פרשת יתרו 1

Is it just a rumor?!?

(שמות יח:א) וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ כֹהֵן מִדְיָן חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה אֵת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֱלֹקים לְמֹשֶׁה וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַמּוֹ כִּי הוֹצִיא ה' אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם:

“And Yitro heard” (18:1)

(שמות יח:ח) וַיְסַפֵּר מֹשֶׁה לְחֹתְנוֹ אֵת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה ה' לְפַרְעֹה וּלְמִצְרַיִם עַל אוֹדֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵת כָּל הַתְּלָאָה אֲשֶׁר מְצָאָתַם בַּדֶּרֶךְ וַיַּצִּלֵם ה':

“And Moshe told” (18:8)

The Torah relates to us the view of an outsider during the time of Yetze’at Mitzrayim (the leaving of Egypt).  Yitro, the father-in-law of Moshe, at the time of all the excitement of the Jews leaving Egypt and becoming a nation, lived in Midyan.  The Torah tells us that “Yitro heard all that happened to Moshe and the Jews…” and Rashi explains to us that what he heard was the splitting of the sea and the war with Amulak.  When Yitro arrived in the Jewish camp the Torah tells us after his welcoming procession, “Moshe told him all that happened”.  Again, Rashi, in explaining this Pasuk tells us that what Moshe told Yitro was the splitting of the sea and the war against Amulak.  This seems a bit strange; the whole reason that Yitro came in the first place to the Jewish camp was that he heard about the splitting of the sea and the war with Amulak, why is Moshe telling it to him again?

The Torah is teaching us about the laws of Shmirat Halashon (guarding our speech).  Yitro was not there to see all the miracles that had taken place for the Jews right before their eyes, the only way that he knew about them was because someone else had told the stories to someone who told it to the next person… Yitro wanted to check out the stories that he had heard to see if they were true since hearsay is not reliable.  Therefore, when he arrived in the Jewish camp he asked Moshe to confirm that all the things which he had heard were really true from an eyewitness.

This shows us how much we need to check out whatever we hear to be sure that it is true, whether we heard it on the news or read it in the paper.  We need to be careful about what we say over to others if we do not know its validity.

Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Questions

1) Who was יתרו? What were his other names? (שמות יח:א ועד עיין ברש"י)

2) Why were ציפורה, גרשם ואליזר with יתרו and not with their father? (רש"י שמות יח:ב)

3) Why did משה name his sons גרשם and אליעזר? (שמות יח:ג-ד)

4) וַיֵּשֶׁב מֹשֶׁה לִשְׁפֹּט אֶת־הָעָם וַיַּעֲמֹד הָעָם עַל־מֹשֶׁה מִן־הַבֹּקֶר עַד־הָעָרֶב. What bothered יתרו about this arrangement? (שמות יח:יג-יח)

5) What was the advice of יתרו to משה? (שמות יח:יט-כג)

6) וַיְשַׁלַּח מֹשֶׁה אֶת־חֹתְנוֹ וַיֵּלֶךְ לוֹ אֶל־אַרְצוֹ, why did יתרו leave, and not stay with the בני ישראל?

(רש"י שמות יח:כז)

7) What was the difference between the בני ישראל resting at הר סיני and other times they set up camp? (רש"י שמות יט:א)

8) בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁלִישִׁי לְצֵאת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה בָּאוּ מִדְבַּר סִינָי. What is wrong with the wording in this פסוק and how can we explain what it is teaching us? (רש"י שמות יט:א)

9) How is Hashem’s protection of בני ישראל similar to an eagle’s protection of its young?

(רש"י שמות יט:ד)

10) What was the punishment for touching the mountain? (רש"י שמות יט:יב)

11) List the עשרת הדברות in order? (שמות כ:א-יד) [Summarized in Hebrew and English]

12) Where in Davening do we remember all of these commandments? (List an example)

13) How many דברות were said by Hashem directly to בני ישראל? Which ones?

14) What can the מזבח NOT be build out of? Explain why. (שמות כ:כב)

15) How should one go up on a מזבח? Why? (רש"י שמות כ:כג)

16) It total, how many מצוות עשה and מצוות לא תעשה are there in the תורה?

  

 TORAH TRIVIA!

(שמות יט:ה) וְעַתָּה אִם שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ בְּקֹלִי וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת בְּרִיתִי וִהְיִיתֶם לִי סְגֻלָּה מִכָּל הָעַמִּים...

The Pasuk tells us that Hashem told us if we keep all of the Torah and Mitzvot we will be a Treasure to him above all the other nations.  How is this, what do we do that is so special? 

The Ba’al Haturim explains that within the words of this Pasuk we are told that the Mitzvot of Brit Milah is this awesome treasure, check it out:

וִהְיִיתֶם לִי סְגֻלָּה מִכָּל הָעַמִּים

The last letter in each of the words unscrambled is the word Milah!

Super Stumper Question:

This a question to ask others and discuss the answers.

Last week’s question: What should one Daven for on Tu  Bishvat???

Answer to last week’s question:  One should Daven for a nice Esrog on Tu Bishvat!

Question of the week: When can a boy under the age of 13 be called up for an Alyah in Shul (not including Simchat Torah)?

 FOOD Section!

Can you guess what this recipe connects to this week’s Parsha?

Livonian

Cheesecake Pops

Ingredients

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup sour cream

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

24 lollipop sticks

10 ounces white confectioners' coating miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Mix in the sour cream and blend thoroughly, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour, vanilla, and salt and mix well.

Add the eggs one at a time, blending thoroughly before adding the next egg, but do not overbeat. Pour batter into a 9-inch springform pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until the edges of the cake just begin to turn golden. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.

Use a small cookie scoop to scoop out round balls of cheesecake. Roll them into 1 1/2-inch ball and place on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Push a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Place the tray in the freezer until firm, about 30 minutes.

Melt the white confectioners' coating (or semi-sweet chocolate). Dip each cheesecake pop into the melted coating. Then dip into one of the toppings. Place on waxed paper until coating is set. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Store in the refrigerator.