The Family Corner: Bible in the Family — Book of Genesis

Have you ever engaged your children in a Bible discussio n ? How abo ut trying this at your Sabbath table ? H ere are a s eries of questions , selected at random from several Sidrot of the Book of Genesis, which might help you stimulate thinking about Biblical ideas. Keep the atmo sphere informal and relaxed, allow for reading of passages by members of the family, and, abov e all, try to meet the interest s of the various age levels in you r f amily. U se the n ew J.P.S. e dition of “The Torah” for direct reading of passages and the Hertz edit ion of the Pentateuch for the Commentary.

Noah

1. Q: Noah was a “ righteous man“ and he “ walked with G od“ . How would you compare Noah to Abraham in this respect. A: See both comments of Hertz- ch. 6:9. 2. Q: Why was the world destroyed by the flood. A: See Hertz comment on Cb. 6:11. 3. Q: Why did Noah take so long in building the Ark . A: See Hertz comment on ch. 6:14. 4. Q: In verse 6:9 Noah is described as “righteous and blam eless”. Why d id God shorten His prai se of Noah in Ch. 7: l. A: See Hertz comment ch. 7:1. 5. Q: What birds did Noah send out of the ark to see how much the waters had subsided, and at what intervals. A. See Bible text and Hertz comments on ch. 8:7-11. 6. Q: After Noah left the ark, he acted shamefully, but his son Ham behaved even more shamefully . What did each do to bring disgrace. A: See text and Hertz comments on ch. 9:20-23. 7. Q: The Ziggurat was the Mesopotamian templ e-tower, rising to an immense height which we know about through archeolog y. Thi s is probabl y the “tower of Babel” referred to in ch. 11. Why did God confus e the language of the builders and scatter them over the face of the earth. A: See Hertz’s elaborate comment on page 197. 8. Q: Who were the three sons of Noah. How would you relate them to the three large branches of peoples, Semites, Hamit es and Indo -Europ ean. A: See text and comments on ch. 10.

2. Q: How many ancient countries can you spot in chapter 10 which outline · the families of the nation s. A: See text and Hertz comment s on the entire chapter 10. lO. Q: Abra ham came originally from Ur, a Babylonian city. Do you think Abraham came from a primitive or highly cultured civilization. A: See Hertz comment on chapter 1 I :28.

Vayyera

1. Q: Where do we learn from this Sidra about the Mitzvah of visiting the sick c~?,n ,,p~!! (Bikkur Cholim). A: See Hertz comment on Ch. 18:1. 2. Q: , Whre do we learn from the Sidra about the Mitzvah of hospitality cn,,N ntll::li’1 (Hachnasat Orchim). A: See the second Hertz comment on Ch. 18:1. 3. Q: il!l,i’l i’11VY, UY~ ,,N is a maxim in the Ethics of the Fathers. Where do we learn that it is good to promise little and do more .than you promise. A : See Hertz comment on Ch. i8 :5. · . 4. Q: Where do we learn that it is the duty of the father to train the child in the duty of hospitality. A: See Hertz comment ch. 18:7. 5. Q: Where do we learn that it is proper to conform to the social habits of the people in whose midst one lives, assuming of course that these habits are not wicked. A: See Hertz comment Ch. 18:8. 6. Q: Where do we learn that man should exert every effort to work for justice, even if it means to contend with God Himself. A: Read and interpret one of the sublimest passages in the Bible, from ch. 18:23 to ch. 18:33. 7. Q: What does the phrase cltJn, l:J cl~n, mean? How would you apply this to the Jewish people. A : See Hertz comment ch. 18:25. 8. Q: In the story of the Akedah (the binding of Isaac) it is twice mentioned that father and son “went both of them together” (ch. 22:6 and · 22 :8). What does the repetition connote in this context. A: See Hertz comment ch. 22:8. 9. Q: How many times did God test Abraham as signs of his faith. A: See Hertz comment ch. 22:1.

2. Q: What was God’s promise to Abraham as a result of the latter’s willingness to sacrifice his dearest hope to the will of God. A: See text ch. 22:15-19 and Hertz comment on Ch. 12:2 .

