פרשת כי תצא

Dvar Torah

Appreciation

(דברים כג:ד) לֹא יָבֹא עַמּוֹנִי וּמוֹאָבִי בִּקְהַל ה' גַּם דּוֹר עֲשִֹירִי לֹא יָבֹא לָהֶם בִּקְהַל ה' עַד־עוֹלָם:

“Ammonites and Moavites may not come into the nation of Hashem, also the tenth generation can not come to the nation of Hashem, forever.” (D’varim 23:4)

In this week’s Parasha the Torah tells us “Ammonites and Moavites may not come into the nation of Hashem.”  This is referring to the law that a Jew may not marry a person (man) from Ammon or Moav, nor may they convert. This prohibition does not apply to any other nation. However, the problem with this is that Ammon and Moav have not done the most harm to the Jewish people.  Nations such as Egypt, who enslaved us for 210 years, or the Amalekim, who attacked us many times and tried to destroy us, seem to be worse, yet they are allowed to marry a Jew. Ammon and Moav’s sin against the Jews was that they did not provide for us food and water when we passed through their land.  This definitely seems to be unjust.  In comparison, the sin of Ammon and Moav seems to be of a lesser degree than that of Egypt and Amalek.

 To answer this question we need to know who the nation of Ammon and Moav are.  Ammon and Moav were both children of Lot. We learned in Berashit that Avraham took care of Lot and even saved his life in Sedom.  Four hundred years later, when Avraham’s children came through Ammon and Moav’s land, they had the opportunity to repay Avraham’s kindness.  By not doing so, it showed their lack of appreciation toward Avraham.

 A Jew is called a Yehudi, the Shoresh (root) of Yehudi is Hoda’ah which means thank or appreciate.  The reason for this is because a Jew must always have an appreciation for what is done for them. Yes, there are nations who physically harmed us more, but Ammon and Moav have a lack of appreciation which is something that in our religion is a necessity.  

With this in mind, how should we react when small favors are done to us? How should we treat other people? How can we show our parents that we appreciate all of the things that they do for us?

Sabbat Shalom!

Parsha Questions

1) What special gift is given to a first-born? (דברים כא:יז)

2) What is a בן סורר ומורה? Explain. (דברים כא:יח-כא)

3) What is his punishment? (דברים כא:כא)

4) Based on the words of the פסוק, why did he get such a severe punishment?
 (דברים כא:כא. עין רש"י)

5) Do you think this EVER happened?

6) What do you do if you find a lost object that costs money to maintain? (דברים כב:א-ג)

7) What must be done, and with whom, if one sees the animal of their enemy fallen under it’s load? (דברים כב:ד. עין רש"י)

8) What ברכה is says when putting a fence on a flat roof? (רמב"ם הלכות רחצה יא:א-ה)  [Also can be found in the Artscroll סדור]

9) Which מצוה teaches us that a male may not wear clothing of a female or vice versa?
 (דברים כב:ד)

10) Why does the תורה forbid wearing the clothing of the opposite gender? (דברים רש"י כב:ד)

11) When must one wear ציצית? (דברים כב:יב)

12) Why is the מצוה of ציצית mentioned right after the מצוה of שעטנז (wearing wool and linen [that are stitched] together)?

13) What may a worker eat while working? (דברים כג:כה)

14) Why do you think this is?

Torah Math

In this week’s Parasha the Torah tells us that the first born child is to receive double inference.  This can be seen within the Hebrew word for the first born בכר,.  The Letters of this word, meaning first born, are the only letters that are double the numeric value of the letters before them!

א=1

ב=2

י=10

כ=20

ק=100

ר=200

Super Stumper Question:

This a question to ask others and discuss the answers.

Question of the week: This week’s Parasha teaches us about Shatnez. In what two cases is Shatnez permitted?

Kollel Quiz 

#1 Who Am I?

1. For some, I am only small.

2. For some, I am also big.

3. I'm not punished, even though I am in the corner.

4. I may be shatnez.

#2 Who Am I?

1. You heard me 6 months ago.

2. Once D'orayta.

3. Tzeirei or Segol

Submit this answer by clicking here

Torah Chef Page

Can you guess what this recipe has to do with this weeks Parsha?

Omelet

INGREDIENTS

1/4 to 1/3 cup filling  from list below:

              Cheese

              Onions

              Peppers

              Mushrooms

              Lox

              Jalapeño

              Spinach

1 teaspoon butter (or 2 teaspoons if sautéing filling)

2 eggs

1 tablespoon milk (opinion)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Fresh herbs (optional)

PREPARATION

First, prepare the filling. A basic rule of thumb is that you need one quarter to one third cup of filling for every two eggs. If you are using a filling that needs to be cooked — such as apples, mushrooms, onions, peppers, leeks — quickly sauté in a small frying pan with 1 teaspoon of the butter. If you are making a cheese omelette, either slice the cheese thinly or grate it finely and put aside.

Crack the eggs into a small mixing bowl. Stir gently with a fork until well-beaten. Add the milk or water, salt and pepper, and any herbs, and set aside.

Heat a 6- to 8-inch omelette pan over high heat until very hot (approximately 30 seconds). Add the butter, making sure it coats the bottom of the pan. As soon as the butter stops bubbling and sizzling (and before it starts to brown), slowly pour in the egg mixture.

Tilt the pan to spread the egg mixture evenly. Let eggs firm up a little, and after about ten seconds shake the pan a bit and use a spatula to gently direct the mixture away from the sides and into the middle. Allow the remaining liquid to then flow into the space left at the sides of the pan.

Continue to cook for another minute or so until the egg mixture holds together. While the middle is still a little runny, add the filling. Put in sautéed vegetables or fruit first, near the center, then sprinkle any cheese on top.

Tilt the pan to one side and use the spatula to fold approximately one third of the omelets over the middle. Shake the pan gently to slide the omelets to the edge of the pan.

Holding the pan above the serving plate, tip it so the omelets rolls off, folding itself onto the plate. The two edges will be tucked underneath.