26 from Sheim. Total 70.
Numbering from The Living Torah R' Aryeh Kaplan z"l
It should not be lost on us that the birth ofthe world population is describe as the 70nations, and the birth of Israel begins with“70 souls”.
Sh'VII Seventh Aliya 32 p'sukim 11:132This is the longest Sh'vi'i in theTorah
[P> 11:1 (9)] The Torah tells us ofthe attempt to build the "Tower ofBabel", the symbol of rebellionagainst Gd. Gd thwarted theplans, confused the languages ofmankind and scattered the peoplefar and wide.
SSSSSDDDDDTTTTT::::: Commentaries contrast the twosinful generations in this sedra. DorHaMabul was destroyed because their sinsincluded the destruction of society by totaldisregard of a person for his fellow. DorHaPlaga sinned against Gd alone, not
against each other. Such a society (albeitwarped) can survive; Gd can permit it tocontinue under these circumstances.
[P> 11:10 (2)] The sedra returns tothe lineage of No'ach, this timetracing only through Sheim. Wefind for each generation, the nameof the "main" person, his age whenhis "main, named" son was born,how many years he lived after his"main" son was born, and the factthat other sons and daughters wereborn.
Note that the total length of life forthese second "10 generations" is notgiven, as it was in the first set of 10generations. For example, Yered(back in B'reishit) was 162 years oldwhen Chanoch was born. Yered livedfor 800 more years after Chanochwas born. Yered's total number ofyears was 962 doing the arithmeticfor us. Here, in No'ach, we get thetwo numbers and have to add themup on our own.
Sheim was 100 when he hadArpachshad (two years after theFlood). He lived a further 500 years(600).
[P> 11:12 (2)] Arpachshad hadShelach at 35. Lived 403 moreyears (438).
[P> 11:14 (2)] Shelach was 30when he had Eiver. Then another403 years (same as his father).(Total: 433).
[P> 11:16 (2)] Eiver was 34 whenPeleg was born. He lived another430 years (464).
[P> 11:18 (2)] Peleg was 30 whenR'u was born. He lived another 209
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Reminder:In Israel, until Mincha of TUE,November 4th inclusive, wesay MASHIV HARU'ACH UMORID HAGESHEM, but V'TEINB'RACHA in Bareich Aleinu.
Beginning with Maariv of the eveof the 7th of Cheshvan (Tuesday,November 4th) and continuinguntil Pesach, we continue withMASHIV HARU'ACH and weask for rain in Bareich Aleinuwith the words V'TEIN TALU'MATAR LIVRACHA.
See page 24 for further detailsand see the Lead Tidbit for evenmore.
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(total, 239).
[P> 11:20 (2)] R’u was 32 whenS'rug was born. Plus another 207years (239).
[P> 11:22 (2)] S’rug was 30 whenhe had Nachor. He lived another200 years (230).
[P> 11:24 (2)] Nachor was 29when Terach was born. He lived119 more years (148).
[P> 11:26 (7)] Terach was 70(there's that number again, and alsonotice how much older Terach waswhen he had children, comparedwith all previous generations backto Arpachshad.) Terach had threesons, Avram, Nachor, and Haran.Haran had Lot. Haran died. Avrammarried Sarai and Nachor marriedhis niece Milka, Haran’s daughter.
The Torah makes a point of tellingus that Sarai was barren.
Terach takes his son Avram, hisgrandson Lot, his daughterinlawSarai, they leave Ur Kasdim andhead out for the land of K'naan.They make it as far as Charan andsettle there. Terach dies in Charanat 205 years of age (the only onesince No'ach with a recorded age atdeath).
The events the Torah mentions atthe end of Parshat No'ach did nothappen in the sequence recorded.Commentaries explain why.
The sedra thus ends with the stageset for the next major phase ofworld development the return tobelief in one Gd and the "birth ofJudaism".
Haftara 22 p'sukim Yeshayahu 54:155:5Yeshayahu draws a comparisonbetween the covenant that Gdmade with all mankind via No'achand the promises to the People ofIsrael concerning their future. Justas Gd promised never to flood thewhole Earth again, so too does Hepromise not to rebuke and punishIsrael (in the future).
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THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE OF JEWISH LAWRabbi Emanuel Quint, Dean
Lesson #446 (continued from last issue)
Women as Participants in the Judicial ProcessWe have been discussing the authoritieswho permitted women to testify in BeitDin and under which circumstances. Icited many authorities so that the readerwill see the prominent position thisquestion occupies in halacha. Continuingwith more authorities:R. Alexander Suslein who died inGermany in 1349, in his Aguda,commenting on the aforementionedpassage (see Lesson 445) in T. Kiddushinwrites: I have held that there aredecisions based on this passage that aperson is believed in the matter in whichhe is engrossed, just as the midwife isbelieved. This makes a differenceregarding revilers. It seems to me thatregarding revilers, and those matters thattake place in the women's portion of thesynagogue, we rely on women to testify.A contemporary of R. Suslein, R.Menachem of Merseburg, Germany wasasked to decide the following case: Awoman had been accused by her husbandand fatherinlaw of sexually prohibitedconduct. She produced women witnesseswho heard her husband and fatherinlawaccuse her of such conduct. The womenwere permitted to testify. R. IsraelIsserlein, living in Germany (13901460)in his Trumot haDeshen discusses thefollowing case which he was asked todecide. Leah and Rachel both claimed thesame seats in the women's section of thesynagogue. Leah produced two women totestify that the seats were hers and Rachel
produced one man to testify that the seatswere hers. In passing, he states that inthose matters in which women haveunique knowledge since men are not aptto know the facts, such as if a woman hadworn certain garments, other women maytestify. This is based on the fact that amidwife may testify as to which twin isthe first born. Similarly women maytestify as to seats in the women's sectionof the synagogue, since men are notknowledgeable about what goes on there.Then he supports his contention with thevery same Talmudic case whichMaimonides had used to prove thelimitations placed on ineligible witnesses.R. Isserlein cites the passage whereMaimonides cited the Mishna passagethat only freemen and Jews could testify.
