ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS
prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem
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Shabbos 89
Questions
1)
(a) Hashem initially told the Satan that He had given the Torah to the
earth.
(b) The earth told the Satan that Hashem knew where it was; the sea and the
depths replied that they did not have it.
(c) Moshe did not want to take credit for such a precious, hidden object,
in which Hashem took delight each day. That is why he said to the Satan
've'Chi Mah Ani she'Nasan Li Hakadosh Baruch Hu Torah'?
(d) Hashem replied that since Moshe had humbled himself (before the Torah),
the Torah would from now on be called *his* Torah. Hence the Pasuk "Zichru
Toras Moshe Avdi".
2)
(a) When Moshe arrived in Heaven, he found Hashem tying crowns on to the
letters (the crowns will be explained later in Perek ha'Boneh - as well as
the seven letters 'Sha'atnez Gatz').
(b) Moshe did not greet Hashem, because a slave does not greet his master.
(c) When Hashem pointed out that he ought to at least wish him success in
His work, he responded by saying "ve'Atah Yigdal Na Ko'ach Hashem" (even
though this Pasuk is only recorded later, in Ki Sisa - after the Golden
Calf).
3)
(a) "Ki Boshesh" ... is the acronym of 'Ba'u Shesh' - meaning that the
sixth hour when he had said he would return, had already passed, but Moshe
had returned.
(b) The Satan (who first comes in the form of the Yetzer ha'Ra, then goes
up to accuse, as the Satan, and finally comes down to punish, in the form
of the Angel of Death) first confused them into believing that Moshe was
late; then he tried to convince them that Moshe had died. When they still
refused to believe them, he showed them a picture of Moshe's stretcher
(used for burying the dead). That was how he tricked them into believing
that Moshe really *was* dead.
(c) Yisrael's mistake lay in their failure to realize that when Moshe
informed them that he would return after forty days, he meant forty *full*
days (each consisting of twenty-four hours). Consequently, they should not
have counted the day that he ascended Har Sinai in the forty day period.
But they did, with the result that they expected Moshe one day too early.
4)
(a) Har Sinai means the mountain which caused the nations of the world to
hate Yisrael (from the word Sin'ah).
(b) It is also referred to as ...
- ... Midbar Tzin - because Yisrael were commanded on it (they became 'Metzuvim ve'Osim');
- ... Midbar Kadesh - because they were sanctified on it;
- ... Midbar Paran - because they all gave birth to a son at Har Sinai, as we learn from the Pasuk "Shuvu Lachem le'Oholeichem" (from the Lashon 'Peru u'Revu').
(c) Har Sinai's real name was Har Chorev.
(d) According to others, it was called 'Har Chorev' because it brought
destruction to the nations of the world, who declined to accept the Torah
there.
89b---------------------------------------89b
Questions
5)
The Navi uses the plural ("ka'Shanim Yalbinu"), because Hashem was telling
Yisrael that, even if their sins are stacked like the years from the time
of the creation, they will be (-come white like snow i.e.) forgiven.
6)
(a) Yisrael held it against the Avos:
against Avraham, who heard from Hashem all about the bitter Galus in Egypt,
but did not pray on their behalf.
against Yitzchak, who blessed Eisav in Toldos: "ve'Haya Ka'asher Tarid,
u'Farakto Ulo me'Al Tzavarecha" - and look how much we have suffered on
account of that blessing!
And against Ya'akov, who heard from Hashem that the Galus was about to come
into effect, yet, like Avraham, he failed to pray on behalf of his
children.
(b) Hashem replied that, since Yisrael relied on *Him*, He would not let
them down. If their sins were like red threads, they would become white
like snow.
(c) Both Avraham and Ya'akov, already in the Olam ha'Emes, will respond to
Hashem's statement "Banecha Chat'u" with the words "Ribono shel Olam,
Yimachu al Kedushas Shemecha"!
(d) Hashem 'thought' (Kevayochol) that Ya'akov will be certain to speak in
Yisrael's defense, since he suffered the ordeal of the twelve tribes.
7)
(a) Yitzchak will say to Hashem: 'Why do you call them *my* (Yitzchak's)
children? Did You not refer to them as '*My* (hashem's) firstborn son',
because You knew that they would declare 'Na'aseh ve'Nishma'? So why,
because they have sinned, do You now call them *my* children, and not
*Your's*.
(b) He will go on to argue like this: 'And anyway, how much can they have
sinned? How long does a person live, seventy years! Deduct the first
twenty, for which You don't punish anyway. So we're left with fifty. Take
off twenty-five of night-time, during which time a person anyway sleeps and
does not sin! And from those years You can deduct another twelve and a
half, during which time he Davens, eats and relieves himself.
That leaves us with a mere twelve and a half. So why don't You carry half,
and I'll carry half. If You don't agree, then I'll take them all. After
all, I gave up my life for You!'
(c) When Yisrael will reply 'You are our father!', Yitzchak, pointing
upwards, will tell them that they would rather praise Hashem.
(d) And Yisrael will take their cue from him and proclaim 'Ata Hashem Avinu
Go'aleinu me'Olam Shemecha'!
8)
Ya'akov Avinu did not go down to Egypt in chains, because his merits
prevented this from happening.
9)
(a) The Shiur for carrying out ...
- ... wood - is sufficient to cook one Kigerogeres of a chicken's egg;
- ... spices - is sufficient to spice a Kigerogeres of a chicken's egg.
(b) Different spices do combine to make up the required Shiur.
(c) The Shiur for carrying out dyeing materials is enough to dye a small
piece of material to cover a woman's head-net.
(d) According to Rebbi Yehudah, the Shiur of Neser, Boris, Kemuni'ah and
Ashlag - is enough to remove the bloodstain of a Nidah from a garment.
10)
(a) A broken cane is not really fit for any other use other than for
cooking, therefore it is obvious that *that* is its Shiur; wood, on the
other hand, has other uses, which explains why the Tana needed to inform us
that nevertheless, its Shiur is the same as that of a broken cane - because
*that* is its chief function.
(b) Chizkiyah explained that different spices only combine when they are
all fit to sweeten the pot, inferring that, ordinarily, spices do not
automatically combine. So what does Chizkiyah do with our Mishnah, which
seems to say that *all* spices automatically combine?
(c) The Gemara answers that our Mishnah too, speaks specifically about
spices that sweeten the pot, and not about all kinds of spices, like we
originally thought.
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