Riddles of the Week

Riddles of the Week

1. On the 6th of Av, in the year 5729 the first man went to the moon. At the time the shailah arose if according to the Torah it is permissible to do so, or if perhaps since there is great danger involved in doing so it is forbidden. The pasuk says: השמים שמים לה' והארץ נתן לבני אדם – “The Heavens is Heaven that is Hashem’s, and the world below was given to man”, does this pasuk indicate that man is only allowed to stay on earth? More recently on 11th of Elul, 5784, 7:25 a.m. Central time, Boca Chica, Texas a rocket made its way to the moon. The question that arises is, is a Yid allowed to be on the flight?
2. If one is forced to go out and fight a war on Shabbos, is he obligated to wear tefillin?
3. There was a soldier who when serving in the army got a tattoo of an immodest woman engraved on his left arm in the exact spot where he should wear tefillin, and he was unable to remove the tattoo. Later on in life he became a ba'al teshuvah and he wanted to know if he was allowed to wear tefllin on top of such a despicable thing, or, if perhaps it would be better for him to wear tefillin on his other arm, what would you advise?
4. Where is there a hint in this week’s parsha not to eat the ends of a loaf of bread? And where does this minhag come from?
5. Reuven finds himself in prison over Pesach and all he has to eat is chometz, and due to sakonas nefoshos he has no choice but to eat it. Can he recite kiddush on seder night and recite “Chag HaMatzos” whilst eating the chometz, or is too much of a contradiction?
6. We all know that Pharaoh ran to Moshe in pyjamas in the middle of the night. The question is, however, did he go alone, or did he perhaps take someone with him for company?