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‫בס"ד‬

Review for Final Intro to Bible—Rav Shalom Carmy Shlit”a 5774 The Redactor Redacted All Over Again—Yiriel Liss, Naftali Nunberg, Menachem Mendel Shterenzer Shalom Chevra, This has been a monumental work, and is an attempt at combining all of the previous tests from Rav Carmy into one document, along with clear, concise answers. There have been previous attempts at doing this in the past, and those have proved invaluable in aiding us in getting started. However, we feel that these answers are as clear and concise as possible, and we have personally gone over every single answer. Rav Carmy tends to use the same questions on consecutive tests, and it has been said that memorizing previous tests is a sure-fire way to at least do pretty well in the course. We do not guarantee an “A” just from memorizing these notes, but we think that one has a high chance to do quite well, as these encompass all of the semester’s material. This is not a haphazard document thrown together by many redacting people, but has been painstakingly pieced together test by test by us, and we wanted to share our hard work with you. Please feel free to email us with comments, concerns, questions, and feel free to send this to the chevra. Wishing you much hatzlacha, bracha, parnasa, rivacha, bichol ma’asei yideichem tamid. Yiriel & Co. December 1997 Test 1. Vayikra 23:37-43: (a) Discuss briefly the division into two sections; (b) Explain Rashbam: a. No one has this in their notes…from ever. Let’s say this never happened…. 2. Discuss Qeri/Ketiv distinction according to Ibn Ezra, Radak, Abarbanel, and Malbim. a. Ibn Ezra- at times, it is to tell us that davka that is the way to read it, as you might have assumed otherwise (from the word ‫הוא‬, you can read “Hu” or “Hee”). At other times, it is simply a function of how the people of the time wrote ( ‫ולו‬/‫)ולא‬ b. Radak- during ‫גלות בבל‬, more mistakes crept in. After ‫גלות בבל‬, it was necessary to correct these mistakes. What if the ‫ בעלי המסורה‬can’t make their mind up? In that case, they kept both readings; one became the ‫ קרי‬and the other became the ‫כתיב‬. c. Abarbanel- spelling doesn't matter—an incorrect spelling doesn't take away from the kedushah of the nevuah. Yirmiyahu was a particularly bad speller, and that’s why there are many k’ri u’chtiv’s there d. Malbim- Explains the ‫ תורה‬in manner of omni-significance- every detail of the ‫ תורה‬is important and significant. If you hold that every detail of the text is important, ‫ קרי וכתיב‬are obviously important. Therefore, he says that both the ‫קרי‬ ‫ וכתיב‬are correct. If we have a ‫ מסורה‬of reading a certain way, it is correct and if we have a ‫ מסורה‬of writing a certain way, it is correct. 3. What was the upshot of our examination of Rashi’s use of Breishit Rabba to 37:2?

