Parshas Noach - Parsha Stumpers

~ Something to Think About ~

פרשת נח

Parsha Stumpers

By: Daniel Listhaus

                                              A Riddle:

    סוף סוף ראשי     1.

  תחילת סוף סופי     

    ויבא נח...אל התבה      

            מי אני?ג    

2. (6:9) Where is there a remez in the beginning of the parsha that Noach was not involved in any of these three things?

3. (6:9) Rashi brings down an opinion that Noach was only great compared to those who lived in his generation, but had he lived in Avraham’s generation he wouldn’t have been anything remarkable. Why would we compare an individual to others? All that should matter was if Noach was righteous based on expectations of him alone, not based on what others are capable of?

4. (6:13) How could the dor ha'mabul be punished if there were no mitzvos yet? [Chizkuni]

5. (6:13) Rashi writes that because of the zenus of the generation, the gezairah (decree) was that all mankind – good and bad – were to die. Why should the good people be swept along with the bad?

6. (6:13) Rashi says that despite all the things that the dor ha'mabbul were doing, the gezairahwas sealed because of robbery. Why robbery more than avodah zarrah or giluy arayos?

7. (6:14) Why did Hashem have Noach building the teivah specifically for 120 years and no more or less?

8. (6:14) According to Chizkuni that there was a miracle that the tar on the outside didn’t get burned, why couldn’t Hashem allow Noach’s teivah to be like Moshe’s with only tar on the outside and double-dip on the already necessary neis for either the outer tar not to get ruined in the hot water or for the protective layer of cold water whyich surrounded the teivah to separate it from the boiling water?

9. (6:17) Why did Hashem punish the world through means of a mabbul of water?

10. (6:18) Rashi emphasizes the two parts of the “bris” with Noach as a promise to keep the food from spoiling and to protect him from the people who would try to kill him.

a. Why was the promise only needed to ensure that the food stay good in the teivah?

b. Didn’t Hashem on His own want to stop the people who dared threaten Noach (as Rashi says in 7;17)?

11. (7:2) Even if Noach needed to bring Karbanos after surviving the mabbul, why were 7 pairs of      each kosher animal necessary?

12. (7:4) Why does Rashi refer to the children of the adulterous unions at the time of the mabbul as “mamzeirim”? Isn’t that specifically if the parents are Jewish?

13. (7:7) Rashi both in 6:18 and 7:7 writes that it was forbidden to have marital relations in theteivah. However, Rashi in 7:7 adds that the reason for this was because the world was in a state of distress...

(a) Why does Rashi repeat himself?  (b) Why does Rashi in 7:7 add the reason? (c ) Why is this a valid reason? Clearly the people dying in the mabbul deserved it. Shouldn't it have been considered a “joyous” time for the world?

14. (7:12) Where do we see from this week's parsha that the day starts at night? Why is it that there is a concept of miktzas hayom k'kulo only if the night is part of the “miktzas”, yet if have even the full day without the preceding night, this concept is not applicable?

15. (7:17) The Torah uses the phrase בעצם היום הזה in this week's parsha as well as three other times in chumash in the same way. Where are these four times [Beraishis 7:17 ; Beraishis 17:37 ; Shemos 12:21 ; Devarim 32:48] and what is the connection between them?

16. (7:17-20 and 8:4) The teivah was submerged 11 amos and the water came above the highest mountains by 15 amos. It comes out that there was always a minimum of 4 amos between the bottom of the teivah and the ground. Why was this necessary? Do these 4 amos have a particular significance?

17. (7:23) Why did Og get Saved? How did he survive being outside of the teivah?

18. (7:23) Rashi writes that about Noach it is written (Mishlei 11:31), “Behold the righteous one is paid [punished] on earth” referring to the fact that he was bitten by the lion in the teivah. What was he punished for?

19. (8:7) Why did Noach send out the raven and the dove? Why not just trust that Hashem would tell him when to come out of the teivah?

20. (8:8) Why did Noach assume that if the dove found land that it wouldn’t return the teivah where its species was?

21. (8:10-11) The passukim describe that the second time Noach sent out the dove, it came back with an olive branch in its mouth. Rashi comments that the dove was trying to tell Noach the following: “Better let my food be bitter as an olive and provided by the hand of Hashem, and not sweet as honey but provided by the hand of man...” (a) The dove should have had hakarashatov to Noach and his family. Why at the first opportunity does the dove say such a remark? (b ) The dove's statement makes absolutely no sense! The entire time Noach and the animals were in the teivah they experienced open miracles. The whole teivah was something which opposed teva. Wasn't it pretty apparent that Hashem was present every step of the way?

22. (8:14) Rashi writes that the world needed a complete solar year of destruction, yet Rashi said earlier (7:12 #2) that the first day didn’t count because it wasn’t a complete day without the night before. If so, how was there a complete year of destruction?

23. (8:21) Surely Hashem knew even before the mabbul that people are bad from youth. So, either way – if that’s not a reason to destroy the world then why did Hashem destroy it? And if it is a valid reason then why never again? What changed? Also, what is the connection between this “decision” and the fact that it seems to have been decided as a result of Hashem “smelling” the re’ach hane’choach of Noach’s offering?

24. (9:1) Why did Hashem need to give Noach a beracha that the animals would fear him? Wasn't this already built into the world from the sheishes y'mei beraishis?

25. (9:9) Why did Hashem approve of Noach’s necessity to demand a bris if Hashem had commanded him already to have children in 9:1?

26. (9:24) How did Noach know it was Cham who dishonored him?

27. (9:25) Did Noach do the right thing by cursing Cna'an?

28. (9:25-26) Why did Noach have to curse Cham’s children to be slaves to his brother, and also bless Shem that Cham be his slaves? Wouldn’t one of these be enough?

29. (11:1) One of the reasons Rashi gives as the reason behind why the dor haflaga began to build the tower is because they thought that the world was on a cycle that every 1656 years Hashem wold bring another flood, so they wanted to be prepared with supports for the skies. If so, why was Hashem so upset? Why not just let the people think this incorrectly as long as they aren't bothering anyone?

30. If the dor haflaga wanted to 'wage war' with Hashem, why did they buildמגדל  בבל  in a valley? They should have built it on top of a mountain!?

31. (11:28) Rashi brings down the story from the famous medrash how Haran (Avraham's brother) stood and observed the episode of Avraham being thrown into the fiery furnace. Haran decided that Avraham's fate would determine his own faith in Hashem. The medrash continues that indeed when Avraham emerged unscathed, Haran joined his side and was consequentially thrown into the fire – and burned to death. What did Haran do wrong? The Ramban at the end of Parshas Bo writes that Hashem does not perform miracles for every kofeir that decides not to believe in Hashem. This is why we have t he Torah and mitzvos which direct us to remember Yetziyas Mitzrayim and Kriyas Yam Suf as a forever certificate      of Hashem's capabilities. Haran obviously lived before matan Torah and kriyas yam suf, so what was so bad with him wanting to see Hashem perform an open miracle first before fully believing in Hashem?