CHAMISHOH MI YODEI'A - FIVE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON PARSHAS EMOR 5775 - BS"D
1) Ch. 21, v. 9: "Es ovihoh hee m'cha'le'les" - Her father she profanes - Why is 1) all the blame placed on the father, and none of it on her mother?
2) Ch. 21, v. 10: "Hagodol mei'echov" - Who is greater than his brothers - The verse should have said "hagodol b'echov," as we find "ha'yofoh BAnoshim" (Shir Hashirim).
3) Ch. 23, v. 2: "Asher tik'r'u osom mikro'ei kodesh eileh heim mo'adoi" - That you should call them a call for sanctity these are My Holidays - Obviously the Holidays are if Hashem's choosing! What is being conveyed with "eileh heim mo'adoi?"
4) Ch. 23, v. 22: "Uvkutz'r'chem es k'tzir artz'chem" - And when you harvest the harvest of your land - These words are expressed in plural form, including that the land is "yours." Why?
5) Ch. 23, v. 32: "V'ini'sem es nafshoseichem b'shisoh lachodesh" - And you shall afflict your souls on the ninth of the month - The gemara Yoma explains this to mean that one is required to eat on the eve of Yom Kippur. Why doesn't the verse spell this out directly?
ANSWERS:
#1
The Kohanim were the elite of the bnei Yisroel and readily found wives. They could easily choose an exceptionally moral spouse. Even if the mother had a bad influence upon her daughter, which is indeed a likelihood, nevertheless, the father is still to blame for choosing an improper wife.
#2
The reason a prefix Mem is used is to teach that if the Kohein Godol is poor, it is the responsibility of the other Kohanim to contribute funds to him to make him wealthy, hence the letter Mem, literally FROM his brothers. (Malbim)
#3
It is only when you involve yourselves in activities of sanctity, and not in using the Holidays as an opportunity for pursuing physical pleasures, that they are considered MY Holidays. Otherwise, they are YOUR holidays, about which the prophet decries, "Umo'adeiCHEM sonoh nafshi hoyu olai latorech." (Yeshayohu 1:14). (Sforno)
#4
This is done to prod the land owner into understanding that although he is leaving over a small section of the produce in the field for people who have not invested in ownership, plowing, fertilizing, planting, harvesting, etc., nevertheless they deserve a portion because the land is not only "mine," it is also "ours." The portion of the poor man is under the stewardship of the landowner. (Chasam Sofer)
#5
1) Eating is pleasant, while fasting is afflicting. By expressing the mitzvoh of eating as fasting, we will be given a reward for eating commensurate to having fasted.
2) If the Torah would have clearly articulated that the mitzvoh is to eat, people would be so involved in eating up to the last minute, and it would be difficult to have a minyan for "kol nidrei." (Dubner Magid)
3) An insight reverse of the previous one: If the Torah would spell out the mitzvoh to eat, the yeitzer hora would make people lose their appetites. (Nirreh li)
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