Riddles of the Week

Riddles of the Week

(For answers see above)

1. There are nine references to clothing or laws involving clothing in this week’s parsha. How many of them can you identify?
2. In this week’s parsha we learn about the prohibition of: לא יהיה כלי גבר על אשה - “That the clothes of a man shouldn’t be found on a woman” (22:5). Does this mean that it’s forbidden for a woman to drive?
3. In this week’s parsha we have the mitzvah for a husband to make his wife happy during shonah rishonah, the first year of marriage. The pasuk says: ושמח את אשתו – “One should make his wife happy.” (24:5) The Baal HaTurim says:ושמח מנין ימים של ושמח חייב בתשמיש המטה בשנה שהן כל ימות השנה חוץ מיה "כ – “The numerical value of the word ושמח is 354, which is the number of days a husband is commanded to live with his wife, which is the entire year, besides for Yom Kippur”. The question is, surely, a husband isn’t allowed to live with his wife on Tisha B’Av either? Moreover, every time one’s wife is a niddah he also must separate from her? Additionally, the Arizal writes that there are various other times one should avoid living with his wife as well, such as on the night of Pesach, Rosh Hashanah etc. so how can the Baal HaTurim say there are 354 nights in a year that one may live with his wife?
4. In this week’s parsha we have the mitzvah of: ביומו תתן שכרו – “On the same day you shall pay him” (24:15), the mitzvah to pay workers on the same day that they finish the job. The halachah is (Choshen Mishpot 339:3) that a day worker needs to be paid the following night, if one doesn’t pay by the morning, he violates בל תלין. If a person hires a day worker on erev Shabbos, does he violate בל תלין if he doesn’t pay immediately on Friday, since on Shabbos one can’t pay, or do we say that since he can’t pay, he doesn’t violate anything?
5. As we mentioned above, in this week’s parsha we have the mitzvah of ביומו תתן שכרו, the obligation to pay workers on time. The Gemara in Eruvin (22a) and Avodah Zorah (3a) on the pasuk: אשר אנכי מצוך היום לעשותם, darshens: היום לעשותם ומחר לקבל שכרם , דשכר מצוה בהאי עלמא ליכא – “The commandments are for doing today, however, the reward is at a later point, as there is no reward given in this world”. The question is, Hashem keeps the entire Torah (see Yerushalmi, Rosh Hashanah 1:3), so why is it ok for Him to only pay us in the next world, why is Hashem not worried about violating פעולת שכיר ביומו תתן שכרו ולא תלין ?