1) How was Yisro able to communicate his arrival to Moshe (18:6) if the Jews were surrounded by the Clouds of Glory, which did not allow gentiles to enter?
2) In this week’s parsha we have the pasuk: כה תאמר לבית יעקב ותגיד לבני ישראל – “So you shall say to the daughters of Yaakov, and so you shall tell the sons of Yisroel”. Rashi explains that Hashem instructed Moshe to speak to the women about accepting the Torah before the men. The Medrash gives three explanations for asking the women first: because women perform mitzvos with more zerizus [alacrity]; so that they should send their sons to study Torah; and because destruction resulted when Hashem commanded Adam regarding the forbidden fruit before Chavah, He elected to reverse the order this time.
The question is, Tosfos in Pesochim (4b) quotes the Yerushalmi which says, that women aren’t believed to say that they fulfilled the mitzvah of bedikas chometz as they are atzlonim, lazy. If so, how can the Medrash say the opposite, that they were told about receiving the Torah before the men because they perform mitzvos with more zerizus than the man?
3) In this week’s parsha we learn זכור את יום השבת לקדשו, that one is supposed to sanctify Shabbos. One of the things that one isn’t allowed to do on Shabbos is ask for personal requests on Shabbos. If so, what is the heter for women to ask for personal requests after they light Shabbos candles. The Rema (263:10) writes, the minhag is, that women accept Shabbos when they light candles. If lighting candles is the acceptance of Shabbos, what is the heter for a woman to ask personal requests once it’s Shabbos?
4) If Reuven asks Shimon to kill him, it is forbidden for Shimon to do so, and if he does so in the presence of witnesses who give him proper warning, he is put to death for violating the prohibition against murder (Shemos 20:13). Although prohibited, if Shimon is preparing to kill Reuven at Reuven’s request, is he legally considered a רודף - pursuer – whom one is permitted to kill if necessary to save Reuven’s life?
5) What custom do many people have when studying Torah that is rooted in the Jewish people’s response to the giving of the Torah?
