Riddles of the Week

(For answers see above)

1. Which Yom Tov was it, when the malochim came to visit Avraham?
2. When Avraham Avinu invited the malochim to come and eat, he told them והשענו תחת העץ – “come and recline with me under the tree”, why didn’t he simply tell them to come and sit down, why did they have to lean?
3. When one has guests for a meal and it is taking time for the main course to be prepared, and some of the dishes are ready and some are not, should one bring out the dishes that are ready, or should he wait for everything to be ready and bring it all out at the same time? Bring proof from this week’s parsha.
4. Who was the first child in history to get placed in a crib?
5. When Hagar saw that her child Yishmael was very ill and about to die, she distanced herself from him as she didn’t want to see him dying. The pasuk says:הרחק כמטחוי קשת כי אמרה אל אראה במות הילד – “She distanced herself some bowshots away as she said, ‘let me not see the death of the child’” (Bereishis 21:16). The Medrash (53 13) says that Hagar distanced herself: כמרחק מרוצת שתי טיחות קשת – “The distance an arrow can travel in two shots.” The Medrash says this is 2000 amos. The question is, if the reason Hagar distanced herself was because she couldn’t face seeing the death of her child, why did she need to distance herself the distance an arrow can travel in two shots, surely the distance of one arrow shot would have sufficed?
6. When going to perform the akeidah, Avraham takes with Eliezer and Yishmael, however, he then tells them: שבו לכם פה עם החמור – “stay here with the donkey”. The question is, why didn’t Avraham take them with to be mechanech [educate] them in the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem and mesiras nefesh for kiddush Hashem?