Jewish History
-
Twelve or Thirteen Tribes
Were there 12 or 13 tribes? In Gen.48:5-6 Yaakov "adopted" Yoseph’s sons Ephrayim and Menasheh as his own sons. As a result, instead of one tribe of Yoseph’s descendants, there are two tribes, one descended from Ephrayim and the other…
-
The Seduction of David
Did Bathsheba try to seduce David? There is a Midrash (in Ginzei Schechter, vol.1, p.166) that says that Bathsheba, who knew she was destined to have a son by David, used to adorn herself and stand in front of David…
-
The Sin of David
Was David guilty of adultery (with Bathsheba) and murder (of her husband Uriah)? The Talmud (Shab. 56a) explains that David’s marriage to Bathsheba involved neither adultery nor murder. The soldiers in David’s army gave conditional divorces to their wives before…
-
Avshalom and Amnon
Was the murder of David’s son Amnon by his brother Avshalom comparable to the murder of Abel by his brother Cain? There are many differences between the cases of Cain/Abel and Avshalom/Amnon. Avshalom was angry at his half-brother Amnon for…
-
Hagar
Who was Hagar? According to the Midrash, Hagar was Pharaoh’s daughter.
-
Intermarriage in Egypt
In Egypt, did the Israelites intermarry with the Egyptians? Is that why their numbers grew so rapidly? There were certainly instances of Israelite-Egyptian intermarriage (see Lev.24:10), but it doesn’t seem to have been common. More likely the Israelites married among…
-
Women as Slaves in Egypt
Did the Egyptians enslave only the Jewish men? The women were enslaved too; the Talmud (Sotah 11b), commenting on Ex.1:14, says that one of the bad things about the slavery in Egypt was that women had to do men’s work…
-
Different Nuschaos
How did the different versions (nuschaos) of the prayers originate? If one has a choice, which nusach should he adopt? The different versions of the prayers resulted from natural divergences over the years. One who can choose a nusach should…
-
Angels having Wings
Do angels have wings? Angels with wings appear in (Christian) art, but the angels (“messengers”) mentioned in the Torah aren’t described as having wings — they were usually indistinguishable from people. Other types of supernatural creatures, such as the Keruvim…