Riddles of the Week

(For answers see inside)

1. I recently learnt Hilchos Kibbud Av and came across a Me’or V’Shemesh (Parshas Ma’asei) who brings that R’ Elimelech MiLizhensk would do teshuvah for the pain that he caused his mother before he was born. Along the same lines, the Divrei Chaim (Ki Savo) brings that R’ Elimelech MiLizhensk would burn his hands to serve as atonement for when he hit his mother when feeding. Where do we find in this week’s parsha that someone was worried about kibbud av v’eim even before he was born?
2. In this week’s parsha we have the pasuk: עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי וישמור משמרתי מצותי חוקותי ותורתי - “Because Avraham listened to My voice and safeguarded what I put in his charge, My commandments, My statutes and My teachings” (Bereishis 26:5). The Gemara in Yoma (28b) says: Rava and some say Rav Ashi taught, Avraham Avinu kept the entire Torah - even the mitzvah of eruv tavshilin (עירובי תבשילין). He learns this from the word ותורתי, which is plural and means “My Torah’s” and we see that he kept both the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. The obvious question is: Why does the Gemara mention this specific mitzvah? If it is coming to teach us that he kept even mitzvos derabonon, the Gemara could simply say, “Avraham kept the entire Torah before it was given, even mitzvos derabonon”, why does the Gemara need to mention the mitzvah of eruv tavshilin?
3. We mentioned above that Avraham Avinu kept the mitzvah of eruv tavshilin. The main heter for making an eruv tavshilin, is based on hoyil, i.e. that visitors may arrive today and want the food today. However, in the times of Avraham Avinu even if visitors would come they weren’t Jewish, and the halachah is one isn’t allowed to cook for non-Jews on Yom Tov, so how did hoyil help?
4. In this week’s parsha we have the famous story of Eisav and Yaakov. The pasuk says: ותקח רבקה את בגדי עשו בנה הגדול החמודות אשר אתה בבית ותלבש את יעקב בנה הקטן – “Rivkah took the clothes of Eisav her big son which were in her house, and she put them on Yaakov her small son.” Why does the pasuk stress that Eisav was the big son, and Yaakov was small, do we not already know this? And what difference does it make at this point in time?
5. In this week’s parsha we learn: ויאהב יצחק את עשיו כי ציד בפיו ורבקה אוהבת את יעקב – “Yitzchok loved Eisav as hunting was in his mouth, and Rivkah loved Yaakov” (Bereishis 25:28). How could it be that Yitzchok loved Eisav because of his hunting, more than his son Yaakov he learnt Torah all day?
6. The Gemara (Bava Basra 16b) says that on the day Avraham died, Eisav committed five terrible sins, one of which was having relations with a נערה מאורשה – an adolescent girl engaged to be married. As the Rambam writes (Hilchos Ishus 1:1) that the legal status of engagement did not exist before the giving of the Torah, how could there be a נערה מאורשה in the times of Eisav?