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a. Rashi basically paraphrases the medrash Breishit Rabba i. It says that he said that they were being ‫ מזלזל‬the ‫( בני השפכות‬calling them ‫ )עבדים‬or that they were eating ‫ אבר מן החי‬or that they were ogling the ‫בנות‬ ‫הארץ‬. The ‫ מדרש‬continues and says that ‫ כנגד‬him saying that they were being ‫מזלזל‬, he was sold as a slave. ‫ כנגד‬him saying that they ate ,‫אבר מן החי‬ ‫ מצרים‬didn’t have a lot of animals during the famine. ‫ כנגד‬him saying that they were ogling the ‫בנות הארץ‬, he was ‫חשוד על אשת פוטיפר‬. 1. Either ‫ רש"י‬was being sloppy and wasn’t going ‫ על דרך הפשט‬or maybe he was going ‫ על דרך הפשט‬and the ‫ מדרש‬really can be understood as ‫פשט‬. Why does ‫ רש"י‬quote the end of the ‫מדרש‬ about Yosef getting punished? One answer can be that once ‫רש"י‬ quotes something, he is going to quote one line more than he had to. 4. Discuss the problems raised by Ruth 4 and by Bereishis 38. Discuss ‫’רמבן‬s resolution of the problem and the applicability of a Near Eastern document to his view. a. In Breishit 38 Yehuda sleeps with Tamar, and this seems like viable Yibum, but, at the same time, seems to be like Giluy Arayos also. In Ruth 4, Bo’az marries Ruth, and it seems like it is Yibum there as well, even though he is not a brother/halachic Yibum. i. Ramban- Before Matan Torah, Yibum was expanded to any family member, including fathers-in-law, and this overrode incest. However, after Matan Torah, this gezeirah was redacted and made to only include brothers. ii. Hittite Laws- If you go back to the Hitite laws, you will see that they had ‫ יבום‬as well, and for them, it is even expanded to the father-in-law. For ‫פשוטו של מקרא‬, the ‫’רמב"ן‬s ‫ פשט‬can now make sense because it has something to stand on. 5. Explain ‫’רמבן‬s view on the history of the ‫תורה‬-text during the lifetime of Moses. Why did we find it coherent with his critique of ‫’רמב''ם‬s view of yayin nesech? a. It isn’t surprising that the ‫ רמב"ן‬holds ‫ תורה חתומה נתנה‬because the ‫ רמב"ן‬was a ‫מקובל‬, in which you would want to view the ‫ תורה‬as a canonization of the Names of G-d. You don’t give someone half of an email address; you either have the whole thing or nothing, so it must be that the ‫ תורה‬was given in one session. b. The Rambam says that where the ‫ פסוק‬is found in the ‫ תורה‬tells us something about when the ‫ הלכה‬applies and matters on a ‫ פשט‬level. This issur of Yayin Nesech doesn't come into effect until parashat Ha’azinu

6. Explain in detail Abarbanel’s dating of Joshua.

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a. Q: The ‫ גמרא‬asked, how could Yehoshua write his ‫ספר‬, doesn’t it say ‫ ?וימת יהושע‬A: Elazar wrote it (most likely referring to those last couple of ‫פסוקים‬, although it isn’t ‫)מוכרח‬. Q: But it says Elazar died? A: The ‫ זקנים‬did it. i. The ‫ אברבנל‬writes Yehoshua did not write his ‫ספר‬, bringing a ‫ ראייה‬from the ‫ פסוק‬of ‫ עד היום הזה‬which implies that a significant amount of time has passed. The ‫ אברבנל‬therefore says that Shmuel wrote it. He is within the conservation-of-personality framework and we want to say that it is a familiar ‫ נביא‬who wrote it (Shmuel was the next in line). 7. Can a root in Biblical Hebrew have two contradictory meanings? Discuss Ibn Ezra and Ibn Jannah and analyze an example in detail. a. Ibn Ezra- No. To give an example— "‫ "אור‬means light, and therefore when the Torah says "‫ "ויאר את הלילה‬it means that the cloud previously mentioned was lighting up the darkness. b. Ibn Jannah- Yes. The root "‫ "אור‬can mean dark or light, and this phrase is saying that the night became darker. 8. Discuss motivation and method of Ktav ve-haKabbala on Dvarim 16:3. a. ‫ לא תאכל עליו חמץ שבעת ימים תאכל עליו לחם עוני‬- The ‫ גמ' פסחים‬darshins from this that just as ‫ חמץ‬is from the ‫ה' מיני דגן‬, so too ‫ מצה‬must come from the ‫ה' מיני דגן‬. There is another ‫ פסוק‬where ‫ חמץ‬and ‫ מצה‬appear together in ‫ כל מחמצת לא תאכלו בכל‬: ‫שמות‬ ‫ נודע ביהודה‬....‫מושבתיכם תאכלו מצות‬- Q: Why don’t ‫ חז"ל‬adopt the ‫ דרשה‬by that ‫?פסוק‬ i. ‫כתב והקבלה‬- The ‫ פסוק‬in ‫ ראה‬says ‫ לחם עוני‬, as opposed to the ‫ פסוק‬in .‫שמות‬ ‫ לחם‬is connected to the idea of heat ( ‫)חם‬. The heat is related to ‫חימוץ‬, release of heat. The ‫ היקש‬isn’t just rooted in ‫ מדרש הלכה‬but is rather rooted in the manner of the word ‫לחם‬. ii. This is rooted in a Rav Hirschian idea that we look at the two basic letters of the word. R’ Hirsch was not concerned with the morphological meaning but the semantic meaning. He felt that if you take any ‫ שרש‬you will find that there really are two letters in that three-letter ‫ שרש‬that are fundamental to the meaning. In regards to our example, you can say that we don’t agree with this. Alternatively, you can say that ‫ לחם‬doesn’t just mean bread. ‫הנני ממטיר לחם מן השמים‬- The ‫ אבן עזרא‬says that this is referring to the ‫שלו‬, and ‫ לחם‬means meat ( ‫ רש"י‬says that it is referring to the ‫)מן‬. You can’t get out of it by saying that the ‫ כתב וקבלה‬agrees with ‫רש"י‬ because he says ‫ את קרבני לחמי‬means meat. Therefore, there might be a hole in this ‫פשט‬ 9. You want to locate references in midrashim to Hanukka. Which is most useful? Least useful? Why? CD-ROM; Otsar haAggada; Torah haKetuva ve-haMesura; Torah Shelema. a. CD-ROMS?! Those are from the prehistoric, dinosaur era! 10. In what connection did Rambam discuss yated yihyeh lecha…in the Guide? What is his conclusion?