The exclusions mentioned in the Talmudwhich flow from the inclusions of onlythose persons in the Mishna, promptedMaimonides to state that they areexcluded even if there are no otherpersons present. Otherwise it is knownthat they may not testify. Why excludethem again? This reiteration of theexclusion prompted Maimonides to statethat this exclusion is present even if thereare usually no men present there. It mighthave been thought that the ineligibility islimited to slaves and Gentiles, but not towomen who are both Jewish and havepedigree. It might have been thought thatwomen may testify in those instanceswhere men are usually not found, in the
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very situation which the Talmuddiscusses, namely, injuries. ThisMaimonides teaches is not so. In casesdealing with injuries, ineligible witnessesmay not testify even in situations wheremen are usually not found. R. Isserleincontinues that the implication of theTalmud, however, is that only in cases oftorts is the exclusion of ineligiblewitnesses applicable also to matterswhere eligible witnesses are not to befound. But in other matters if no eligiblewitnesses be found, ineligible witnessesmay testify. The special reason for thebroad rule in tort cases is that a personwould look for ineligible witnesses whopresumably would be more apt to testifythat they saw a tort being committed andpeople would be sued continuouslywithout justification. These exclusions donot apply to occasional happenings suchas to whether a woman had worn certaingarments or to seats in the women'ssection of the synagogue. A view wasthus becoming known amongst theauthorities living in Germany, thatwomen could testify in these exceptionalcases. (Usually the Germanic andnorthern French authorities followed thesame precedents.) This view differedfrom the view of the authorities living inthe S'fardic communities of Spain and theMediterranean region.
The Germanic (and northern French)authorities seemed to be following theview of great Ashkenazic/Germanic/northern French authorities such asRabbeinu Gershom (9601028) andRabbeinu Tam (R. Yaakov b. Meir;10961171). Kolbo is an anonymoushalachic work written in the latethirteenth or early fourteenth century. Itwas probably written in southern France.
Kolbo, in chapter 116 enumerates variousdecrees promulgated by RabbeinuGershom and his Beit Din in the eleventhcentury and by Rabbeinu Tam and hisBeit Din in the twelfth century. Sincethey are both included in the sameenumeration, it may be that the decree issometimes attributed to one andsometimes to the other authority. Ayounger contemporary of R. Isserlein,living in Italy was the respondent R.Yosef Kolon (Italy; 14101480). (Hisresponsa were very popular and oftenreprinted. Very often the printers ofnewer editions would revise thenumerical sequence of the responsa. Thusit is sometimes difficult to parallel thenumber of a responsum with the printededition. Although Ramo speaks of R.Kolon's responsum 180, I have quotedfrom a copy of the Venice edition of 1651edition where it appears as responsum179.) In a case that was presented to himfor decision, he passed on the question ofwomen as witnesses. The Jewishcommunity assessed a tax on Reuven thathe refused to pay, Shimon, a member ofthe Jewish tax commission went to thelocal secular judge to compel Reuven topay. Reuven then went to the secularauthorities and in the presence of Leviand Leah falsely informed the authoritiesthat Shimon was guilty of secular taxevasion. After it was found that Reuven'sallegations against Shimon weregroundless, Shimon sued Reuven in BeitDin and one of the questions dealt withLeah's eligibility to testify. R. Kolonwrites: "I have found written in the nameof Rabbeinu Tam that a woman or arelative are eligible to testify is suchsituations and in all matters regardingdiscord in which [eligible] witnesses arenot present there. Similarly in cases of
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slander, since eligible witnesses are notpresent there. This shows conclusivelythat in all matters of discord, a woman ora relative is eligible to testify. AlsoMordechai [b. Hillel] writes that inmonetary matters of disputes and quarreland blasphemies, women are eligible totestify."
In the next lesson we shall IYH discussthe position of Polish and Lithuanianauthorities on the question of womentestifying in Beit Din
The subject matter of this lesson is more fullydiscussed in A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law byE. Quint. Copies of all volumes can be purchased atlocal Judaica bookstores. Questions to quint@inter.net.il
Spiritual and Ethical Issues in the Bamidbar Storiesby Dr. Meir Tamari
“And your camp shall be holy”; The Nazir [3]
After the unethicalsocialbehavior chatat had been sent out of MachaneYisrael, and the impurities of sexual immorality sotah had been cleansed fromMachane Leviyim, it was possible to come to Ohel Moed with the spiritualelevation of the individual Nazir. "When a man or woman pronounces thespecial resolution to vow the vow of a Nazir" (Bamidbar 6:2): the Hebrew caneither be understood as 'to separate oneself' (Rashi) or as 'astonishment/wonder' (Ibn Ezra); the two together illustrate the dual nature of Nazir.Throughout, it should be borne in mind that the Torah calls the Nazir Kadosh,that is both separate and sanctified; he has a nezer on his head just as theKohen Gadol on whose head the anointing oil was pouredSince Man was created like the image of Gd, there is the yearning and theaspiration to spiritually unite with Gd and, as it were, to merge oneself in Him.Yet the real world is full of materialism, of a pursuit of the transient andpleasurable, of strife and friction, and evil and hate. So, throughout the ages, inmany religions, thought patterns and even social movements there has been astriving for the ascetic, for monasticism, and for the negation of the worldly,even for the annihilation of self and being through the achieving of nothingness.It may seem that this is the concept of the Nazir. However, the Nazir would bea negation of the teachings of mainstream Judaism, that teaches that it is notthe destruction of normal human needs, whether social, sexual, political oreconomic, that is to be aimed at, but rather the educational process whereby allthese may be made holy and serve the Divine. Therefore, the Nazir has ratherbe seen in a different light."The obligations that the Nazir undertakes are not what make a Nazir but ratherthey are the manifestations of what the actual vow means" (S. R. Hirsch)."They represent the three types of human actions. The growing of the haircorresponds to the thoughts of men that have their source in the brains,
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abstaining from wine is the power of speech as our sages said 'when wineenters all secrets are released', and the avoidance of tum'at meit correspondsto the actions of the body" (Shem MiShmuel). There is no ascetic motivation inthe institution of the Nazir and these vows are not an attempt to destroy humanlust or desires. Actually, they are part of the search for the holiness to beexpressed within these selfsame desires. They must be seen in theperspective of an aid to improved religiosity and enhanced sanctity, withoutdestroying Judaism's balance between materialism and spirituality.This balance is clearly stated in the following two passages from Rambam:"If one should say, 'because envy, lust, arrogance and similar pressures areevil and destroy people, I will separate myself from them and follow asceticism',& then refuses to eat meat, drink wine, remains celibate and does not want tolive in a nice house and wear pleasant clothes, preferring sackcloth andcoarse wool and other ascetic actions as do the gentile monks this is a wrongway and it is forbidden to follow it" (Hilkhot Deot 3:1)."One who takes an oath [like the Nazir] to provide a physical basis forspirituality or to improve their actions, is praiseworthy and pleasant. Forexample, a person who is a glutton and vows to deny meat [symbol ofextravagant eating] for a year or two; those who have a passion to enrichthemselves or are driven to pursue wealth and now take an oath to refuse toaccept bribes or gifts or to deceive through legal means, these oaths are whatthe sages referred to as a fence for restraint, P'RISHUT, that brings tokedusha]" (Hilkhot Nedarim 13:23).However, there is more than just balance inherent in the Nazir, just as Judaismis more than just a middle way. "On Pesach night at the Seder, the Rashaasks, 'what is this avoda that you have? Early righteous people like Adam,No'ach and Shem sought to serve Gd through a removal from the world withall its materialism and evil. That is a form of worship that one can accept. Butnow you have a new form, one that involves us in the world, in the mundane, inthe needs of the body, and in the satisfaction of material needs; that avoda Icannot accept'. Indeed, the Avot taught through their daily lives that we have toand that it is possible, to sanctify ourselves with what is permissible; there is asanctified way to maintain flocks and herds, to plough, plant and reap, and todig wells, plant trees and even to wage war" (Shem MiShmuel, Hagada). "TheMezuza that we affix to the doorpost is connected to the things that we bring inand take out of our houses. We gather into our homes the wealth that Gd hasbestowed upon us. All should therefore be in truth and in faithfulness [as befitsa house on which the Law of Gd is inscribed on the doorposts]. What we takeout, what we spend our money on should also be in faith. One should notexpend money on useless things or to satisfy excessive desires... We shouldsuffice with necessities and spend our lives in the study of Torah, on helpingthe poor or on acts of chesed. (Shlah, Sha'ar Ha'Otiyot)
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"The sanctification of the Nazir does not involve celibacy, nor does it reward thelife of a hermit, nor is it removed from the affairs of mankind. Rather, it is asanctification of this world amidst the daily lives of people and the conduct ofsociety" (S.R. Hirsch).
