Test #5

Question 1

What are בנ”י commanded in the first Pasukim? פשט vs. רש”י פסוק ב?

Answer 1

Pshat- They are commanded to set up a Jewish calendar- Nisan is the start of the Jewish year
Rashi- Hashem teaches Moshe the stages of the moon and says whenever you see this (full moon) it is a new month. This= HaZeh- “HaChodesh HaZeh LaChem

Question 2

Why is this the first מצוה given to the nation? 4 approaches

Answer 2

Sarna:
The first step to becoming a nation is to have a calendar
-separate from the Egyptian solar calendar
בכור שור:
remember yiziyat mitzraim= every month is counted from yitziat mitzraim that’s why they have numbers (like days of week to shabbos).
רמב”ן
Practical because korban pessach is the next commandment and it is something that you need a date for and therefore you need a calender
ספורנו
They were slaves in mitzraim so the time wasn’t theirs but now they have a calender= freedom=own time

Question 3

How does our calendar differ from מצרים’s?

Answer 3

Ours is lunisolar as opposed to purely solar

Question 4

רמב”ן- names vs. numbers for referring to months. When and why the change?

Answer 4

Numbers in the Chumash refer back to Yitzaat Mitzraim
Names reffer back to Yitzaat Bavel
We changed after Yitzaat Bavel becuase in Yirmyahu it says that now we shoud rember Hashem as the G-d that redeemed us from Bavel not the G-d that redeemed us from Mitzraim

Question 5

one exception of a month referred to by name in the חומש

Answer 5

Chodesh HaAviv - an old Cananni (pagen) name for a month that happens to be in the spring andleaked its way into the Chumash

Question 6

Why so many מצות זכר יציאת מצרים? Sefer HaChinuch and בכור שור

Answer 6

Sefer HaChinuch
“1st we do the Mizvah (even if we do not want to) and after we do it for a while we come to the desire to do it”

בכור שור
Because Hashem took us out so we should want to serve Him (owe Hashem)

Question 7

What is Freedom? Fromm’s distinction

Answer 7

Freedom From- Negative freedom- being freed from something but it is not valuable unless you also have:

Freedom To- Positive freedom- freedom to behave in ways which are constructive and a new system of order

This relates to exactly to the Jews being freed from Mitzrayim and have the freedom to serve Hashem

Question 8

Define each holiday? Dates, names…

Answer 8

Name- pesach
Date- 14 Nissan (ליל ט”ו)

Name- matzot
Date- tet vav- chaf aleph

Question 9

Additional sources which prove two separate holidays

Answer 9

pesach
to remember macat bichorot 
condition for being saved- out the blood on doorpost
jews commanded to do it 
there is pesach shayni so you can make it up 
matzot 
to remember yitziyat mitzrayim
no condition for being saved
no explict command to jews
can’t make it up

Question 10

Why are these holidays blurred together at a later time?

Answer 10

In the times of the Taanahiam they had Korbanot- the Korban Pessach was seen as so great it overshadowed Chag HaMatzot so they became blurred together and remained together until today even when there are no Korbanot

Question 11

Did בנ”י Celebrate חג המצות During Their Journey From Mitzrayim?
arguments for and against

Answer 11

Yes:
-Moshe knew about Chag HaMatzot so it is possible he tells Beni Yisrael outside the Pisukim
No:
- Can not be commemorating what is currently happening??
- Bnei Yisrael were not yet commanded
- no time Chepazon=in a hurry- they had to eat Matzah because there was no time (not for the Mitzvah)

Question 12

Why did we eat matzah ר”ן vs. רמב”ן

Answer 12

רמב”ן We ate Maztah because of the Mitzvah

ר”ן We ate matzvah because we did not have time to eat Chmatz but we would have

Question 13

What are the differences between פסח מצרים vs. פסח לדורות.

Answer 13

לדורות- The Korban is to Zecher Yiziat Mitzrayim

פסח מצרים-Zechar Maakat BechorotThe korban was a condition that Beni Yirsreal needed to do in order to be saved from Mitryim

Question 14

Was פסח מצרים considered a קרבן?

Arguments for yes or no.

Answer 14

Yes: Becuase Gemera says Rabbi Yosef says the house was a Mitzbach- (blood on a Korban/ blood on the doorpost)and the Korban Pesach was the Korban

No: they are just going out in their backyards roasting a seep and eating it but for future generations it is still a Korban- there was no Mizbach meaning it was not a korban

Question 15

מלחמה עם מי?