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‫בס"ד‬

a. The ‫ רמב''ם‬here discusses whether one should take Midrashic interpretations to texts as the literal meaning of the text or not. Here, the ‫ מדרש‬teaches that one should stick his fingers in his ears if he hears ‫לשון הרע‬. Clearly, the ‫ רמב''ם‬says that this is not the true explanation of how to understand the ‫פסוק‬. Rather, the author of the ‫ מדרש‬wanted to teach a valuable lesson and saw fit to do so by manipulating the words of this ‫פסוק‬. 11. Which of the following quote sources in full; which only give reference? Ginzberg’s legends of the Jews, Torah haKetuva ve-haMesura; Torah Shelema. (Explain fully!) a. ‫ ילקות שימעוני‬is a collection of literary works on ‫תנ''ך‬. Hyman’s ‫מקורות ילקות שימעוני‬ is a thorough attempt to trace its sources b. R. Kasher’s Torah Shelema is a collection of ‫ חז''ל‬on ‫ חומש‬until the middle of Bamidbar. It has some essays supplemented to various volumes c. Torah Temima is much more selective on chumash (e.g. Medrish rabba is used only for Migilot), but useful for basic purposes d. Torah haKetuva vehaMesura covers all of ‫תנ''ך‬, giving all references along with ‫ תוספות‬,‫ רמב''ם‬,‫ רשי‬ect. However, unlike the above, this work only offers the references without the words of the actual reference e. Otsar haAggada is topical (i.e. all discussions of ‫ אברהם‬or rain) f. Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews repeats stories (vol. 1-4); footnotes in vols. 5-6; Index in vol. 7 12. Arrange in chronological order: Gra, Ibn dates and general locations. R. Sadia Gaon 10th century ‫רשי‬ 11th century ‫אבן עזרה‬ 12th century ‫רמב''ם‬ 12th century ‫רמבן‬ 13th century R. Bachya 14th century Ba’al HaTurim14th century Seforno 16th century

Ezra, Netziv, Seforno. Indicate approximate Babylonia France Spain Spain/Egypt Spain Spain Spain Italy

13. Note two ways of referring to a source in Talmud Yerushalmi. What is the Yefe Einayim? Where is it found? a. The ‫ ירושלמי‬is reffered to in 2 editions: Venice edition, by page and column; and the Vilna edition which looks like a regular ‫'גמ‬. b. The Yefe Einayim is source in the back of most ‫בבלי‬s and is used for crossreferencing ‫ 'גמ‬to ‫ירושלמי‬