MISC section contents:[1] Vebbe Rebbe
[2] Candle by Day[3] From Aloh Naaleh
[4] Wisdom and Wit[5] Parsha Points to Ponder
[6] Portion from the Portion[7] micro Ulpan
[8] Torah from Nature
[9] Treasures in the Sand[10] Gimatriya Match
[11] Divrei Menachem
[1] From the virtual desk of the OUVEBBE REBBEThe Orthodox Union – via its website – fieldsquestions of all types in areas of kashrut, Jewishlaw and values. Some of them are answered byEretz Hemdah, the Institute for Advanced JewishStudies, Jerusalem, headed by Rav Yosef Carmeland Rav Moshe Ehrenreich, founded by HaRavShaul Yisraeli zt"l, to prepare rabbanim anddayanim to serve the National Religiouscommunity in Israel and abroad. Ask the Rabbi isa joint venture of the OU, Yerushalayim Network,Eretz Hemdah... and the Israel Center. Thefollowing is a Q&A from Eretz Hemdah...
QWe made Sheva B'rachot at se'udashlishit. The question arose:should one drink the cup(s) before
Havdala in this case?
AThe Magen Avraham (299:7) saysthat one who bentches over a cupof wine at se'uda shlishit should
drink it. Since the cup is part of thebentching process, drinking it is consideredthe end of the meal. Just as one can finishup se'uda shlishit at night before Havdala,so can he drink the wine that is connectedto the meal. However, he says, if one doesnot regularly recite Birkat Hamazon overwine, he should not drink it beforeHavdala. This is because, for such aperson, the connection between the wineand the meal is insufficient to justifydrinking before Havdala (see MachatzitHaShekel, ad loc.). Eliyah Rabba (289:6)and Tosefet Shabbat (see Sha'ar Hatziyun299:24) are not convinced that the fact thatone does not always use a cup for BirkatHamazon makes a difference in this regard,but generally (and here) poskim arereluctant to reject a ruling of the MagenAvraham without further indications (seeibid.).
What should one do about Sheva B'rachotat se'uda shlishit according to the MagenAvraham? On one hand, most of us are notcareful to always bentch over a cup ofwine. On the other, we always use a cupfor Sheva B'rachot. Rav Shlomo Kluger(Chochmat Shlomo, ad loc.) says thatalthough logic dictates that it is permittedto drink the cup of Sheva B'rachot but notof bentching (remember, our minhag is touse two cups), that would diminish thestatus of the cup for bentching. Therefore,he prefers that one not drink from eitherbefore Havdala. The Eshel Avraham
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(Butchatch, cited in Minchat Yitzchak III,113) says that the Magen Avraham wouldagree that regarding Sheva B'rachot, onewould drink from the cup because theBorei Pri Hagefen that precedes drinkingmust be recited for there to be sevenb'rachot. Others say that it is sufficient thatone always uses a cup for bentching atSheva B'rachot or at formal gatherings witha minyan (see Tzitz Eliezer X, 45 andYabia Omer VIII, OC 33). Rav OvadiaYosef (Yabia Omer, ibid.) also points outthat, according to our minhag to mix thewine of the two cups together, one candrink from the Sheva B'rachot cup withoutdisgracing the Birkat Hamazon cup.
Assuming that the b'racha of Borei PriHaGefen is said and the wine is drunk,further issues and various opinions arise.Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igrot Moshe OC, IV69) posits that there are two elements of thecups of wine at Sheva B'rachot. The factthat the chatan and kalla drink is connectedto the very nature of Sheva B'rachot, whichrequire a cup; therefore, they should drink.That which the person who bentches atSheva B'rachot drinks is related to thegeneral matter of bentching on a cup. Sincehis drinking is not crucial, Rav Mosheposits that it is preferable that only thechatan and kalla drink the necessarycheeksful of wine. Some say the opposite,that the one who makes the b'racha shoulddrink (as well as the kalla, since noteverybody believes that women areobligated in Havdala) but the chatan shouldnot. The latter distinction is tenuous (TzitzEliezer, ibid.).
Some say that it is better that people onlytake a sip (see Tzitz Eliezer, ibid.), as a sipmight be permitted before Havdala andsufficient for drinking from the cup ofSheva B'rachot. If the one who bentched,the chatan, and the kalla each had about an
ounce, further opinions would be satisfied(see Mishna B'rura 271:73). However,except for those who do well with the"excitement" of taking careful steps tosatisfy as many opinions as possible, it isperfectly acceptable for at least the threepeople mentioned to drink as usual fromthe cup(s) (Yabia Omer, ibid.).
[Two related reminders are in place.
[1] It is not a simple matter whether panimchadashot are needed at se'uda shlishit (seeEven Ha'ezer 62:8). And [2], if Shabbat isthe last day of Sheva B'rachot, the b'rachotshould probably not be made at night (seeAsk the Rabbi, R'ei 5765).]Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat Yamim, theweekly parsha sheet published by Eretz Hemdah.You can read this section or the entire HemdatYamim at www.ou.org or www.eretzhemdah.org.And/or you can receive Hemdat Yamim by emailweekly, by sending an email to
info@eretzhemdah.org with the message:
Subscribe/English (for the English version) orSubscribe/Hebrew (for the hebrew version).Please leave the subject blank. Ask the VebbeRebbe is partially funded by the Jewish Agency forIsrael
[2] Candle by DayFor exaggerated feelings of guilt overwasting time, it sometimes helps to ask:What would I have done otherwise.
