CHAMISHOH MI YODEI'A - FIVE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON PARSHIOS ACHAREI-K'DOSHIM 5775 - BS"D

2) Ch. 16, v. 4: "K'so'nes bad kodesh yilbosh umich'n'sei bad yi'h'yu al b'soro" - A holy tunic of linen he shall don and pants of linen shall be on his flesh - The gemara Sanhedrin 49b says that although the tunic is mentioned earlier, the pants should be placed on the Kohein Godol's body first, as our verse says that the pants should be against his flesh. If the tunic were to be donned first, the pants would not be directly against his body. Why then is the tunic mentioned first?

3) Ch. 16, v. 21: "V'shilach b'yad ish iti hamidboroh" - And he should send it with a timely prepared man to the wilderness - In the "yotzros" of Yom Kippur, where the sending of the "so'ir lo'azo'zeil" is discussed, the common text is, "Shogru b'yad iti midbar az." Why is the word "ish" left out?

4) Ch. 19, v. 9: "Uvkutz'r'chem es k'tzir artz'chem lo s'cha'leh p'as sodcho" - And when you cut the harvest of your land do not complete your harvest by cutting the corner of your field - The verse begins in the plural form, "Uv'kutz'r'CHEM es k'tzir artz'CHEM" but changes to the singular form, "lo s'cha'LEH p'as sodCHO." Why the change?

5) Ch. 19, v. 23: "V'chi sovo'u el ho'oretz untatem kol eitz maachol" - And when you will come into the land and you will plant every food producing tree - Why does the verse say "kol" since not every fruit grows in every climate?

ANSWERS:

#1

The gemara Sotoh 11a relates that Paroh had three advisors with whom he discussed the "Jewish problem," Bilom, Iyov, and Yisro. Bilom offered Paroh the final solution mentioned in the Torah. Upon hearing this, Iyov kept quiet, while Yisro ran away from the meeting. Iyov thought that he would not be punished for his remaining still, as after all, he himself said nothing negative, nor agreed to it. The gemara Sanhedrin 52a says that Nodov and Avihu were walking and having a discussion. Nodov told Avihu that he was tired of having these two old men, Moshe and Aharon, as the bnei Yisroel's leaders. "When will they pass on so that we can lead the generation?" Hashem responded, "Let us see who will bury whom." It is understandable that Nodov would die after such a remark, but why punish Avihu, who said nothing? We can derive from this that remaining mute, but agreeing by abstention, is also punished severely. This brought fright into Iyov's heart. Indeed, he was punished with many sufferings. (Chid"o in Nachal K'dumim)

#2

The N'tzi"v says that the tunic is holier. This is because it covers more of the Kohein's body. This is akin to a Sefer Torah being holier than tefillin parshios, and tefillin parshios being holier than mezuzoh parshios. The basis for this is simply that the one has more paragraphs in it than the next. (It would follow that one not place a mezuzoh on a tefillin shel yad or shel rosh. However, if the parshios of the shel rosh tefillin are outside their housing, and thus are single parshios, a mezuzoh, which contains two parshios, may be placed upon a single tefillin parsha.)

#3

The gemara Yoma says that "ish" teaches us that any person, even a non-Kohein may walk the scapegoat to the wildernees. However, the Kohanim instituted that only a Kohein do it. Since the practice was to only use a Kohein, "ish" is left out as "ish" would mean even a Yisroel. (Rabbi Shlomo Gantzfried in Aperion)

#4

The Holy Alshich explains that the Torah is addressing the owner of a field who might be very reluctant to share his hard-earned produce with a poor man who doesn't own the field and put in no agricultural effort into growing and producing the bounty. The Torah tells the person who worked the field that the effort expended in producing food is yours (plural), "uv'kutz'r'CHEM," and the field is yours (again plural), "artz'CHEM," both the actual owner and the poor man. Therefore you (single), the owner, should not harvest all the produce, "lo s'cha'leh," to keep it all for yourself.

#5

This is to be taken literally, that in Eretz Yisroel it is possible to plant and grow any type of fruit tree. Medrash Koheles says that King Shlomo was endowed with the wisdom to recognize channels in the ground that spread out all over the world and expanded there. For example, he knew where the channels for peppers that went to Ethiopia, renown for peppers, where. He planted peppers in these channels and they grew very successfully. Every fruit type in the world is based in Eretz Yisroel, and if one has the knowledge of where they are, he can successfully grow any fruit. (Rabbi Chaim Palagi)

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