Spring 1998 Test

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‫בס"ד‬

1. Basis for ‫’רשבם‬s view of ‫פרשת תולדות‬. Also note its implications for understanding the structure and meaning of the Joseph story. a. The Rashbam says that Toldot means progeny, or children, in the same way we understand it every other time. In our example, the ‫ רשב"ם‬says that the real ‫ תולדות יעקב‬are really in ‫ויגש‬, where the ‫ תורה‬details the seventy people who went down and says ‫ויוסף היה במצרים‬. From the viewpoint of the word ‫תולדות‬, the ‫פרשיות‬ ‫ וישב‬and ‫ מקץ‬are really digressions. It is a delayed reaction style 2. See December 1997 Test, Question #2 3. Gra’s view of the structure of VaYikra 16: note briefly implications of his insight. a. He looks at the ‫ פרשה‬and says there are two layers within the ‫תושבכ"ת‬. However, he said that there is a difference between the ‫ הלכה‬in the ‫ מדבר‬and the ‫ הלכה‬after the ‫מדבר‬. From the view point of the ‫דור המדבר‬, the last two ‫ פסוקים‬are talking about a future time. During the ‫מדבר‬, Aharon could enter into the ‫ קה"ק‬as long as he did the ‫עבודה‬. After the time of Aharon, the ‫ הלכה‬changed, which is reflected in the last two ‫ פסוקים‬which say that it is only performed on ‫יום כיפור‬. a. In ‫יומא‬, you will see that there are certain parts of the ‫ עבודה‬that don’t seem to be ‫פשוטו של מקרא‬, like the five ‫ טבילות‬or the placing of the different ‫קרבנות‬. If you work with the ‫’גר"א‬s principle, it falls into place. There are two avodah’s—one done by Aharon whenever he wanted to in the Midbar, and one done by the Kohen Gadol in the Beis HaMikdash 4. How do halachik details in 9:8 ‫ פרשת במדבר‬interact with ‫ פשט‬according to ‫ רשי‬and ‫אבן‬ ‫?עזרה‬ a. ‫ איש כי יהיה טמא לנפש או בדרך רחוקה לכם או בדרתיכם‬-‫ פ' בהעלתך‬- This is the story of ‫פסח‬ ‫שני‬. There is a dot on top of the ‫ ה‬of ‫רחקה‬. This usually indicates a problem with the ‫פסוק‬. Joe Lieberman wrote a book and spoke about this a little bit- he said that if Homer the poet wanted to write that something was miscopied, he would put a dot on top of the word. Obviously in ‫תורה‬, there is no miscopy, but it does tell us that there is some issue in regards to how to read the word (ex: the dots on top of ‫ וישקהו‬when referring to Eisav kissing Yaakov tell ‫ חז"ל‬that Eisav might have had ulterior motives for kissing Yaakov). If there is a dot on the ‫ה‬, it kind of tells us that the ‫ ה‬is floating; the word can be read as ‫ רחקה‬or ‫רחק‬. i. ‫להלכה‬, how far is ‫ דרך רחקה? ר' אלעזר‬says that anybody who is outside the ‫ עזרה‬is called ‫דרך רחקה‬. This is a very big ‫ ר"ע‬.‫ קולא‬says that this is referring to someone who is ‫ ט"ו מיל‬away. The ‫ אבן עזרא‬says that you should look at ‫ תושבע"פ‬to see what it means (as he is a ‫פשטן‬, he doesn’t get involved here). ii. ‫ רש"י‬explains like ‫ר' אלעזר‬. The ‫ אבן עזרא‬doesn’t say that it is clear from ‫דרך‬ ‫ רחקה‬that it is like ‫ר' אלעזר‬. He must think that you shouldn’t put much import on the dot; leave that to ‫תושבע"פ‬. However, ‫ רש"י‬does seem to put import on the dot 5. See December 1997 Test Question #5