From "A Candle by Day" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein
A Candle by Day • The Antidote • The World of Chazalby Rabbi Shraga Silverstein
Now available at 0542099200
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[3] CHIZUK and IDUDfor Olim & notyetOlim respectivelyThe end of this week's parsha lists the tengenerations that span the period fromNoach to Avraham. The Torah records thatTerach had three sons: Avram, Nachor,Haran. Haran dies in UrKasdim, and thenTerach moves with his family includingAvram, Avram's wife Sarai, and Lot theson of the deceased Haran (maybe alsoNachor and his wife Milka). They leaveUrKasdim to go to the land of Canaan, butthey reach Charan (maybe so named inmemory of Haran?) and they settle there.Terach dies many years later in Charan, atthe age of 205.Next week we will read that HASHEMinstructed Avram do depart from hisfather's home, to go to the Promised Land.Avram thereupon took Sarai and Lot andleft Charan to travel to the Land of Canaan,and arrived there.Thus commenced the history of the JewishPeople in Eretz Yisrael.What does all this add up to? Terachintended to go to Canaan, but reaches onlyas far as Charan. It is Avram whocompletes the journey. Canaan EretzYisrael is a land of challenges, trials andtribulations: ten for Avraham (Pirkei Avotch.5) and many more for us hisdescendants.Aliya is not primarily a matter of personalconvenience; it is an act of faith inHASHEM. Terach's journey was a matterof expedience, and Charan was probably aconvenient place to settle. But Avraham'sjourney was a Divine mission to a land ofpromise and faith, a journey which bearssignificance for his descendants forever.How fortunate for us that HASHEMpreserved the original Aliya for Avraham!
Prof. Joseph S. Bodenheimer, Jerusalem
CHIZUK and IDUD SPECIALDue to the irregular production schedulefor TT during and around the Chagim, thefollowing Divrei Torah for ParshatB'reishit did not make it into last week's TT we feel that their messages are asappropriate this week...
Parshat B'reishit, dealing as it does withCreation, defies human understanding andpresents ideas that are cosmic in theirscope and substance. One of the morefascinating Midrashim suggests that ourworld is not the first that Gd created;rather "He built worlds and destroyedthem", somehow dissatisfied with what Hehad made, until He finally formed theworld we now inhabit. (This may be oneway of explaining the dinosaurs, or millionyearold fossils, which are "leftovers"from those previous worlds).
An amazing idea, to be sure. But also avery problematic one. Why would Gdcreate an imperfect world? Did He not see,from the start, that those worlds were notwhat He had in mind for His "master plan"for the universe? Surely He knows all andsees all; is infallible and completelyprescient. So how can we explain thephenomenon of "worlds built and worldsdismantled"?
If we examine the first three great heroes ofthe Torah Adam, No'ach, and Avraham we see that they had something unique incommon with each other. All three sawtheir world destroyed in front of their eyes,and had to rebuild from scratch. AdamHaRishon was expelled from idyllic GanEden, forced into the "cruel, cruel world"where he would no longer live forever andwould have to work hard, "by the sweat ofhis brow", to eke out an existence.
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No'ach, of course, witnessed thedestruction of the entire planet, wiping outall those whom he had known, other thanhis family, and changing the earth insignificant ways. Chazal tell us that No'achhad to be coerced from the Ark after thewaters receded. Who could blame him forbeing afraid to face this brave new world?And is it any wonder one of his first actswas to plant vineyards and produce wine,which might somewhat drown his sorrows?
Avraham, too, saw his universe radicallyaltered. His monotheistic beliefs causedhim to be shunned, then expelled, from hisbirthplace, forced to begin a new life in anew land, with all the challenges thatentails.
What gave Adam, No'ach and Avraham thestrength and the fortitude to carve out anew existence, to lose everything and stillgo on not only to survive, but to excel andpositively impact humanity? Where didthey get the courage to build a new world,after theirs had been destroyed? And wemight extend this question to Jewsthroughout history, from Seville toSalonika to the Sho'ah, who sufferedhorrendous tragedy and dislocation, and yetbuilt amazing new lives against all odds.
The answer should be clear: We are able tosee our worlds destroyed and build newworlds because Hashem did exactly that.When He "built and destroyed worlds", Heplaced in our spiritual DNA the ability todo the same! That is why He engaged inthis strange sequence of developing andthen dismantling successive worlds sothat we, the "shadow of Gd", would laterbe able to do it as well.
It bears noting that B'reishit always followsthe holiday for which we also engage inconstructing little huts to live in, huts that,just a week later, will be deconstructed.
The message is clear; we have the uncannyability to see our homes demolished, andyet go on. But there is a crucial corollary tothis theorem: The ups and downs of ourhomes in the exile, the wandering ofJewish communities across the globe insearch of permanence, will not go onforever. When the House of Israel is finallybuilt, it will be eternal, never to bedemolished, meant to house the entireJewish people in our own Land forever.THAT is the house and the home we areconstructing here, today, with the help ofHashem.
Rabbi Shmuel (Stewart) Weiss, Ra'anana
In his opening comment to the Torah,Rashi poses the question, "Why did theTorah not begin with Sh'mot 12:2, theverse that legislates the first Mitzva 'thismonth shall be for you...? Surely Rashi wasaware that B'reishit also includes Mitzvotlike circumcision and Gid Hanashe.
It would appear that Rashi, like theRambam, defines a Mitzva only as adictum that came through Moshe. TheMitzvot listed in B'reishit may have beenpracticed by the Avot, but unless Moshereceived them from Sinai, they are not tobe counted among the 613 commandments.
Oddly, the Rambam, though he included inhis Yad Hachazaka the Halacha, "At alltimes a man should live in Eretz Yisraeleven in a city wherein the majority areheathens but should not live outside EretzYisrael, even a city wherein the majorityare Jews", nevertheless does not count"dwelling in Israel" as one of the 613Mitzvot.
Rav Shlomo Goren z"l answered thispeculiarity by arguing that according to theRambam, "dwelling in Israel" was the loneMitzva that did not come through Moshe.
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Rather this one Mitzva came throughAvraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. In hisview, the entire Book of B'reishit isdevoted to this one Mitzva.
