Questions

1. Did G-d ever appear to Avraham and say "I am G-d"?
2. What cause did the forefathers have to question G-d?
3. How was Moshe commanded to act towards Pharaoh?
4. How many years did Levi live?
5. Who was Aharon's wife? Who was her father? Who was her brother?
6. Why are Yitro and Yosef both referred to as "Putiel”?
7. After which plague did G-d begin to "harden Pharaoh's heart"?
8. Why did Pharaoh go to the Nile every morning?
9. Give two reasons why blood was chosen as the first plague.
10. How long did the plague of blood last?
11. Why did the frogs affect Pharaoh's house first?
12. What did Moshe mean when he told Pharaoh that the frogs would be "in you and in your nation"?
13. What are "chamarim"?
14. Why didn't Moshe strike the dust to initiate the plague of lice?
15. Why were the Egyptian sorcerers unable to bring lice?
16. What were the Egyptians likely to do if they saw the Jews slaughtering lambs?
17. Why didn't the wild beasts die as the frogs had?
18. The plague of dever killed "all the cattle of Egypt." Later, boils afflicted their cattle. How can this be?
19. Why did Moshe pray only after leaving the city?
20. What was miraculous about the way the hail stopped falling?

All references are to the verses and Rashi's commentary, unless otherwise stated.

Answers

1. Did G-d ever appear to Avraham and say "I am G-d"?
   6:9 - Yes.
2. What cause did the forefathers have to question G-d?
   6:9 -- Although G-d swore to give them the Land, they never actually had control over it.
3. How was Moshe commanded to act towards Pharaoh?
   6:13 - With the respect due a king.
4. How many years did Levi live?
   6:16 - 137 years.
5. Who was Aharon's wife? Who was her father? Who was her brother?
   6:23 - Elisheva, daughter of Aminadav, sister of Nachshon.
6. Why are Yitro and Yosef both referred to as "Putiel”?
   6:25 - Yitro fattened (pitem ) cows for idol worship. Yosef scoffed (pitpet) at his evil inclination.
7. After which plague did G-d begin to "harden Pharaoh's heart"?
   7:3 - After the sixth plague – shechin (boils).
8. Why did Pharaoh go to the Nile every morning?
   7:15 - To relieve himself. Pharaoh pretended to be a god who did not need to attend to his bodily functions; he therefore secretly used the Nile for this purpose.
9. Give two reasons why blood was chosen as the first plague.
   (a) 7:17 - Because the Nile was an Egyptian god.
   (b) 8:17 - Because an invading army first attacks the enemy's water supply, and G-d did the same.
10. How long did the plague of blood last?
    7:25 - Seven days.
11. Why did the frogs affect Pharaoh's house first?
    7:28 - Pharaoh himself advised the enslavement of the Jewish People.
12. What did Moshe mean when he told Pharaoh that the frogs would be "in you and in your nation"?
    7:29 - He warned that the frogs would enter their intestines and croak.
13. What are "chamarim"?
    8:10 - Piles.
14. Why didn't Moshe strike the dust to initiate the plague of lice?
    8:12 - Because the dust protected Moshe by hiding the body of the Egyptian that Moshe killed; it was therefore not right that Moshe should strike it.
15. Why were the Egyptian sorcerers unable to bring lice?
    8:14 - The Egyptian sorcerers' magic had no power over anything smaller than a barley kernel.
16. What were the Egyptians likely to do if they saw the Jews slaughtering lambs?
    8:22 - They would stone the Jews.
17. Why didn't the wild beasts die as the frogs had?
    8:27 - So the Egyptians would not benefit from their hides.
18. The plague of dever killed "all the cattle of Egypt." Later, boils afflicted their cattle. How can this be?
    9:10 - In the plague of dever, only the cattle in the fields died. The plague of shechin (boils) affected the surviving cattle.
19. Why did Moshe pray only after leaving the city?
    9:29 - Because the city was full of idols.
20. What was miraculous about the way the hail stopped falling?
    9:33 - The hailstones stopped in mid-air; they did not fall to the ground.

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