Riddles of the Week

(For answers see above)

1. After the giving of the Torah, the first mitzvos taught to Bnei Yisroel were the code of civil law contained in Parshas Mishpatim. Why doesn’t the Shulchan Aruch similarly begin with the section known as Choshen Mishpat, which discusses these financial subjects?
2. Which part of the human body does not require burial if detached while a person is still alive, but must be buried if it separates after he dies?
3. In this week’s parsha we have the pasuk: שן תחת שן – “a tooth for a tooth” (21:24). If one has a major toothache and needs to have a tooth extracted is there any reason to refrain from doing so?
4. We mentioned above the idea that Jews have 32 teeth. The Mageleh Amukos (oifen 164) and the Shlah HaKadosh (Beha’aloscha, Torah Ohr) both bring this. Non-Jew’s, however, have a different amount, some say 33 and some say 31. If a non-Jew converts and becomes Jewish, how many teeth will he have?
5. In this week’s parsha we have the mitzvah of lending money. We are also commanded: לא תהיה עליו כנושה – “Don’t be an oppressor”. (22:24). We learn from here a prohibition for the lender to ask the borrower to pay back, if he knows that the borrower doesn’t have money. If the lender is unsure if the borrower has money available to repay or not, is there also a prohibition, or is the prohibition only when the lender knows for certain that the borrower doesn’t have the money?