Avraham "walked through the land".Everywhere he went he built altars therebyseeking to introduce his religious belief inthe one God. Yitzchak and Yaakovfollowed in his footsteps. They too builtaltars. Moreover they deepened their holdon the country by involving themselves indiverse agricultural enterprises.
Our Rabbis teach us "Maasei Avot SimanL'banim! The deeds of the Fathers are signsfor the sons!" Some are wont to interpretthis phrase as a reflection on Jewishhistory. History repeats itself. Whathappened to the Forefathers eventuallyhappened to their progeny.
One can however interpret the phrase as aform of instruction to the futuregenerations. Look to Avraham, Yitzchak,and Yaakov! Emulate their lives and deeds.
Sixty years after the establishment of theState of Israel, B'reishit represents aclarion call to those who have not as yetfulfilled the Mitzva of Aliya. Come buildthe land! Come strengthen the ranks of theShomrei Mitzvot.
Rabbi Sender Shizgal, Ramot, Jerusalem
THOUGHTS as contributed by Aloh Naaleh membersfor publication in the Orthodox Union's 'TorahInsights', a weekly Torah publication on ParshatHaShavu'a
[4] Wisdom & WitWhen R' Chaim Shmulewitz arrived inShanghai, having escaped the cauldron ofEurope, the city was so crowded withrefugees that it was almost impossible tofind any lodging. Eventually, R' Chaim
was able to rent a room from a fellow Jew,who was totally removed from anythingJewish but who wanted to help other Jews,even though it meant he had to crowd hisown family into the remaining space.While R' Chaim stayed in that man's home,they would often spend time talking aboutall types of matters, often of what seemedto be of a trivial nature.R' Chaim's students, who knew how eachminute was precious to him and how henever wasted time when he could belearning Torah, were surprised that theirRebbe would spend so much time talkingto the man. When R' Chaim was asked outthis, replied, "I am deeply indebted to thatman for taking me into his home, and owehim a debt of gratitude for doing so. If hewants to talk to me, I owe it to him tospend time with him."
Shmuel Himelstein has written a wonderful seriesfor ArtScroll: Words of Wisdom, Words of Wit; ATouch of Wisdom, A Touch of Wit; and "Wisdomand Wit" — available at your local Jewishbookstore (or should be). Excerpted with thepermission of the copyright holder
[5] Parsha Points to PonderNO'ACH
1) Why does the Torah relate the births ofNo'ach's three sons in this week's Parsha(6:10) if this was already mentioned in lastweek's Parsha (5:32)?
2) Why does the Torah say TAKE FORYOU (L'CHA) FOOD (6:21)? What doesthat extra word teach?
3) Why does the Torah relate that the dovebrought No'ach the olive branchspecifically CLOSE TO EVENING (8:11)?What difference does that make?
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POSSIBLE ANSWERS...Ponder the questions first, then read here
1) The Ohr HaChayim explains that hadthe Torah not repeated their names afterdescribing No'ach's praises, we could haveunderstood that the Torah was suggestingthat there was nothing praiseworthy aboutNo'ach having children. The Torahmentioning them as part of his praisesteaches us that No'ach deserves praise forhaving these children because he had themto fulfill GD's command.
2) The Kli Yakar teaches that the wordL'CHA actually means from yours. GDwas telling No'ach to use his crops alone tosustain the ark's passengers. Thismagnified the miracle since there was noway No'ach's own possessions couldsustain all of the species of animals in theark.
3) The Kli Yakar suggests that No'achrelied on the window to provide lightduring the daytime but at night he used oilto create light in the ark. The fact that thedove brought the olive branch, a bittertasting branch, specifically in the eveningwhen it could be used for light, showedNoach that this was a message from GDand the time had come to leave the ark.Parsha Points to Ponder is prepared by RabbiDov Lipman, who teaches at Reishit Yerushalayimand Machon Maayan in Beit Shemesh and is theauthor of "DISCOVER: Answers for Teenagers(and adults) to Questions about the Jewish Faith"(Feldheim) and "TIMEOUT: Sports Stories as aGame Plan for Spiritual Success" just released byDevora Publishing. ppp@ouisrael.org
[6]
by Rakel BerenbaumFEEDback to berenbau@actcom.net.il
The Chesedof the Ark
For 120 years No'ach built the ark. Itwas hard work with such dimensionsand everything including a door, awindow, rooms, and three levels (oneeach for people, animals, and waste).The people stood around and mocked.Couldn't Gd have saved the world inanother way? Couldn't He have madeit just a bit easier for No'ach? Rashisites the Midrash that states that thereason for all No'ach's work was togive the people of that generation achance to mend their ways and savethemselves. They would watch No'achat work, and ask him what he was upto. For all those years he would answerthem that Gd was planning todestroy the world with a flood and theyshould repent in order to be saved.Unfortunately they didn't listen to him.Only No'ach and his family made it intothe ark; everyone else was destroyed.OZNAYIM LaTORAH asks aninteresting question. Wasn't it a wasteof all those years? Wasn't it a waste ofall that skilled carpentry that No'ach putinto building the ark? He answers thatthere was a purpose to the ark . No'achand his family were different when theyexited the ark than when they entered.Living in the ark being tossed around
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for 12 months with the rain pouringdown around them transformed themall. Under the influence of theknowledge of the constant dangeraround them and that their salvationdepended on Gd alone they all wentthrough a full T'shuva process.Also the world prior to the flood wasdestroyed because of CHAMAS stealing a lack of concern for eachother but in the ark No'ach and hisfamily showed great chesed. FirstNo'ach spent so many years buildingthe ark for all the animals; then hemaintained them all from his ownpossessions and with his own hardwork. In the ark, No'ach created thefoundation for the "new world" CHESED. Building the ark and living init was not for naught but the CHESEDinvolved saved the world.When I look around at the many acts ofchesed done at MELABEV where Iwork for Alzheimer's patients, I seemany aspects that relate to this week'sparsha. Just as we asked about theapparent futility in building the arksome people might ask why botherputting so much effort into caring forpeople with Alzheimer's disease theydon't remember anyway. But this is notwhat the dedicated staff and volunteersat Melabev think. They, like No'ach,continue with their holy work day inday out. The person with Alzheimersdeserves the best care including suchtherapies as horticulture, dance, music,art and Savion mental exercises atthe computer. These are all ways tostimulate the person and touch theirneshama within.This is a chesed thatchanges us as well. (www.melabev.org)You too can be a part of this chesedorganization. Come volunteer in one of
the ten centers throughout Jerusalemand Beit Shemesh. Join the annualMELABEV walkathon being held inEilat this December (www.friendsofmelabev.com)We learn from Noach that every act ofchesed can change the world. BTW,The walk is also like No'ach's ark itwill be held on three levels Fortrekkers a challenging trek, for hikers,and for walkers, an easier route.And if you don't think you yourself canwalk there are still ways that you canparticipate send along your friends,sponsor a walker, encourage others todo so. And just as No'ach spread theword of the impending flood spreadthe word about MELABEV and theupcoming walkathon. OLAM CHESEDYIBANEH.
