Torah
Trivia for Parshah 33. Bechukotai
(Questions Only)
1.) Can you discern which of the following are
included within the blessing that Adonai describes within the beginning of
Parashah Bechukotai:
a.)
Receiving rain in its season;
b.)
Land yielding produce and trees yielding fruit;
c.)
Threshing of the grain lasts until the picking of the grapes;
d.)
Picking of the grapes lasts until the planting of the seeds;
e.)
Having enough bread to be continually full;
f.) Dwelling secure within the land;
g.)
Living Peacefully without trouble from anyone;
h.)
Receiving respite from vicious beasts and from swords;
i.)
Overcoming numerous enemies;
j.)
Experiencing abundance and fertility;
k.)
Maintaining the covenant with Adonai;
l.)
Having enduring storages of grain;
m.)
Maintaining the abode of Adonai;
n.)
Being the people of Adonai;
and/or
o.)
Eating milk and honey on a daily basis?
2.)
Can you discern which of the following are included within the curse
that Adonai describes within the beginning of Parashah Bechukotai:
a.) Experiencing misery;
b.) Experiencing consumption and fever with pain
to the eyes and body;
c.) Futilely sowing seeds that are eaten by
enemies;
d.) Being adversarial to Adonai;
e.) Being routed by enemies;
f.) Fleeing from absent attackers;
g.) Being disciplined 7-fold;
h.) Having pride and glory broken;
i.) Experiencing an absence of rain and water
springs;
j.) Having land without produce and trees without
fruit;
k.) Being smote 7-fold;
l.) Having children and cattle ravaged by wild
beasts;
m.) Experiencing decimation and deserted roads;
n.) Experiencing the vengeance of the sword;
o.) Experiencing pestilence;
p.) Being delivered into the hand of enemies;
q.) Experiencing insatiable hunger amidst eating
bread;
r.) Eating flesh of own sons and daughters;
s.) Having altars of idols destroyed;
t.) Having cities and sanctuaries ruined;
u.) Having own carcasses piled upon idolatrous
altars;
v.) Having offerings rejected by Adonai;
w.) Having own desolation appal enemies;
x.) Being scattered amongst nations;
y.) Fleeing at the sound of a falling leaf;
z.) Being sorrowful from own committed
iniquities; and/or
aa.) Building an ark to escape the torment?
3.)
Can you describe where else the blessing and the curse similarly appear
within the Torah?
4.)
Can you describe what Adonai states that the survivors of the curse will
effectively “remember,” and what Adonai states that Adonai will remember?
5.)
Can you describe what the stipulated vow contributions are for the
following categories of people: a.) males aged 20 – 60 years; b.)
females aged 20 – 60 years;
c.) males aged 5 – 20 years; d.)
females aged 5 – 20 years;
e.) males aged 1 month – 5 years; f.)
females aged 1 month – 5 years;
g.) males aged 60 years +; h.)
females aged 60 years +?
6.)
Can you describe how much an impoverished person is supposed to
contribute for a vow?
7.)
Can you describe the additional percentage a person is generally
required to provide when redeeming (buying back) a previously contributed vow
to Adonai?
8.)
Can you describe how the portion of a man’s donated ancestral land is
valued?
9.)
Can you describe to whom a portion of land returns during יובל, after a
man contributes that portion of his ancestral land to Adonai?
10.)
Can you describe to whom a portion of land returns during יובל, after a
man contributes a portion of land that he previously purchases from someone
else?
11.)
Can you discern which of the following vows can be brought to Adonai: a.) a
first-born, kosher animal; b.) a first-born unkosher animal; c.) a
general unkosher animal; d.) a foreign slave; and/or, e.)
a hereditary field?
12.)
Can you describe what the stipulate amount is for providing tithes of
produce and tithes of animals?
Torah
Trivia for Parashah 33. Bechukotai (with
Answers)
1.) Can you discern which of the following are
included within the blessing that Adonai describes within the beginning of
Parashah Bechukotai:
a.)