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‫בס"ד‬

6. Discuss ‫’רמב''ם‬s view regarding ‫לא תבשיל גדי בחלב אמו‬, including his argument for his position. Consider the relevance of Ugaritic literature to this case. a. The ‫ רמב"ם‬says that ‫ לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו‬is given to use because the ‫ גוים‬had an infertility ritual where they ate milk and meat. Where did he get this from? The phrase appears three times. It appears with ‫ ביכורים‬in ‫משפטים‬, with ‫ ביכורים‬again with ‫כי תשא‬, and with ‫ כשרות‬in ‫ראה‬. Why is it put together with ‫ ביכורים‬in those two places? Why isn’t it in ‫ שמיני‬with all the other ‫ כשרות‬issues? It must be that it has something to do with ‫ בית המקדש‬issues. It must be that it had something to do with ‫עבודה זרה‬. People living in the times of the ‫ תורה‬felt that this was negating what the ‫ גוים‬were doing. In this example, we see that the ‫ רמב"ם‬doesn’t even base his idea on a source; it is based on a ‫ סברה‬which he developed by carefully looking at the ‫פסוקים‬. i. Ugaritic tablets were uncovered in the 1920’s confirming the ‫ רמב"ם‬and saying that ‫ בשר וחלב‬was used in fertility rites. 7. See December 1997 Test question #7 8. Explain R. Hoffman’s view on the relationship between Vayikra 1-5 and Vayikra 6-7 with his proofs. a. R. Hoffman’s conclusion is that in ‫( תושבע"פ‬the way it actually happened), ‫צו‬ comes before ‫ויקרא‬. This means that ‫צו‬, from a chronological point of view, comes from the same period as ‫תצוה‬. They are both ‫ הר סיני‬and are both addressed to ‫)אהרן )ואתה תצוה את אהרן‬. Why are they separated? ‫ תצוה‬mainly talks about ‫בגדי‬ ‫כהונה‬, which is the first priority because it gets Aharon ready for the ‫עבודה‬ (although it does talk briefly about one ‫קרבן‬: the ‫ ויקרא‬.(‫ תמיד‬tells you what the ‫ קרבנות‬are (tells you what the ‫ כהן‬is supposed to do), and ‫ צו‬tells you more about what the ‫ כהן‬has to do. This would be the reason for the ‫ תושבכ"ת‬order. i. SUMMARY: Way it ACTUALLY is: Tetzaveh, VaYikra, Tzav Way it SHOULD be: Tzav+Teztaveh, VaYikra 9. See December 1997 Test Question #12 10. See December 1997 Test Question #10 11. See December 1997 Test Question #11 12. Examples of hyperbole in Aggada: note case in Rivash. a. ‫ חז''ל‬write that ‫ לשון הרע‬is equivalent to killing, illicit relations and idolatry b. ‫ חז''ל‬write that anyone who turns his eyes from charity is like an idolater c. ‫ חז''ל‬write that anyone who indulges in anger is like an idolater i. The ‫ ריב''ש‬wrote that when ‫ חז''ל‬write that one who violates a ‫ חרם‬is like an idolater and will never be forgiven, they meant this as an exaggeration to stress the seriousness of the sin

20

‫בס"ד‬

13. See December 1997 Test Question #13 14. Differences in Aggada between ‫ בבלי‬and ‫ירושלמי‬, according to Maharatz Chajes a. In regard to stories of demons, the ‫ בבלי‬writes much more lengthy stories than the ‫ירושלמי‬. Similarly, in regard to incantations, while the ‫ ירושלמי‬does not mention the subject, the ‫ בבלי‬writes on it at length

