Riddles of the Week
(For answers see inside)
- Why does the Torah allow a father to revoke the vows of his daughter (Bamidbar 30:6) but not of his son?
- If a gabbah goes around the shul collecting tzedokah and a person decides that he wants to give, however, in the end the gabbah doesn’t come, does he still have to give the money to tzedokah or can the money be used for something else?
- In this week’s parsha (Ma’asei) we learn about oray miklot. The Gemara in Makkos (10a) teaches, that if a talmid [student] needs to go to oray miklot, his rebbe must go with. The reason for this is, because it says in Parshas Shoftim (which also talks about oray miklot): ‘ՆԵ ԴԲՀ ՀԱՀՈՅՀ ԱՐԵՐ ՅՆՈՍ ՀՄԱ ՈՀԱ’ – ‘This is the matter of the killer, he shall flee to there and live’. The Gemara explains: ‘ՈՀԱ ՄՂԱՀ ՄՂԱՀ ՄՂԱՀ ՄՂԱՀ ՄՂԱՀ’ – ‘We do for him what is needed to keep him alive’. The Rambam (Hilchos Rotze’ach, Perek 7) rules in accordance with the Gemara and explains: The reason a rebbe must go with, is because a life without Torah is like death, and since the din is we must keep the killer alive, the rebbe must go with and teach him Torah. The question is, does a friend also have to go with? The Gemara in Ta’anis (23a) teaches: ‘ՈՀԱ ՄՂԱՀ ՄՂԱՀ ՄՂԱՀ ՄՂԱՀ’ – ‘either with a friend, or it’s like death’, we see that not having friend is like death. Therefore, just like a rebbe needs to go with, it would seem that a friend must also go with?
- The Torah requires (Bamidbar 35:25) a person who kills accidentally to flee to one of the cities of refuge and remain there until the death of the Kohen Gadol. The Gemara (Makkos 9b) says that two talmiday chachomim should escort him to the city of refuge to protect him from the go’el hadam [avenger of the blood] in the event that they encounter one another before the murderer reaches the safety of the city of refuge. Why were two talmiday chachomim used for this purpose instead of two strong men, who could more easily defend him from the angry blood-redeemer?