Receiving rain in its season;
b.)
Land yielding produce and trees yielding fruit;
c.)
Threshing of the grain lasts until the picking of the grapes;
d.)
Picking of the grapes lasts until the planting of the seeds;
e.)
Having enough bread to be continually full;
f.) Dwelling secure within the land;
g.)
Living Peacefully without trouble from anyone;
h.)
Receiving respite from vicious beasts and from swords;
i.)
Overcoming numerous enemies;
j.)
Experiencing abundance and fertility;
k.)
Maintaining the covenant with Adonai;
l.)
Having enduring storages of grain;
m.)
Maintaining the abode of Adonai;
n.)
Being the people of Adonai;
and/or
o.)
Eating milk and honey on a daily basis?
Answer: All
of the preceding circumstances are included within the blessings, except
for: o.)
eating milk and honey on a daily basis:
“If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My
commandments, I will grant your rains in their season, so that the earth shall
yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit. Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and
your vintage shall overtake the sowing;
you shall eat your fill of bread and dwell securely in your land.
“I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie
down untroubled by anyone; I will give
the land respite from vicious beasts, and no sword shall cross your land. You shall give chase to your enemies, and
they shall fall before you by the sword.
Five of you shall give chase to a hundred, and a hundred of you shall
give chase to ten thousand; your enemies
shall fall before you by the sword.
“I will look with favor upon you, and make you
fertile and multiply you; and I will
maintain My covenant with you. You shall
eat old grain long stored, and you shall have to clear out the old to make room
for the new.
“I will establish My abode in your midst, and I
will not spurn you. I will be ever
present in your midst: I will be your
God, and you shall be My people. I the
LORD am your God (Who) brought you out from the land of the Egyptians to be
their slaves no more, who broke the bars of your yoke, and made you walk erect.” (Vayikra 26:3 – 13).
2.)
Can you discern which of the following are included within the curse
that Adonai describes within the beginning of Parashah Bechukotai:
a.) Experiencing misery;
b.) Experiencing consumption and fever with pain
to the eyes and body;
c.) Futilely sowing seeds that are eaten by
enemies;
d.) Being adversarial to Adonai;
e.) Being routed by enemies;
f.) Fleeing from absent attackers;
g.) Being disciplined 7-fold;
h.) Having pride and glory broken;
i.) Experiencing an absence of rain and water
springs;
j.) Having land without produce and trees without
fruit;
k.) Being smote 7-fold;
l.) Having children and cattle ravaged by wild
beasts;
m.) Experiencing decimation and deserted roads;
n.) Experiencing the vengeance of the sword;
o.) Experiencing pestilence;
p.) Being delivered into the hand of enemies;
q.) Experiencing insatiable hunger amidst eating
bread;
r.) Eating flesh of own sons and daughters;
s.) Having altars of idols destroyed;
t.) Having cities and sanctuaries ruined;
u.) Having own carcasses piled upon idolatrous
altars;
v.) Having offerings rejected by Adonai;
w.) Having own desolation appal enemies;
x.) Being scattered amongst nations;
y.) Fleeing at the sound of a falling leaf;
z.) Being sorrowful from own committed
iniquities; and/or
aa.) Building an ark to escape the torment?
Answer: All
of the preceding circumstances are included within the curse, except for: aa.)
building an ark to escape the torment:
“But if you do not obey Me and do not observe all
these commandments, if you reject My laws and spurn My rules, so that you do
not observe all My commandments and you break My covenant, I in turn will do
this to you: I will wreak misery upon
you—consumption and fever, which cause the eyes to pine and the body to
languish; you shall sow your seed to no
purpose, for your enemies shall eat it.
I will set My face against you;
you shall be routed by your enemies, and your foes shall dominate
you. You shall flee though none pursues.
“And if, for all that, you do not obey Me, I will
go on to discipline you sevenfold for your sins, and I will break your proud glory. I will make your skies like iron and your earth
like copper, so that your strength shall be spent to no purpose. Your land shall not yield its produce, nor
shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.
