Jewish Texts
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Plague of darkness
why does the Ibn Ezra (A classic Torah commentator) tell us that he experienced a similar kind of darkness as described in the plage- darkness. What lesson does this reinforce? From the wording of the Ibn Ezra (and from the…
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Plague of the First Born
Why is the Plague of the First Born males referred to as “makas b’choros” (i.e. feminine form) since it was the first born Egyptian MALES who were killed? Everywhere in the Torah and I think in Tanach, the plural of…
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Pharaoh’s survival
I have heard that Pharaoh was also a first born. Why was he not killed along with the other first-born Egyptians as the tenth plague? God kept him alive so that the leading figure of the world’s most advanced civilization…
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Torah, which to study first
What are all the Torahs? (example:midrash,tanach,zohar) What is the order of studying them? (example:first:midrash 2:zohar and so on.) Torah (as in “THE” Torah) generally refers to the Five Books of Moses that are written on a Torah scroll–Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,…
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When was the Torah written
When was the Torah written? How long did it take. Please present sources. The Talmud in Bava Basra (14b) discusses whether the entire Written Torah was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, or only the first section describing things that…
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In the “image of G-d”
Does a Nazi fall into the category of “tzelem elokim” (status of being created in the image of G-d) or has he lost that part of his being that would allow that category to apply to him? The question you…
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What accompanied the sacrifices?
When aminals were sacrificed, either prior to the Golden Calf incident, when performed privately by persons such as Noah or Abraham, or for that matter, during the temple period, what kinds of prayers or incantations accompanied the sacrifices? There were…
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Maimonides
Why were the Jewish Scholars concerned about Maimonides’s producing the “Mishna Torah”.? The greatest fear was that studying Mishna Torah might weaken the all-important focus on the study of the Talmud (which is, after all, the source of all observance…
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Authority of the Talmud
My question is, that the Talmud is considered divine. Yet the Talmud is a progression of Rabbinic interpretation. Even the name “Living Torah” the idea of a document that brings the Torah to every situation. How can the Talmud be…