Parsha Q&A - Lech Lecha « Ohr Somayach

Parshas Lech Lecha

For the week ending 11 Cheshvan 5756; 3 & 4 November 1995

Contents:

Parsha Questions

Bonus Question

I Did Not Know That!

Parsha Questions

Answers | Contents

What benefits did Hashem promise Avram if he would leave his home?
Where was Avram living in the beginning of the Parsha?
What were the Canaanites doing in the land of Canaan when Avram came there?
Why did Avram build an altar at Ai?
Avram hid Sarai in a chest when he went into Egypt. Who discovered her?
How did Lot become wealthy?
Why did Avram's shepherds rebuke Lot's shepherds?
The name of one of the five kings is not mentioned. Which one?
In verse, 14:7, the Torah states that the four kings "smote all the country of the Amalekites." How is this possible since Amalek had not yet been born?
Which of the five kings had a miracle happen to him?
Who told Avram that Lot had been captured by the four kings?
Who accompanied Avram into battle against the four kings?
Why was Avram unable to pursue the four kings past Dan?
Who was Malki-Tzedek, King of Shalem?
Why was Avram anxious after he defeated the four kings?
When did the decree of four hundred years of exile begin?
What did Hashem indicate with his promise to Avram that he would "come to his ancestors in peace?" (15:15)
How did Hashem fulfill his promise to Avram, that he would be buried in "a good old age?" (15:15)
Why did Avraham die five years before his allotted time?
How many generations were the Jewish People in Egypt?
Why was Avram told that only in the fourth generation the Jewish People would return to Eretz Canaan?
The territory of how many nations was Avram promised?
Who was Hagar's father?
How old was Yishmael when he was circumcised?
Why did Avram fall on his face when Hashem appeared to him?

Bonus Question

Answer | Contents

"And Avram took Sarai, his wife... and the souls that they had made in Charan (12:5)."
Rashi explains that these are the people that Avram converted to monotheism.
What happened to them?

I Did Not Know That!

Avraham minted his own coins. On one side there was a picture of an old man and an old woman. On the other side there was a picture of a young man and a young woman.
Bava Kama 97b

Answers to this Week's Questions

Questions | Contents

All references are to the verses and Rashi's commentary, unless otherwise stated

12:1 - He would become a great nation, and his excellence would become known to the world.
12:2 - Charan.
12:6 - They were in the process of conquering the land from the descendants of Shem.
12:8 - He foresaw that in the days of Yehoshua the Jewish People would be defeated at Ai due to the sin of Achan (Yehoshua, ch. 7). He built an altar there to pray on their behalf.
12:14 - The customs officials.
13:5 - Through his association with Avram.
13:7 - Lot's shepherds grazed their flocks in privately owned fields.
14:2 - The king of Bela.
14:7 - The Torah is using the name that the place would bear in the future.
14:10 - The king of Sodom. He survived falling into the bitumen pit.
14:13 - Og.
14:14 - His servant, Eliezer.
14:14 - He saw prophetically that his descendants would erect a golden calf there. As a result his strength failed.
14:18 - Malki-Tzedek is also known as Shem ben Noach.
15:1 - He was afraid that the victory was Hashem's reward for his good deeds.
15:13 - With the birth of Yitzchak.
15:15 - That his father, Terach, repented and became righteous.
15:15 - Avram lived to see his son, Yishmael, repent and become righteous, and he died before his grandson, Esau, became wicked.
15:15 - So that he would not see his grandson, Esau, begin his pursuit of a life of evil.
15:16 - Three.
15:16 - The Jewish People needed to wait until the Amorites had sinned sufficiently to deserve expulsion from Eretz Canaan.
15:19 - Ten.
16:1 - Pharaoh.
16:16 - Thirteen.
17:3 - Because he was as yet uncircumcised.

Avram attracted many followers through his kindness and hospitality. When Avraham died, Yitzchak took over. His path of service to Hashem was through selfless obedience and fear of Hashem. Those followers who came to monotheism as followers of Avram, couldn't adjust to the path of Yitzchak. They refused to follow him and eventually backslid into paganism.
Rav Chaim Chanoch of Aleksander

Written and Compiled by Rabbi Eliyahu Kane
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
Production Design: Lev Seltzer

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Parsha Q&A - Lech Lecha

Parshas Lech Lecha

Parsha Questions

Bonus Question

I Did Not Know That!

Recommended Reading List

Answers to this Week's Questions

Answer to Bonus Question