“And if you remain hostile toward Me and refuse to
obey Me, I will go on smiting you sevenfold for your sins. I will loose wild beasts against you, and they
shall bereave you of your children andwipe out your cattle. They shall decimate you, and your roads shall
be deserted.
“And if these things fail to discipline you for Me,
and you remain hostile to Me, I too will remain hostile to you: I in turn will smite you sevenfold for your
sins. I will bring a sword against you
to wreak vengeance for the covenant; and
if you withdraw into your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you
shall be delivered into enemy hands.
When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a
single oven; they shall dole out your
bread by weight, and though you eat, you shall not be satisfied.
“But if, despite this, you disobey Me and remain
hostile to Me, I will act against you in wrathful hostility; I, for My part, will discipline you sevenfold
for your sins. You shall eat the flesh
of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.
I will destroy your cult places and cut down your incense stands, and I
will heap your carcasses upon your lifeless fetishes.
“I will spurn you.
I will lay your cities in ruin and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I
will not savor your pleasing odors. I
will make the land desolate, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be
appalled by it. And you I will scatter
among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword against you. Your land shall become a desolation and your
cities a ruin.
“Then shall the land make up for its Sabbath years
throughout the time that it is desolate and you are in the land of your enemies; then shall the land rest and make up for its Sabbath
year. Throughout the time that it is
desolate, it shall observe the rest that it did not observe in your Sabbath years
while you were dwelling upon it. As for
theose of you who survive, I will cast a faintness into their hearts in the
land of their enemies. The sound of a
driven leaf shall put them to flight.
Fleeing as though from the sword, they shall fall though none
pursues. With no one pursuing, they
shall stumble over one another as before the sword. You shall not be able to stand your ground
before your enemies, but shall perish among the nations; and the land of your enemies shall consume
you.
“Those of you who survive shall be heartsick over
their iniquity in the land of your enemies;
more, they shall be heartsick over the iniquities of their fathers;”
(Vayikra 26:14 – 39).
3.)
Can you describe where else the blessing and the curse similarly appear
within the Torah?
Answer: This
blessing and curse are also similarly described and/or referenced within
Parashah Ki Tavo (Devarim 28), and Parashah Nitzavim (Devarim 30).
4.)
Can you describe what Adonai states that the survivors of the curse will
effectively “remember,” and what Adonai states that Adonai will remember?
Answer:
Adonai states the survivors will repent of our iniquities (effectively
remembering our iniquities and transgressions, and intrinsically the mitzvot
that are violated therewith); and that
Adonai will remember the covenant Adonai previously makes with Yaakov, Yitzak,
and Avraham, the land, and the ancients, (and intrinsically, ourselves):
“Those of you who survive shall be heartsick over
their iniquity in the land of your enemies;
more they shall be heartsick over the iniquities of their fathers; and they shall confess their iniquity and the
iniquity of their fathers, in that they trespassed against Me, yea, were
hostile to Me. When I, in turn, have
been hostile to them and have removed them into the land of their enemies, then
at last shall their obdurate heart humble itself, and they shall atone for
their iniquity. Then will I remember My
covenant with (Yaakov); I will remember
also My covenant with (Yitzak), and also My covenant with (Avraham); and I will remember the land.
“For the land shall be forsaken of them, making up
for its Sabbath years by being desolate of them, while they atone for their
iniquity; for the abundant reason that
they rejected My rules and spurned My laws.
Yet, even then, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not
reject them or spurn them so as to destroy them, annulling My covenant with
them: for I the LORD am their God. I will remember in their favour the covenant
with the ancients, whom I freed from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations
to be their God: I, the LORD.” (Vayikra 25:39 – 45).
5.)
