Riddles of the Week

(For answers see above)

1. The longest human pregnancy in Tanach is found in Parshas Vayishlach. Whose pregnancy was it, and how long did it last?
2. In this week’s parsha we find one of the few mitzvos that are found in sefer Bereishis, the mitzvah of: על כן לא יאכלו בני ישראל את גיד הנשה – “because Eisav’s guardian angel wounded Yaakov in his thigh, the Jewish people do not eat the sciatic nerve” (32:33). The Hadar Zekeinim L’Baalei HaTosfos explains that the purpose of this mitzvah, is to remind us how Yaakov was saved when fighting with Eisav’s malach, and instead of being killed he was just wounded in his sciatic nerve. The question is, if this is the reason, why is the mitzvah to refrain from eating it, why is the mitzvah no to specifically eat it, like what we find on Pesach, where there is a mitzvah to eat matzah to remind us of the matzah that was eaten in Mitzrayim?
3. In this week’s parsha we learn: ויבא יעקב שלם עיר שכם - “Yaakov arrived at the city of Shechem complete” (33:18). Rashi quoting the Gemara in Shabbos (33b) says: שלם בממונו, שלם בתורתו, שלם בגופו – “Complete with his money, complete with his Torah, and complete with his body.” The question is, how can we say Yaakov was complete with his money, when surely, he lost a tremendous amount of it by sending all the gifts that he sent to Eisav to appease him?
4. In the third answer of the above riddle, we mentioned the Gemara in Bava Basra which says that: כל מה שישראל נותנים מסים לאומות העולם נחשב לצדקה – “Any taxes that Jewish people pay to the nations of the world, is considered tzedokah”. The question is, if paying tax is considered tzedokah, may one pay it from his ma’aser kesofim?
5. If the owner of a building company is Jewish, and he has some Arab workers working for him, is he allowed to eat meat on the same table as them, when they are eating milk?