Toledot

I. Q: What does the Hebrew word “Bechor” ,,::1!1 mean. A: The first born son is called the Bechor. 2. Q: What privileges and responsibilities did the Bechor have. A: The first born was recognized as the future head of the tribe. This was his birthr ight. However, he must be worthy of this by setting the right example. 3. Q: What was the difference in Esau’s and Jacob’s characters as children. A: Esau was the hunter, while Jacob was the student. See Hertz comment on ch. 25:27. 4. Q: What is meant by the well known phra se “selling one’s birthright for a mess of pottage”. Where is the source for this idea in our Sidra. A: Gen. ch. 25:29 to 25:34. See Hertz comment on ch. 25:3 1. 5. Q: In verse 34, the Bible states “and so Esau spurned the birthright” . What does this mean . A: Esau took the spiritua l responsibility of his birthright very lightly. He was willing to sell it for a meer stew which would satisfy his physical hunger. He thereby showed himself unworthy to keep the birthright. See Hertz comment on ch. 25 :34. 6. Q: To whom was Isaac attached, and who was the favorite of Rebekah. A: See ch. 25 :28 and Hertz comment. 7. Q: Did Jacob want to impersonate his brother Esau, in order to receive his blind father’s blessing. A: Jacob resisted at first his mother ’s command to wear Esau’s clothes, and to bringing food to his father and to receive the blessings. 8. Q: Was Jacob right in impersonating his brother. A: Legally, Jacob was entitled to the blessing of the first born since Esau had sold his bithright willingly. However, Jacob’s twenty-year exile from his home and family was the consequence of his wrong act. 9. Q: What is the meaning of (ch. 27 :22) “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau”. A: The rabbis comment that through history, nations (represented by Esau) used warfare to gain theit ends, while the children of Jacob preferred peace and used peaceful pursuasion to bring about justice and morality in human behavior.

Va Yyishlach

1. Q: In preparing for his encounter with his brother Esau, what three things did Jacob do. A: a. His first defence was prayer to God for His protection {ch. 32:10-13). b. The second was to turn Esau’s hate into goodwill by gifts {ch. 32:14-22). c. His third and last resort was to stand his ground and fight, leaving a way’ out for some of his camp to escape in dire emergency (ch. 32 :8-9). 2. Q: What were the circumstances which brought about the change of his name from Jacob to IsraeL A: See text ch. 32:23-30. 3. Q: Can you spot on a map of Israel and Jordan the “ford of Jabbok” where he struggled with the angel. A: The Jabbok is a tributary of the Jordan river on the east, half way between the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret) and the Dead Sea. 4. Q: What is the difference in meaning between the name of Jacob and that of Israel. A: See Hertz comment on ch. 32:29. 5. Q: Who was Deborah (not to be confused with Deborah in the book of Judges) in relationship with Rebecca. A: See text ch. 35:8. 6. Q: Who was the last son of the twelve sons of Jacob, and what were the circumstances of his birth. A: See text ch. 35:16-18. 7. Q: Where is Rachel’s Tomb (’m; ;~p). A: See text ch. 35:19-20. 8. Q: Name the twelve sons of Jacob and their respective mothers. A: See text ch. 35:23-26.

Vayyiggash

1. Q: Why did Judah, of all the brothers, step up to plead their case before Joseph.

l :1

A: See last week’s Sidra text ch. 43:1-10. 2. Q: What statements in Judah’s plea were most tellingly pursuasive. A: Analyze and discuss the text from ch. 44:18 to the end of the chapter with Hertz’s comments. 3. What did Judah propose at the end of his plea. A: See text and Hertz comment on ch. 44:33. 4. Q: Why was an interpreter always employed in the meetings of Joseph and his brothers, except when Joseph made himself known to them. A: See Hertz’s comment on ch. 45 :I. 5. Q: What was the first question that Joseph asked when he revealed himself to his brothers. A: See text and Hertz’s comment on ch. 45:3. 6. Q: How did Joseph reassure his brothers that he bore them no ill-will. A: Joseph attributed all his suffering and subsequent rise to power as part of God’s plan. It was necessary that these things should happen so that he might be in the position to help his family during the terrible years of famine. (See text and Hertz comment on ch. 45 :5). 7. Q: When did the brothers get overtheshockwhich dumbfounded them so that they could not speak to Joseph. A: See text ch. 45:3-15 and comment on 45:15. 8. Q: In what part of Egypt did Joseph want his family to settle. Why? A: See Hertz’s comment on ch. 45:10. 9. Q: What did Joseph mean when, upon sending them back home laden with the good things of Egypt, he cautioned them, “See that ye fall not out by the way”. A: See Hertz’s comment on ch. 45:24. 10. Q: What did Jacob mean by his exclamation in ch. 48:28 “It is enough”. A: See Hertz’s comment on ch. 45:28. II. Q: Why is the migration of Jacob’s family to Egypt a turning point in Jewish history. A: See Hertz’s comment ch. 46:3. 12. Q: Can you name the twelve sons of Jacob from the list of the family who went to live in Egypt. A: See text ch. 46 :8-27.