Can you describe what the stipulated vow contributions are for the
following categories of people: a.) males aged 20 – 60 years; b.)
females aged 20 – 60 years;
c.) males aged 5 – 20 years; d.)
females aged 5 – 20 years;
e.) males aged 1 month – 5 years; f.)
females aged 1 month – 5 years;
g.) males aged 60 years +; h.)
females aged 60 years +?
Answer: The proceeding vow contributions are
stipulated:
a.)
males aged 20 – 60 years: 50 shekels of silver;
b.) females aged 20 – 60 years: 30 shekels of silver;
c.) males aged 5 – 20 years: 20 shekels of silver;
d.) females aged 5 – 20 years: 10 shekels of silver;
e.) males aged 1 month – 5 years: 5 shekels of silver;
f.) females aged 1 month – 5 years: 3 shekels of silver;
g.) males aged 60 years +: 15 shekels of silver;
h.) females aged 60 years +: 10 shekels of silver:
“The
LORD spoke to (Moshe), saying:
“Speak to the Israelite people and say to
them: When anyone explicitly vows to the
LORD the equivalent for a human being, the following scale shall apply: If it is a male from twenty to sicty years of
age, the equivalent is fifty shekels of silver by the sanctuary weight; if it is a female, the equivalent is thirty
shekels. If the age is from five years
to twenty years, the equivalent is twenty shekels for a male and ten shekels
for a female. If the age is from one
month to five years, the equivalent for a male is five shekels of silver, and
the equivalent for a female is three shekels of silver. If the age is sixty years or over, the
equivalent is fifteen shekels in the case of a male and ten shekels for a
female.” (Vayikra 27:1 – 7).
6.)
Can you describe how much an impoverished person is supposed to
contribute for a vow?
Answer: The
amount that an impoverished person is stipulated to contribute is determined by
the Priest according to what the Priest perceives the person can afford:
“But if one cannot afford the equivalent, he shall
be presented before the priest, and the priest shall assess him; the priest shall assess him according to what
the vower can afford.” (Vayikra 27:8).
7.)
Can you describe the additional percentage a person is generally
required to provide when redeeming (buying back) a previously contributed vow
to Adonai?
Answer: The additional percentage is general 20%:
“and
if he wishes to redeem it, he must add one-fifth to its assessment.” (Vayikra 27:13);
“and if he who has consecrated his house wishes to
redeem it, he must add one-fifth to the sum at which it was assessed, and it
shall be his.” (Vayikra 27:15);
“and if he who consecrated the land wishes to
redeem it, he must add one-fifth to the sum at which it was assessed, and it
shall pass to him.” (Vayikra 27:19);
“But if it is of impure animals, it may be ransomed
as its assessment, with one-fifth added;
if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at its assessment.” (Vayikra 27:27).
8.)
Can you describe how the portion of a man’s donated ancestral land is
valued?
Answer: The
value of the land is determined by how much seed can be planted within the
land, as well as the number of years remaining before יובל:
“If anyone consecrates to the LORD any land that he
holds, its assessment shall be in accordance with its seed requirement: fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley
seed. If he consecrates his land as of
the jubilee year, its assessment stands.
But if he consecrates his land after the jubilee, the priest shall
compute the price according to the years that are left until the jubilee year,
and its assessment shall be so reduced;”
(Vayikra 27:16 – 18).
9.)
Can you describe to whom a portion of land returns during יובל, after a
man contributes that portion of his ancestral land to Adonai?
Answer: Upon
יובל, the
contributed ancestral land returns to the stewardship of the Priest:
“But if he does not redeem the land, and the land
is sold to another, it shall no longer be redeemable: when it is released in the jubilee, the land
shall be holy to the LORD, as land proscribed;
it becomes the priest’s holding.”
(Vayikra 27:20 – 21).
10.)
Can you describe to whom a portion of land returns during יובל, after a
man contributes a portion of land that he previously purchases from someone
else?