This week's recipe is for a 3layer cake like the three layers of the ark.
COCONUT 3LAYER CAKE3½ cups sifted flour4 tsp. baking powder½ tsp. salt1 cup margarine2 cups sugar1 cup soy milk1 tsp. vanilla extract1 tsp. coconut flavoring8 egg whites1½ cups grated coconut
Sift together flour, baking powder andsalt.Cream butter. Gradually add sugar,creaming well after each addition. Siftin 1/3 of flour mixture and beat well.Add 1/2 cup soy milk and beat. Add an
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additional 1/3 of flour mixture. Beat andadd 1/2 cup soy milk and beat. Addremaining flour mixture. Beat untilsmooth. Stir in vanilla and coconutflavorings.In a separate bowl beat egg whitesuntil stiff but not dry. Carefully fold eggwhites into cake mixture, folding untilmixtures are evenly distributed. Dividecake batter into three 8 inch preparedcake pans. Bake at 375F(190C) for2025 minutes (360450 chalakim* justkidding, actually, not just kidding, so ifyou have a timer whose units are chalakim,go for it Phil) or until cake tests done.Frost with chocolate icing, place 1/4cup of coconut between layers.Garnish with coconut on top of cake forrain drops add jelly animals as well.Yields 1 three layer 8 inch cake.*18 chalakim = 1 minute; 1080 chalakim =1 hour. 1 cheilek = 31/3 sec.
[7] MichoUlpanYou know the paper cutter commonlyknown as a Guillotine?
Well, in common Hebrew, it's called aGILYOTINA
The "correct" Hebrew terms areMACHTEICHA or MAGZEIRA
[8] Torah from Nature
OKAPIWe've presented this animal before, butlet's take another look...
a mammal of the Ituri Rainforest (almostsunless environment) in central Africa...bears striped markings reminiscent of thezebra, but it is most closely related to thegiraffe... known only to the local peopleuntil 1901.
Okapis have dark backs, with strikinghorizontal white stripes on the front andback legs, making them resemble zebrasfrom a distance. These markings arethought to help young follow theirmothers through the dense rain forest;they also serve as camouflage... body shapesimilar to that of the giraffe... but muchshorter necks... very long (approx. 30cm),flexible, blue tongues that they use to stripleaves and buds from trees... long enoughwash its eyelids and clean its ears: it is oneof the few mammals that can lick its ownears... Okapis live alone (except to mate)or in motheroffspring pairs... however,Okapis tolerate each other in the wild andmay even feed in small groups for shortperiods of time... females are slightly largerthan males... they eat tree leaves and buds,grass, ferns, fruit, and fungi. Many of theplant species fed upon by the okapi areknown to be poisonous to humans...
And guess what? Okapis like giraffes areruminants and clovenhoofed, meaningthey are probably kosher. Don't hold yourbreath for them to be on a menu soon...
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Treasuresin the SandBased on the phrase in V'ZOT HAB'RACHA, i¥pªt §UElFg i¥pEn §h, I usually apply the term "Treasures in theSand" to the many interesting Gimatriya Twins (a.k.a.Gimatriya Matches) I have stumbled upon while"playing" with one computer search program oranother. It is like walking along the beach and your toe,absentmindedly probing in the sand, happens upon apretty shell or some other object of interest or curiosity.These are not meant to prove anything, but they tomake a nice exclamation point to a statement that canstand on its own with just a period (fullstop) at its end.Or, if you prefer, they are the cherries at the top of a(low fat, sugar free) ice cream sundae.
It started at the very beginning, withB'REISHIT BARA ELOKIM... The world wascreated, generation followed generation, andGd grew to regret having created the world,so to speak. The one "bright spot" in it allwas No'ach. And Gd told No'ach that Hewas going to destroy the world... and He did.Almost. Just No'ach and family and everythingwith him in the Teiva was saved... in order tostart all over again. We can look at B'reishit8:14 as the end of the whole first era of theworld, because the Earth has finally dried andis ready to start all over again when in 8:15,Gd commands No'ach and co. to exit theTeiva and do what Adam before him wascommanded to do. These first 8½ chapters,198 p'sukim are bounded by ` ´xA zi ¦W` ¥x§A:u ¤x « d z ¬¥§e m¦i ©nX©d z ¬¥ mi®¦dl| ¡ and ÆW ¤cg©aE:u ¤x « d dW§a«i W ¤c ®g ©l mFi mi ²¦x §U¤r§e d ¯r§a ¦W§A i½¦p ¥X©dThe gimatriya of the first pasuk in the Torahis 2701. So too for B'reishit 8:14.
Another Gimatriya Match...m¬gÎz ¤ m ¥WÎz ¤ mi®¦pa d ´Wl §W ©gp c ¤lF¬I©e
:z¤t«iÎz ¤§ei:e ziy`xa
The three sons of No'ach represent all thenations of the world.
x¬¤W £ a¤w ¾¥r u ¤x ® d i¥iFB lM ½L£r §x«©f §a Ek £x«A§z¦d§e :i «¦lw§A Y§r ©nWgi:ak ziy`xa
Gd said to Avraham: "All the nations of theworld shall be blessed through yourdescendants all because you obeyed Myvoice." These two p'sukim have the samegimatriya (2938)
[11] Divrei MenachemSometimes we have the possibility to do theright thing; but do we always actualize thatpotential? No'ach provides a fine illustrationof this challenge. Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburghpoints out that Yeshayahu's prophecy, "Thespirit of Gd shall rest ('Venacha') upon him"(Yeshayahu 11:23) referring to a personwho embodies the Mashi'ach wasapplicable to the enigmatic No'ach.
The spirit, here, is associated with the nameHashem, referred to by our Sages as the"Name of Compassion". And herein lay thechallenge to No'ach. No'ach is associatedwith rest "This one will bring us rest fromour work" and is credited with creating theplow and eliciting from Gd the promise notto destroy the world again through a flood.
But only after the Flood, the Zohar records,does No'ach question how Gd could havebrought a flood to the world. Hashem angrilyresponds: "Why did you not say this earlier[before the Flood]?... I constantly delayedand said, 'When is No'ach going to ask forcompassion for the world?'"
