The Chumash (Five Books of Moses)
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Names of the Torah Portions
Who named the Torah Portions and when did this start? Answer: Hi! You’re asking an interesting and difficult question. I’m not sure that anyone named the portions. We don’t even really know where they came from; the Torah itself doesn’t…
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Abraham’s “Only Son”?
In Genesis 22:12 and 16 G-d addresses Abraham regarding Isaac as “your only son”. What about Ishmael? Is he not Abraham’s first born son? Answer: Hi! Interesting question you’re asking. To add to it, G-d uses the phrase before these…
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Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
What were the reasons God destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah? In verse 5 were the men asking Lot to send the angels out so they could commit homosexual acts with them? Answer: That indeed was their intention, but homosexuality is not…
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Name of Lot’s Wife
In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, what is Lot’s wife’s name? I could not find it mentioned in the Torah portion. Answer: The name of Lot’s wife was Eidis (possibly related to the secular name Edith). Her name is…
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Why did Lot’s wife look back?
Why did Lot’s wife looked back at Sodom? Answer: Remember the 60’s television series, Green Acres? The “big city” wife, moved to rural America, always looked back. There were things that she liked that she was leaving behind. Regards, Eliahu…
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Why Enslave Abraham’s Children?
I’m struck by the quote,”Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and that they shall be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13) especially after all the “amazing” promises G-d has made…
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Golden Calf Casualties
At Mt Sinai what happened to those who built the Golden Calf. I understand they were all destroyed when the earth opened up. Are their souls also now in the earth? Was that the punishment for not believing in G-d…
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Joseph’s Bones in the Nile
When the Jews left Egypt for the promised land how did Moses know that Joseph was buried in the Nile? What prayer did he say that brought up the coffin up after about 400 years? Answer: Serach, the righteous daughter…
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Gap Theory and Lucifer
Does the 974 generations of man before creation (or remaking of earth) add any validity to the gap theory of creation? The theory that Lucifer was cast out of heaven onto the earth and G-d then destroyed the earth due…