Fall 2000 Test 1. ‫’רד''ק‬s views on interchanges of letters by copyists in ‫ תורה‬and Divrei ha'Yamim. Why did we discuss development of Hebrew alphabet in this context and with what conclusions? a. In Noach (10:4) the name of one of the sons of Yavan is “Dodanim,” but in Divrei HaYamim it's “Rodanim.” Radak said that until the time of Ezra people were speaking both “Dodanim” and “Rodanim.” Therefore, Ezra, knowing that “Rodanim” wasn’t correct (a.k.a. not what was recorded in Parshat Noach), but knowing it was part of dialect at time, recorded it in Divrei Hayamim so it would not be erased. i. We would have thought it relevant if it would teach us which came first: torah in Ivri or Torah in Ashuri. There is an opinion that ‫ תורה‬was written in Ksav Ivri and later changed to Ashuri (as opposed to saying that it was written in Ashuri and Ezra merely restored it to Ashuri after it had been changed to Ivri). But our sugya (Dodanim vs. Rodanim) cannot shed light on Ashuri vs Ivri argument since according to both methods the ‫ ר‬and ‫ד‬ are similar 2. How is the term “am nochri” (by selling your daughter) to be translated according to Mekhilta of R. Ishmael, Mekhilta of R. Simon, Saadia Gaon, ‫ רשי‬and ‫? אבן עזרה‬ a. ‫ עם נכרי‬means another Jew. ‫ רש"י‬in ‫ חומש‬means that ‫ עם נכרי‬means a Jew b. The ‫ אבן עזרא‬follows the ‫ מכילתא; עם נכרי‬means a ‫גוי‬ c. The ‫ אבן עזרא‬quotes ‫סעדיא גאון‬. He says that ‫ עם‬can refer to a person, similar to how the word ‫ גוי‬can mean an individual (like with Avimelech- ‫) הגוי גם צדיק תהרג‬. Therefore, ‫ עם נכרי‬can mean a strange person. However, the ‫ אבן עזרא‬takes issue with this. d. There are two ‫מכילתות‬, one of ‫ ר' ישמעאל‬and one of ‫רשב"י‬. The word ‫ עם‬in Arabic means “uncle from the father’s side”. Rabbi Carmy thought when he was younger that this could be ‫ פשט‬in the ‫ פסוק‬of ‫ עם‬-‫ עם נכרי‬is referring to a Jewish relative, and ‫ נכרי‬tells me that he isn’t a relative; he is just a Jew. e. ‫ על ההרים יעמדו מים‬-‫תהלים‬. The simple meaning is that there is water on top of the mountain. This is how ‫ אבן עזרא‬learns ‫ פשט‬and how most of us would learn ‫פשט‬. However, poetry works a little differently. Ibn Janach held that this ‫ פסוק‬isn’t in the right order because it is much more impressive to have mountains on top of water and not water on top of mountains (according to physics at that time, the water should really be on top of water- the heavier things should be closer to the

20

‫בס"ד‬

bottom of the earth and the lighter things should float up, but this was the opposite). The ‫ אבן עזרא‬says that this isn’t acceptable; he argues on the entire ‫שיטה‬. He thinks that once you start doing this, you will start amending the entire text. 3. Why does ‫ רשי‬interpret Shemos 20:8 as he does? Discuss in detail his relationship to Rabbinic sources in this verse a. ‫ זכור את יום השבת לקדשו‬-‫ח‬:‫שמות כ‬. One problem with the ‫ פסוק‬is the word ‫זכור‬- as a command, it really should be spelled with a ‫שווא‬ i. ‫ רש"י‬says that we should be in a state of continuous anticipation for ‫שבת‬. Where does he get this from? The ‫גמ' ביצה טז‬. says that Shammai would always set aside a ‫ חפץ נאה‬for ‫ שבת‬and if he would find a nicer object the next day, he would replace the previous object. Hillel didn’t hold this wayhe said ‫ברוך ה' יום יום‬. If we would take this literally, it means that ‫ רש"י‬is following Shammai. Why would ‫ רש"י‬follow Shammai? 1. How are we ‫ מיישב‬this? We can say that just because we don’t follow Shammai ‫הלכה למעשה‬, hashkaficly we will follow Shammai’s very important point in how to prepare for ‫ רש"י‬.‫ שבת‬did not say this; we have no eviden...