Torah Trivia Study for
Parashah 51. Nitzavim 119.1.3 (Questions
Only)
1.) Can you describe the number of verses that
are generally considered to be within Parashah Nitzavim?
2.) Can you describe which of the following
category(ies) of people are implicitly excluded from the list of categories
that Moshe references within the opening address of Parashah Nitzavim:
a.)
Tribal Leaders;
b.)
Elders;
c.)
Officials;
d.)
Israeli Men;
e.)
Children;
f.)
Wives;
g.)
Strangers;
h.)
Woodcutters;
i.)
Water Drawers;
j.)
Iron Craftsmen;
k.)
Levis;
l.)
Orphans;
m.)
Widows;
n.)
Orphaned, Adult, Single Israeli Women Who Abstain from Cutting Wood and
from Drawing Water;
3.) Can you describe what hidden thought Moshe
specifically warns Israelis to abstain from holding?
4.) Can you describe the which of these
consequences Moshe states happening to the person who betrays Adonai:
a.) The betrayer receives the anger of Adonai;
b.) The name of the betrayer is erased from Heaven;
c.) The betrayer is separated from all other
Israelis; and/or,
d.) The betrayer suffers all the previously
stipulated curses?
5.) Can you describe which of these
elements/items are described as burning the soil, as a consequence of the
disobedience of Israelis (as observed by future generations of Israelis and
foreigners): a.) poison;
b.) a nuclear explosion; c.)
Sunlight; d.) Sulphur;
e.) Fire; and/or, f.)
Salt?
6.) Can you describe what cities Moshe names in
comparison, when explaining the devastation of Eretz Israel resulting from the
disobedience of Israelis: a.) Sodom;
b.) Gomorrah; c.)
Adma; and/or, d.) Zevoyim?
7.) Can you describe the question that Moshe
explains other nations asking, upon seeing the devastation of Eretz Israel?
8.) Can you describe the date of expiration that
Moshe applies for the mitzvot that he imparts upon Israelis?
9.) Can you describe which of these words closely
portrays the experience that Moshe foretells Israelis having, after being disobedient
and dispersed amongst many nations:
a.) Teshuvah; b.)
Chesed; c.) Chutzpah;
and/or, d.) Chametz?
10.) Can you describe what Moshe explains as
Adonai’s response to the reaction of Israelis, referenced within Question #9?
11.) Can you describe the location where Moshe
explicitly states these mitzvot exist in relation to Israel?
a.) On the shores of the Mediterranean Sea;
b.) Across the Yordan river;
c.)
Amidst the Stars;
d.) Within the Heavens;
e.)
Atop the ladder of Yaakov;
f.)
Back at Mount Sinai;
g.)
Hidden within Egypt
12.) Can you describe the 2 choices that Moshe
explicitly describes towards the end of Parashah Nitzavim?
a.)
life and death;
b.)
prosperity and adversity;
c.)
obedience and disobedience;
d.)
blessing and curse;
e.) challah and bagels;
f.) cream cheese and lox;
g.) hummus and tahini sauce; and/or,
h.) olive oil and honey?
Torah Trivia Study for
Parashah 51. Nitzavim 119.1.3 (with Answers)
1.) Can you describe the number of verses that
are generally considered to be within Parashah Nitzavim?
Answer: The answer is, typically, 40 verses; the Parshiyot towards the end of the Torah
are comparatively smaller in length: Devarim
29:9 – 28; 30:1 – 20.
2.) Can you describe which of the following
category(ies) of people are implicitly excluded from the list of categories that
Moshe references within the opening address of Parashah Nitzavim:
a.)
Tribal Leaders;
b.)
Elders;
c.)
Officials;
d.)
Israeli Men;
e.)
Children;
f.)
Wives;
g.)
Strangers;
h.)
Woodcutters;
i.)
Water Drawers;
j.)
Iron Craftsmen;
k.)
Levis;
l.)
Orphans;
m.)
Widows;
n.)
