Parsha Q&A - Parshat Naso
Parshat Naso
Inside Israel for the week ending June 10, 2000 / 7 Sivan 5760
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Explanation of these symbols
Parsha Questions
- What is the significance of the number 8,580 in this week's Parsha?
- Besides transporting the Mishkan, what other service performed by the levi'im is mentioned in this Parsha?
- On which day did Moshe teach the command to send those who are teme'im (ritually impure) out of the camp?
- Name the three camps in the desert.
- Who was sent out of each of the camps?
- A person stole from another and swore that he was innocent. If he later confesses his guilt, what are his obligations?
- Who determines which kohen receives the gifts that must be given to the kohanim?
- What does the Torah promise a person who gives matnot kehuna?
- Why are the verses about matnot kehuna followed by the verses about the sotah?
- Why is the sotah given water from the holy basin?
- What does the kohen do to the hair of a sotah?
- When a sotah who is guilty of adultery drinks the water, she dies in a very specific fashion. What happens to the adulterer?
- Before the name of Hashem is erased, the sotah has the option either to admit guilt or to drink the water. Does she have a third option?
- What are chartzanim? What are zagim?
- What sin does a nazir commit against himself?
- Where was the cut hair of a nazir placed?
- A kohen should bless the people "with a full heart." What Hebrew word in the Parsha conveys this idea of "a full heart?"
- What is the meaning of the blessing, "May Hashem bless you and guard you?"
- What is the meaning of the blessing, "May Hashem lift up His countenance upon you?"
- The tribe of Yissachar was the second tribe to offer their gifts. Why did they merit this position?
Kasha
(kasha means "question")
Question: Why was the honorable duty of taking care of the Aron given to the family of Kehat son of Levi (Bamidbar 4:4-6) instead of to the family of Levi's firstborn, Gershon, who were assigned the task of taking care of certain parts of the Mishkan (Bamidbar 4:24-26)?
Answer: If the duty of taking care of the Aron -- the prime representation of Torah -- was given to Levi's firstborn, people might think that Torah is received as an "inheritance," as is the Crown of Royalty and the Crown of Kehuna. The Crown of Torah, however, is available to anyone who toils in the study and fulfillment of Torah.
Kli Yakar
I Did Not Know That!
"And he instructs the woman to drink the bitter, cursing water…" (5:24).
Verses from the Torah are written with ink on parchment, and the parchment is then erased into the water. The dissolved ink is what gives the water its bitter flavor.
Ramban 5:18 quoting Sifri; Abarbanel
Recommended Reading List
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Answers to this Week's Questions
Questions | Contents
All references are to the verses and Rashi's commentary, unless otherwise stated
4:47-48 - It is the number of levi'im between ages thirty and fifty.
4:47 - Singing and playing cymbals and harps to accompany the sacrifices.
5:2 - The day the Mishkan was erected.
5:2 - The Camp of the Shechina was in the center, surrounded by the Camp of Levi which was surrounded by the Camp of Yisrael.
5:2 - A metzora was sent out of all three camps. A zav was permitted in the Camp of Yisrael but excluded from the two inner camps. A person who was tamei from contact with the dead had to leave only the Camp of the Shechina.
5:6-8 - He pays the principle plus a fifth to the victim, and brings a korban asham.
5:10 - The giver.
5:10 - Great wealth.
5:12 - To teach that someone who withholds the gifts due the kohanim is deserving of eventually bringing his wife to the kohanim to be tried as a sotah.
5:17 - The holy basin was made from the mirrors of the righteous women who left Egypt; the sotah strayed from the example set by these women.
5:18 - He uncovers it.
5:22 - He dies a similar death.
5:27 - Yes, she can refuse both: She can refuse to admit guilt and also refuse to drink the water. (After the Name of Hashem is erased, she loses this option.)
6:4 - Chartzanim are seeds. Zagim are peels.
6:11 - He abstains from enjoying wine.
6:18 - It was placed on the fire under the pot in which the nazir's shelamim offering was cooked.
6:23 - "Amor."
6:24 - "May Hashem bless you" that your property may increase, "and guard you" from robbery.
6:26 - "May He suppress His anger."
7:18 - The Tribe of Yissachar was well versed in Torah. Also, they proposed the idea that the nesi'im should offer gifts.
Written and Compiled by Rabbi Eliyahu Kane & Rabbi Reuven Subar
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
Production Design: Michael Treblow
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