Answer: Upon
יובל, the
purchased contribution returns to the original seller whose ancestral land that
portion initially is:
“If he consecrates to the LORD land that he
purchased, which is not land of his holding, the priest shall compute for him
the proportionate assessment up to the jubilee year, and he shall pay the
assessment as of that day, a sacred donation to the LORD. In the jubilee year the land shall revert to
him from whom it was bought, whose holding the land is.” (Vayikra 27:22 – 24).
11.)
Can you discern which of the following vows can be brought to Adonai: a.) a
first-born, kosher animal; b.) a first-born unkosher animal; c.) a
general unkosher animal; d.) a foreign slave; and/or, e.)
a hereditary field?
Answer: All of
the preceding vows can be brought to Adonai, except for: a.) a
first-born, kosher animal, as such an animal already belongs to Adonai:
“A firstling of animals, however, which—as a
firstling—is the LORD’s, cannot be consecrated by anybody; whether ox or sheep, it is the LORD’s. But if it is of impure animals, it may be
ransomed as its assessment, with one-fifth added; if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at
its assessment.
“But of all that anyone owns, be it man or beast or
land of his holding, nothing that he has proscribed for the LORD may be sold or
redeemed; every proscribed thing is
totally consecrated to the LORD.”
(Vayikra 27:26 – 28).
12.)
Can you describe what the stipulate amount is for providing tithes of
produce and tithes of animals?
Answer: The stipulated tithes for produce and animals
are both 10%:
“All tithes from the land, whether seed from the ground
or fruit from the tree, are the LORD’s;
they are holy to the LORD. If
anyone wishes to redeem any of his tithes, he must add one-fifth to them. All tithes of the herd or flock—of all that
passes under the shepherd’s staff, every tenth one—shall be holy to the LORD.” (Vayikra 27:30 – 32).
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Discussion Questions:
Discussion Questions:
Amidst the manifestation of the curse,
what is the nature of the existence of the enemy? Is the enemy simply a malicious entity that
wrongfully invades and transgresses against us;
is the enemy the “karmic consequence” of our preceding iniquities and
transgressions; or is the enemy the
manifestation of Adonai’s will responding to our iniquities and transgressions? Or is it a combination of a number of these,
and/or additional, factors? Amidst the notion
of “the enemy” being the consequence of our own iniquities and transgressions,
how should we approach “the enemy,” within such a context? Who actually is “the enemy”? And with this consideration extended, how
should we approach “the enemy” within any general context?
What are implications of Israelis regarding
residing outside of Eretz Israel amidst the communication of the blessing and
the curse; is this desirable and
advantageous or is this intrinsically an extension of the curse?
In communicating the blessing and the
curse, Adonai refers to the Israelis who flee Egypt as, “the ancients;” yet these seem to be the very same people
whom Moshe is addressing when conveying the blessing and the curse; how is this to be appropriately understood?
Are the blessing and the curse
effectively, perpetually self-fulfilling prophesies? Are we continually subject to the eventuality
(and perhaps cyclical, and/or at least psychical, actualisation) of this
blessing and curse? How does this
influence the manner in which we engage with the Universe; and how might such a cyclical/psychical
eventuality be alleviated; what
circumstances, teachings, authority, leadership, and/or examples are necessary
to transcend such a blessing and a curse?
What is the nature and necessity of the
vow contributions? What are the economic
and socioeconomic implications amidst contributed hereditary land becoming the “perpetual
property” of the Levis? Is there any limit to
how much a man can donate or to how much the Priests can receive; is it possible that all of Eretz Israel
eventually becomes the hereditary land of the Levis? What is the nature of “ownership” amidst the
limitations of Levites from “owning” land, yet being able to receive “vows” of
land in perpetuity?
What implications emerge amidst the
distinction of the age categories when determining the redeemable amount of
silver shekels for each individual?
When
land is dedicated to Adonai, and presumably provided under the stewardship of
the Levites, what is the nature of the economics and labour of that land; do the Levites hire servants, and/or purchase
slaves, to cultivate the land; and what
happens to the produce that is reaped?
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