Orphaned, Adult, Single Israeli Women Who Abstain from Cutting Wood and
from Drawing Water;
Answer: The answer is: n.)
orphaned, adult, single Israeli women who abstain from cutting wood and
from drawing water; categories a.)
through i.) are explicitly included within Moshe’s references (with the “wood
cutters” and “water drawers” either simply including those of the strangers, or
those also of Israelis); it may be
considered that j.) all craftsmen of iron, and k.) all Levis, are included as
Israeli men (however, at the very moment I write this response, I am checked by
my own chauvinistic bias that I am attempting to illustrate, and I become aware
that all Levis can arguably include single Levi women, which would somewhat
discount this category as being comprehensively included, implicitly); it may be considered that l.) orphans are, at
the very least, “children of the community,” and thus implicitly included
within the general category of, “your children;” widows can arguably be considered as
implicitly included or excluded: widows
(presuming the parents of whom are also passed away) technically only qualify
within the category of “elders,” although it seems extremely tenuous to
conclude women being traditionally included within this category, and thus it
may be considered that widows are also implicitly excluded from this list of
categories; thus, according to the
explicit list of categories that Moshe communicates, the category of, n.) “orphaned, adult, single Israeli women who
abstain from cutting wood and from drawing water,” is implicitly excluded,
although it may be considered that the entire community of Israel is
effectively included within Moshe’s address:
“You stand this
day, all of you, before the LORD your God—your tribal heads, your elders and
your officials, all the men of Israel, your children, your wives, even the
stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water drawer—to enter into the
covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is concluding with you
this day, with its sanctions;” (Devarim 29:9
– 11).
3.) Can you describe what hidden thought Moshe
specifically warns Israelis to abstain from holding?
Answer: Moshe warns Israelis from secretly
maintaining “individual beliefs” that are different from the mitzvot of Adonai:
“When such a one
hears the words of these sanctions, he may fancy himself immune, thinking, ‘I
shall be safe, though I follow my own wilful heart’—to the utter ruin of moist
and dry alike.” (Devarim 29:18).
4.) Can you describe the which of these consequences
Moshe states happening to the person who betrays Adonai:
a.) The betrayer receives the anger of Adonai;
b.) The name of the betrayer is erased from
Heaven;
c.) The betrayer is separated from all other
Israelis; and/or,
d.) The betrayer suffers all the previously
stipulated curses?
Answer: The answer is: e.)
“All the Above”:
“The LORD will
never forgive him; rather will the
LORD’s anger and passion rage against that man, till every sanction recorded in
this book comes down upon him, and the LORD blots out his name from under
heaven.
“The LORD will
single them out from all the tribes of Israel for misfortune, in accordance
with all the sanctions of the covenant recorded in this book of Teaching.” (Devarim 29:19 – 20).
5.) Can you describe which of these
elements/items are described as burning the soil, as a consequence of the
disobedience of Israelis (as observed by future generations of Israelis and
foreigners): a.) poison;
b.) a nuclear explosion; c.)
Sunlight; d.) Sulphur;
e.) Fire; and/or, f.)
Salt?
Answer: The answer is: d.)
sulphur, and f.) salt:
“And later
generations will ask—the children who succeed you, and foreigners who come from
distant lands and see the plagues and diseases that the LORD has inflicted upon
that land, and its soil devastated by sulphur and salt, beyond sowing and
producing, no grass growing in it,”
(Devarim 29:21 – 22).
6.) Can you describe what cities Moshe names in
comparison, when explaining the devastation of Eretz Israel resulting from the
disobedience of Israelis: a.) Sodom;
b.) Gomorrah; c.)
Adma; and/or, d.) Zevoyim?
Answer: The answer is: e.)
“All the Above”:
“And later
generations will ask—the children who succeed you, and foreigners who come from
distant lands and see the plagues and diseases that the LORD has inflicted upon
that land, and its soil devastated by sulphur and salt, beyond sowing and
producing, no grass growing in it, just like the upheavel of Sodom and
Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in (Adonai’s) fierce
anger—” (Devarim 29:21 – 22).
7.) Can you describe the question that Moshe
explains other nations asking, upon seeing the devastation of Eretz Israel?
Answer:
“—all nations will ask, ‘Why did the
LORD do thus to this land? Wherefore
that awful wrath?’”
(Devarim
29:23).
