Riddles of the Week

Riddles of the Week

(For answers see inside)

1. Rashi writes (Bamidbar 25:18) that Hashem commanded the Jewish people to kill the Midianites because they caused the Jews to sin by making their daughters available for forbidden relations. Does this mean that non-Jews are commanded in the mitzvah of לפני עור - not causing another person to sin?
2. Which pasuk in Parshas Pinchas contains the names of 11 different people?
3. In this week’s parsha we learn all about inheritance, what would you say about the following: A young man suddenly became ill and found himself on his deathbed. He realized that he had not yet prepared a will regarding the division of his estate. Although he did not yet have any children, his wife was pregnant at the time. Uncertain about the baby’s gender, he left instructions that if his wife gives birth to a boy, the son should inherit 2/3 of his possessions, with the remaining 1/3 going to his wife. If she gives birth to a girl, the daughter should inherit 1/3 of the estate, with the remaining possessions belonging to his widow. After the man passed away, his wife gave birth to twins – a boy and a girl.
   After mourning his death, his widow found herself confused about how to adapt her husband’s instructions to this strange turn of events, so she approached Rav Chaim Soloveitchik for guidance. What would you have said, and what do you think R’ Chaim said?
4. In this week’s parsha we have the pasukim which discuss the various korbanos brought on each Yom Tov and we read pasukim from Parshas Pinchos on the various Yomim Tovim. The Mishnah in Megillah (21a) teaches that on a regular Monday and Thursday we call up three people, we don’t subtract, and we don’t add. On Yom Tov we have five aliyas, and we don’t subtract, however, if needed we may add.
   If there are two chasanim in shul during a regular weekday Shacharis, and they are both Yisraelim, may we add a fourth aliyah for one of the chasanim since for him it’s a Yom Tov, or is it forbidden?
5. In this week’s parsha we learn about the obligation to bring the korban tamid twice daily. How many times was the korban tamid brought in a year? And where is there a remez to this in the pasukim that discuss the korban tamid?
6. In its discussion of Rosh Chodesh, the Torah (28:11) uses the words: ובראשי חדשיכם – “And on your new months”, while it refers to Shabbos (28:9) as simply וביום השבת – “And on the Shabbos day”. Why does the Torah speak about Rosh Chodesh in the plural while using the singular for Shabbos and the Yomim Tovim?