Jewish Texts
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Tzlalfonis, Mother of Samson
What is the meaning of Tzlalfonis, the mother of Samson as noted in The Talmud (Bava Basra 91a)? Answer: You’ll find her as “Tzelphoni” in Chronicles I 4:3. My book on Biblical personalities says her name comes from “Ponah L’Tzalel”,…
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Noah, Tower of Babel, & Population Growth
It is explained that Noah lived through 2 generations, the floods generation and the tower of babel. At the risk of sounding disrespectful where did the other people come from if everyone perished in the flood? Or were people of…
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Moses’ Prayer to Enter the Promised Land
Did Moses ever pray to G-d to allow “him and him only” to enter the promised land, as opposed to praying that the Jewish People should be allowed in the land? Did he ever pray for G-d to forgive him…
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Let US Make Man III
In Gen 1:26 it says, “And G-d said, ‘Let us make Man….’” Does this mean that there are other gods that exist, but the earth is His and we are only to follow/worship Him? Answer: Your question is well asked.…
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A Lesson from Enoch
What was Enoch’s main contribution? Answer: It isn’t clear. However, see Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler’s classic work, Strive for Truth (Michtav M’Eliyahu), in his Discourse on Loving kindness, where he writes that Enoch was a cobbler and made mystical union’s with…
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Azazel
What is Azazel? Answer: Thank you for your excellent question. There are two opinions about the identity of Azazel. One is that it is simply the name of the cliff that the scapegoat sacrifice was tossed from on Yom Kippur.…
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Isaac and the Revival of the Dead
I read an article that referred to the revival of the Patriarch Isaac from the dead during the Akeida (The Binding of Isaac). The Torah states that the angel of G-d stopped Abraham before he touched Isaac and implored Abraham…
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Joshua and Rahab
If Joshua the son of Nun married Rahab didn’t he break the covenant of not marrying outside of the their tribes? Answer: Indeed, our tradition teaches that Rahab married Joshua. The requirement of marrying within the tribe (which only applied…
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Number of Words and Roots in the Torah
How many distinct words (different root words) are there in the Torah? Answer: This is a complicated question. Let me give you some basic stats: * There are 80,000 words (all numbers are rounded) in the Torah * There are…