No'ach never reached his potential. Only,generations later, Avraham pleads for therighteous of S'dom and Moshe beseechesGd to wipe his name ("Mecheini") from theTorah rather than destroy His downslidingsubjects. "Mecheini" is a permutation of"Mei No'ach" 'the waters of No'ach'. Thus,in a sense, Moshe rectified No'ach'sshortcoming and left a powerful message formankind on the merits of seeking mercy.
Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Persoff
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Practical guide to V'tein Tal u'Matar LivrachaFrom Tuesday night (Maariv), the eve of the 7th of Marcheshvan, November 4th, until Pesach,we (in Eretz Yisrael) ask for rain in the BAREICH ALEINU bracha of every weekday Amida,with the words V'tein Tal U'matar Livracha [hereafter, T&M].
A weekday Amida without T&M (from 7 Cheshvan until 14 Nissan) is invalid and must berepeated. This means that if you finish an Amida and realize that you forgot T&M, you must saythe Amida again.
For example, if you remember omitting T&M in the Shacharit Amida, anytime during themorning, you have to "stand" another Amida. And if it is in the middle of the afternoon that youremember your omission, then you say a second Mincha Amida as TASHLUMIN for Shacharit(almost as if you didn't say the Amida at all). This is referring to being sure that T&M wasomitted see note below for cases of doubt.
If you catch your omission when you are still in the Amida, the following rules apply:
If one is still in the BAREICH ALEINU bracha (not having yet said Gd's name at the end ofthe bracha), then back up and say V'TEIN TAL U'MATAR LIVRACHA, and continue fromthere.
If you already said Gd's name of M'VAREICH HASHANIM, then continue (without goingback) and when you get to the SH'MA KOLEINU bracha, say T&M as follows:,dY«¨ mi ¦pEp£g ©z §e zFN ¦t §Y r ¥nFW l' ¥ i ¦M ,Ep«¥zN ¦t §Y z ¤ oFvx §aE mi ¦n£g ©x §A l ¥A ©w §e ,Epi«¥lr m ¥g ©x §e qEg ,Epi ¥dl'¡ 'd ,Ep«¥lFw r ©n §W
.Ep«¥ai ¦W §Y l © mwi ¥x ,Ep«¥M §l ©n ,Li«¤pt §N ¦nEdkx §a¦l xhnE l ©h o ¥z §eKExA . mi ¦n£g ©x §A l ¥ x §U ¦i L §O©r z©N ¦t §Y ©r«¥nFW dY © i ¦M ,.dN ¦t §Y ©r«¥nFW ,'d dY ©
Because Sh'ma Koleinu is an appropriate b'racha for requests, saying T&M here is preferableto repeating (and thereby nullifying) one or more b'rachot, which is what would happen if wehad to go back to BAREICH ALEINU.
If you pass the point of insertion in Sh'ma Koleinu, but haven't said Gd's name in the end ofthe bracha, then say T&M and continue with KI ATA SHOMEI'A...If you finish Sh'ma Koleinu but haven't said the word R'TZEI yet, you can say V'tein TalU'matar Livracha after SHOMEI'A T'FILA and before R'TZEI. Since you have not yetbegun R'TZEI, it is still considered being in the "brachot of request" section of the Amida, andT&M fits.
Once you say the word R'TZEI (and you haven't asked for T&M yet), you must goback to BAREICH ALEINU (not just SH'MA KOLEINU) and say the Amida straightfrom there. Although this involves repeating brachot you have already said, this is whatmust be done.
This rule applies from R'TZEI until you finish the Amida. That point is either when you finish Ei §d ¦ii ¦l£ Fb §e i ¦xEv 'd ,Li«¤pt §l i ¦A ¦l oFi §b ¤d §e i ¦t i ¥x §n ¦ oFvx §l or when you begin taking your first step back. If it isonly then that you realize that you have not said T&M, then you must say the entire Amidafrom the beginning.
If one is unsure whether he said T&M or not, the halacha goes by habit. If T&M has not beensaid 90 times, we assume a habit has not been formed and consider T&M not to have beensaid. After 90 times, we may assume it was said (unless you are certain it was omitted).Furthermore, one must deal with a doubt only if it enters his mind immediately, not "sometimelater". There is more on this topic, but this is it for now...
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A classic ParshaPix. One of thesedays (weeks) we'll redo theParshaPix in a major way. But fornow, in the color format (which isn'tthat old, and which comes out somuch better than the old PPs withthe inhouse B&W printing), we'llkeep last year's and just add to it alittle (in the form of someUnexplaineds).
The top row is based on an oldjoke about the worms coming inan apple, but all the other animalscoming in pears (pairs). So asample of animals are to be foundin pears. They represent theanimals that came into the Teiva.Note too that the swan and thesheep are marked with x7, sincethey came in seven pairs, ratherthan a single pair
There is also a fish to remind usthat fish were not taken on theTeiva, but survived the Mabul in acolumn of water under the Teivathat did not have the destructiveforces of the rest of thefloodwaters.
There is also a Triceratops, whichwas a rhinoceroslike dinosaur.One possible explanation forfinding fossil remains ofprehistoric animals is that theyexisted in antediluvian times, butdid not survive the Flood. Thisdoes not explain everything"satisfactorily", but it is a factor totake into account.
Then there are the famous dovewith olive branch...
cloud with rainbow...
and cloud with rain.
The grapes and wine flask arereferences to No'ach postFloodoccupation.
The people figures represent theproliferation of human beingsafter the Flood.
The Tower of Babel isaccompanied by words of manylanguages. The words all meanWATER, the main theme of thefirst part of the sedra. languagesare: Luxembourgish (similar tothe German word, but with anadditional a), Zulu, Chinese,Swedish, Tamil, Gaelic, Italian(and Latin), Carib, Finnish, Welsh,Hungarian, Albanian, Bengali,Korean, Indonesian. Notespecifically that the Indonesianword for water is air (a differentone of the ancient four elements,in English, of course). Note toothat tuna fish probably beganbeing packed in water (and notjust oil) because of the Carib wordfor water tuna. (Just kidding, it'sonly a TTriddle theory.)
There are several representationsof descendants of No'ach whobecame the 70 nations of theworld. The ear of corn, TIRAS inHebrew; a KUSH ball; GOMERPyle; an OVAL for one of the sonsof YOKTAN ben EIVER; Anotherson of Yoktan was SH'VA,represented by the SH'VA in theoval; a 12 inch ruler whichrepresents one of the sons ofCham, PUT, as in U'FOOT
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TTRIDDLES... are Torah Tidbitsstyleriddles on Parshat HaShavua (sometimes on thecalendar). They are found in the hardcopy ofTT scattered throughout, usually at the bottomof different columns. In the electronic versionsof TT, they are found all together at the end ofthe ParshaPixTTriddles section. The bestsolution set submitted each week (there isn'talways a best) wins a double prize a CD fromNoam Productions and/or a gift (game, puzzle,book, etc.) from Big Deal.