8.) Can you describe the date of expiration that
Moshe applies for the mitzvot that he imparts upon Israelis?
Answer: Moshe describes the mitzvot enduring forever:
“Concealed acts
concern the LORD our God; but with overt
acts, it is for us and our children ever to apply all the provisions of this
Teaching.” (Devarim 29:28).
9.) Can you describe which of these words closely
portrays the experience that Moshe foretells Israelis having, after being
disobedient and dispersed amongst many nations:
a.) Teshuvah; b.)
Chesed; c.) Chutzpah;
and/or, d.) Chametz?
Answer: The answer is: a.)
Teshuvah; although, this is,
admittedly, an extremely subjective question:
“When all these
things befall you—the blessing and the curse that I have set before you—and you
take them to heart amidst the various nations to which the LORD your God has
banished you, and you return to the LORD your God, and you and your children
heed (Adonai’s) command with all your heart and soul, just as I enjoin upon you
this day…” (Devarim 30:1 – 2).
10.) Can you describe what Moshe explains as Adonai’s
response to the reaction of Israelis, referenced within Question #9?
Answer: This is, again, a rather “open” question,
however, a general consideration is that of embracing and acceptance:
“…then the LORD
your God will restore your fortunes and take you back in love. (Adonai) will bring you together again from
all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the
world, from there the LORD your God will gather you, from there (Adonai) will
fetch you. And the LORD your God will
bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and (Adonai) will make you more prosperous
and more numerous than your fathers.
“Then the LORD your
God will open up your heart and the hearts of your offspring to love the LORD
your God with all your heart and soul, in order that you may live. The LORD your God will inflict all those
curses upon the enemies and foes who persecuted you. You, however, will again heed the LORD and
obey all (Adonai’s) commandments that I enjoin upon you this day. And the LORD your God will grant you
abounding prosperity in all your undertakings, in the issue of your womb, the
offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil. For the LORD will again delight in your
well-being, as (Adonai) did in that of your fathers, since you will be heeding
the LORD your God and keeping (Adonai’s) commandments and laws that are
recorded in this book of the Teaching—once you return to the LORD your God with
all your heart and soul.” (Devarim 30:3
– 10).
11.) Can you describe the location where Moshe explicitly
states these mitzvot exist in relation to Israel?
a.) On the shores of the Mediterranean Sea;
b.) Across the Yordan river;
c.)
Amidst the Stars;
d.) Within the Heavens;
e.)
Atop the ladder of Yaakov;
f.)
Back at Mount Sinai;
g.)
Hidden within Egypt
Answer: The answer is: h.)
“An absence of any of the above”:
“Surely, this Instruction
which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond
reach. It is not in the heavens, that
you should say, ‘Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and
impart it to us, that we may observe it?’
Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who among us can
cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that
we may observe it?’ No, the thing is
very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.” (Devarim 30:11 – 14).
12.) Can you describe the 2 choices that Moshe
explicitly describes towards the end of Parashah Nitzavim?
a.)
life and death;
b.)
prosperity and adversity;
c.)
obedience and disobedience;
d.)
blessing and curse;
e.) challah and bagels;
f.) cream cheese and lox;
g.) hummus and tahini sauce; and/or,
h.) olive oil and honey?
Answer: The focal binary choice is upon: a.)
life and death; however, each of
the proceeding binaries are also included (implicitly or explicitly) within
Moshe’s address: b.) prosperity and adversity; c.)
obedience and disobedience; and,
d.) blessing and curse; it may be considered that options e.) through
h.) may be attributable to preparedness for Rosh Hashanah dinner and completing
the fast of Yom Kippur J:
“See, I set before
you this day life and prosperity, death and adversity. For I command you this day, to love the LORD
your God, to walk in (Adonai’s) ways, and to keep (Adonai’s) commandments,
(Adonai’s) laws, and (Adonai’s) rules, that you may thrive and increase, and
that the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are about to enter
and possess. But if your heart turns
away and you give no heed, and are lured into the worship and service of other
(deities), I declare to you this day that you shall certainly perish; you shall not long endure on the soil that
you are crossing the (Yordan) to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against
you this day: I have put before you life
and death, blessing and curse. Choose
life—if you and your offspring would live—by loving the LORD your God, heeding
(Adonai’s) commands, and holding fast to (Adonai). For thereby you shall have life and shall
long endure upon the soil that the LORD swore to your ancestors, (Avraham), (Yitzak),
and (Yaakov), to give to them.” (Devarim
30:15 – 20).