Answer 15

Ramban: War with Plishtim- because Beni Yisrael would ask for permission to pass through the land and the Plishtaim wuold refuse and Beni Yisrael would turn back to Mitzraim
Sarna : War with Mitzraim- “ Way of Horus”= Mitzrim controlled this main road so there was egyptian soldiers on this road so they were scared to go this way.
Rasag: War with the Canaan- If Beni Yisrael went the fast route to Israel they would arrive and have to fight Canaan to get the land but they weren’t ready so they needed time in midbar

Question 16

עצמות יוסף- two reasons- (ספורנו (ג:יט

Answer 16

visually shows moshe is the new savior because yosef was before
shows that this is the real redemption because yosef said pakod yifkod when you leave take my bones and now they are really taking the bones.

Question 17

Two reasons why פרעה chases after בנ”י? What is the contraction in these פסוקים- ג,ה?

Answer 17

Pharaoh thinks they got lost

Pharaoh thinks the Jews ran away

Question 18

What are the three options about the three day journey request to פרעה?

Answer 18

We asked for 3 days but Pharaoh gave us forever
We asked for 3 days and Pharaoh gave us 3 days but we were not planning on coming back after 3 days
We asked for 3 days and Pharaoh gave us 3 days and we were going to come back after 3 days but then Pharaoh came after us with his army

Question 19

Three deceptions to פרעה: Shemot Rabba, Bchor Shor, Ran (Drasha 11)

Answer 19

Shemot Rabba: Lie of 3 days
Bchor Shor: Dereach Mitzrayim- taking a route that causes Pharaoh to think they are lost
Ran: “borrowing” the gold and silver

Question 20

What do the deciptions all share in common?

Answer 20

All cause Pharaoh to chase after Beni Yisrael

Question 21

What is the reason for קריעת ים סוף for each פרשן?

Answer 21

Shemot Rabba: Punish the Mitzraim Midah Kinegid Midah
Bchor Shor: For Hashem to show miracles and wonders
Ran: For Pharaoh to be the cause of his own death

Question 22

Where do we see both camps doubting Hashem?

Answer 22

In 14:5 Pharaoh says “what is it that we (the mitzriam and him) have done that we (the mitzriam and him) sent out the Jews
This shows that Pharaoh think it was himself that sent out the Jews and is not recognizing Hashem as the redeemer

In 14:11-12 Beni Yisrael complain and ask “what is it that you (Hashem) have done to us”
This shows that the Jews doubt Hashem

Question 23

What is Hashem’s goal with Kiryat Yam Soof?
רא”בע יד:ד
play on words in יג:ד-ח
ואכבדה בפרעה

Answer 23

1. To give Emunah to Paroah and the mitzraim-mitzraim not at yam soof and the mitzraim before they die

2. Play on words 
ואכבדה בפרעה 
and i will be honered through paroah
ואבד את לב פרעה
I will harden pharoahs heart

Question 24

Where do we see both camps believing in Hashem?

Answer 24

Mitzraim: Hashem is fighting for them- said this before they died
Jews: Az yashir- we believe in hashem and moshe

Question 25

What is another purpose of קריעת ים סוף.

Ibn Ezra 14:13

Answer 25

the Jewish people had weapons and they have 600,000 men- Why did they never think to fight?

B/c the Mitzriam were their masters. They could not fight their masters!?!? They will never really be able to fight against anyone and break the Slave Mentalilty so before they enter Cannan they all have to die out in the 40 years in the dessert and the new generation will conquer Cannan

Question 26

How is Iben Ezra approach consistent with his commentary to 2:3

Answer 26

In 2:3 we learned that Moshe did not have slave mentality because he grew up in the palace. Here we see that Bnei Yisrael can’t fight back against the Mitzrayim, but Moshe is able to because he was growing up in the palace and therefore did not have the slave mentality.

Question 27

How did we modify Iben Ezra’s approach to fit in with the purpose of יציאת מצרים?

Answer 27

That Kirat Yam Soof broke their slave mentailty a little and they seem to grow

Question 28

What are the מילים מנחות for פסוקים יד: יג, ל, לא?

Answer 28

ראה–> ירא –> נס –> ראה –> ירא

They see the Mitzrayim and they are scared-the Nes of Kriat Yam Soof- they see the Mitzrayim are dead and they now fear Hashem

Question 29

What does the (14:30) ספורנו comment?

Answer 29

After Beni Yireal sees the Mitrim dead they will break there slave mentaility and they are now ready to fight back so they needed to see there past masters dead in order to stop being runaway slaves

Question 30

How does his approach differ from Ibn Ezra?

Answer 30

Sepharno believes that they can break the slave mentality but the Iben Ezra says that they will never be able to break it until the next generation of children in born.