TTriddles are scattered through the hard copy ofTorah Tidbits and are listed in the email andweb versions. They are in the order in whichthey are found in the hard copy, but notnecessarily in the order in which they wereoriginally conceived. In the wild, they aresometimes overlooked. If you are interested, gopage by page and keep your eyes peeled.
Last issue’s (B'reishit) TTriddles:
[1] Palm in the River
The river that flowed from GAN EDEN divided intofour "heads". One was called CHIDEKEL, whichcontains the word DEKEL, which means palm hence, Palm in the River. Simple TTriddle.
[2] Simchat Torah, yes; Thursday, no; Friday night,thrice; Shabbat morning, yes.
This one was gotten by several TTriddles solvers.The answer is VAYCHULU (B'reishit 2:13). We readit at the end of Chatan B'reishit on Simchat Torah.We did not read it on the Thursday before ShabbatB'reishit, because the reading does not go all theway through RISHON, the first Aliya of the sedra.Rather, we read only the first three days ofCreation. Some have the custom for Thursday toread through the fifth day of Creation, sinceThursday is YOM CHAMISHI. Either way, VAYCHULUis not read on Monday or Thursday (nor at Minchaof Shabbat Simchat Torah something that onlyhappens here in Israel scheduled for next year,5770). On Friday night of Shabbat B'reishit (andany Shabbat that is not Yom Tov), we sayVAYCHULU three times once in the Amida, once
right after it, and again as the intro to Kiddush.When Yom Tov coincides with Shabbat, there is noVAYCHULU in the Amida. Which is the reason thatwe say VAYCHULU right after the Amida. This wasoriginally to be done only when Shabbat was YomTov, so that we would get in a VAYCHULU eventhough the Amida has none. By a very imbalancedLO PLUG, we say VAYCHULU every Friday night even though most of them do have it in the Amida.And, on Shabbat morning, we read VAYCHULU once,in the Torah reading, at the end of the first Aliya.
[3] a partial preview of the Seder
This is probably just a whimsical "drash" on thep'sukim, but here it is: B'reishit 3:1819 Thornsalso and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and youshall eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of yourface shall you eat bread, till you return to theground; for out of it you were taken; for dust youare, and to dust shall you return. Eat the herbs ofthe field this is KARPAS. B'zei'at apecha In thesweat of your face, this is the salt water into whichthe KARPAS is dipped. Shall you eat bread this, ofcourse, is MOTZIMATZA. till you return to HAADAMA(the ground), this is MAROR, the "other" Borei PriHaAdama food (although we don't say a bracha onit besides the Mitzva bracha). There's your partialpreview of the Seder.
[4] The anagram that supports R' Eliezer's opinion
Rabbi Eliezer says that the world was created inTishrei; Rabbi Yehoshua says, in Nissan. The lettersof the word B'REISHIT can be rearranged to spellB'ALEF TISHREI or ALEF B'TISHREI, either way, thatsays that B'REISHIT (that is, Creation) took place inTishrei. The anagram seems to support R' Eliezer.
[5] Confused fourheads: photograph in cchiild'sknee
We just added the work IN to the weird wording ofthe TTriddle, because they were left out of theoriginal presentation of this TTriddle. Fourheadsrefers to the abovementioned four heads of theriver that came from Eden. PISHON, GICHON,CHIDEKEL, and P'RAT. Confused means that the
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letters of the words are scrambled. With the IN, theyare all there even the apostrophe of P'RAT.
[6] ParshaPix Unexplaineds
There was one more than we said there was. First,the two that go together. The candycane is forCane, the English version of KAYIN. AbrahamLincoln or ABE L. for short is for the English versionof HEVEL (Abel).
The Hamantash is for Haman based on theTraditional answer to the question: Haman from theTorah, where? The answer is in Gd's challenge toAdam (in 3:11) ...did you eat from the tree Icommanded you not to eat from? HAMIN (spelledHEIMEMNUN, as is the name HAMAN) HA'EITZ...This is not just a play on words. One commentaryexplains it this way: One of Haman's negativecharacteristics was his inability to be satisfied withhaving so much, because he didn't have everything.He had wealth, power, honor, status, family... but hedeclared to his wife and loved ones: And all this isnot worth anything to me, when I see Mordechai...To want even Mordechai to bow to him is one thing.Understandable. But to say that nothing he has isworth anything because of Mordechai this is trulya negative characteristic. This is what Gd wasasking Adam. Are you Hamanlike (so to speak) inthat you could not be satisfied with having everyother tree in the GAN to eat from; you needed toeat from this one tree that I commanded you not toeat from?
And then there is the flute at the bottom of theParshaPix. To merely point to YUVAL, son ofLEMECH and ADA, as the inventor of musicalinstruments is not on the level of a TTriddle or evena ParshaPix Unexplained. Note that the flute inquestion is made of metal. For that, we need theskill of TUVAL KAYIN, son of LEMECH and TZILA,YUVAL's halfbrother, the one who first startedworking with copper and iron. For sure (TTriddlewise) these two fellows formed a company togetherto produce metal flutes. YUVAL & TUVAL, LTD. has asort of ring to it.
[7] The Zodiac (Mazal) Pic
The picture in the Word of the Month box is of ascorpio not the Zodiac constellation which is themazal of Cheshvan, and not one of the variousarachnids of warm dry regions, having a segmentedbody and an erectile tail tipped with a venomoussting. Nor a boat, helicopter, comic book character,movie or song... but Scorpio (dartthrower) was aRoman artillery piece invented around 50 BCE...Also known by the name of the triggerfish, it wasdescribed in detail by Vitruvius... This weapon ofremarkable precision and power was particularlydreaded by the enemies of the Roman Empire... itwas a smaller weapon, more of a sniper weaponthan a siege engine, being operated by only oneperson. The scorpio was basically a primitive giantcrossbow, a 'catapult with bolts', probably firstinvented by the Greeks, then later adopted andused on a larger scale by the Roman legions. Thiscatapult used a system of springs with torsion,making it possible to obtain very great power andthus a high speed of ejection for the bolts... There'smore, but we will let the curious ones among youlook it up on the internet.
This week's TTriddles:[1] Who can say "My wife's mother is a
Canaanite"?[2] But certainly not February[3] When do you go out like No'ach?[4] Did you say AT&T or El Diluvio[5] Remember to vote on 28 Seed[6] he split into village grass[7] Who are Big No'ach, Little No'ach
and No'ach the Fourth?
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