--
Discussion Questions:
What
is the nature of the confluence between Moshe’s warning to abstain from having
hidden thoughts of individual religious practises and beliefs, with the message
that Avraham receives from Adonai, to leave the practises and traditions of his
fars (fathers)? Upon what guidance does
Moshiach rely?
What
is the purpose for Moshe proclaiming that there are additional secrets that
Adonai has yet to reveal to himself and to Israelis? Is this preparation for something specific?
In
stating “the issue of your wombs,” Moshe is presumably speaking directly to the
men of Israel (as is typical in Moshe’s addresses, and can be evidenced at the
beginning of this Parashah); yet,
“wombs” are exclusively held by women;
thus, there is the consideration of what is the intended relationship of
belonging that Moshe establishes in addressing the men of Israel, and referring
to the “wombs” (what is the intrinsic nature of the connexion between the men
that Moshe addresses and the wombs that Moshe references)? Is Moshe suggesting the wombs of the women
are effectively the possession of the men, as well; and/or is Moshe making an intrinsically
Universal address to the entirety (or perhaps, at least the men and women) of
Israel, thus directly including the wombs of the women? How is the methodology of address to be
appropriately understood?
119.1.3
ושלום אהבא , Family and
Friends.
שלום.नमस्ते.สมาธ.Pax.سلام.Peace.SatNam.صلح.Kwey.Amani.Barış.ειρήνη.Pace.Paz.Paix.Fred.Frieden.Vrede.Siochana.мир.امن.和平.平和.평화.Aloha.
.
.
.
...
The
Torah Parashah for this week is:
“Nitzavim;” and this
correspondence contains a “double feature” with the previous week’s Torah
Trivia study for Parashah “Ki Tavo.”
Within
Parashah Nitzavim, Moshe further communicates the blessing and the curse, and
further describes the eventual “Teshuvah” that Israelis perform upon Realising
the validity of abiding by the mitzvot of Adonai.
And,
indeed, the featured Hebrew term for this week is: “תשובה,” (“t’shuvah,” meaning, “to return”), signifying a quintessential
theme amidst the High Holy Days, of returning (repentance, redemption) to
righteousness. The root of this term can
be found within Devarim 30:2: “ושבת על־יהוה אלהיך,” (“V’shuvat al Adonai Elochai,” meaning,
“and you return to the LORD your God).”
The
Torah Trivia question of this week is:
“Which category of people is excluded from the list that Moshe
references within his address at the beginning of Parashah Nitzavim?”
Additional
Torah study resources include:
USCJ
Torah Sparks: www.uscj.org/JewishLivingandLearning/WeeklyParashah/TorahSparks/Archive/Default.aspx;
.לשנה טובה
.שבת שלום
,ושלום אהבא
Peter
שלום.नमस्ते.สมาธ.Pax.سلام.Peace.SatNam.صلح.Kwey.Amani.Barış.ειρήνη.Pace.Paz.Paix.Fred.Frieden.Vrede.Siochana.мир.امن.和平.平和.평화.Aloha.
.
.
.
...
Shalom
(Hebrew). Namaste (Sanskrit). Samadhi (Thai/Pali). Pax (Latin). Salaam
(Arabic). Peace (English). Sat Nam (Punjabi). Solh (Persian). Kwey (Lakotah).
Amani (Swahili). Barish (Turkish). Erieni (Greek). Pache (Italiano). Paz
(Espanol). Paix (Francais). Fred (Scandinavian). Frieden (Deutsch). Siochana
(Irish). Mir (Russian). Amin (Urdu). Heping (Mandarin). Heiwa (Japanese).
Pyeonghwa (Korean). Aloha (Hawai’ian). Peace (Common Symbol). Peace (Common
Sign). Peace (General American Sign Language). Peace (American Braille).
ૐ.אמן
(Om. Amein)
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