Parshas Bo

" I can't believe you ignored the doctor who was standing next to Dr.
Smith, when you asked your question."
"Well, Dr. Smith IS the expert."

Pharaoh said to Moshe and Aharon "Forgive (Hebrew singular) me... and
pray (Hebrew plural)..." The Ramban as explained by Rav Simcha Zissel of
Kelm, says that even though Pharaoh felt that Moshe was the one who could
intercede on his behalf to G-d (which explains the singular verb), he still
included Aharon in the request of prayer so as not to insult him.

"If your date is nice to you but not to the cabbie, he's not a nice
person." (Dave Barry)

Have a great Shabbos !!

Rabbi Chaim Flom

Dear Rabbi Flom,
When did Phraoh become our middos rebbe?
Thanks,
Lynn

Dear Lynn,
Jewish thought is (usually) "if it's good, use it". Many people say to the Kallah at the badecking "achoseinu ut..." straight from Lavan's mouth. In davening we say "ma tovu" from Bilaam. Also, our chapters in the Chumash are from the Christians.
Take care.
Rabbi Flom

Dear Rabbi Flom,
"Our chapters in the Chumash are from the Christians"???? What does that mean?
Thanks.
Lynn

quote:

Originally posted by Baltan:
Dear Rabbi Flom,
"Our chapters in the Chumash are from the Christians"???? What does that mean?

Meaning that if you look in a Sefer Torah scroll you will not see and chapter or verse numbers. They were added by (I believe) some Bishop in the Middle Ages.

Furthermore on the chapter numbers, my rabbi pointed out that often times the chapter change does not match an aliya or parsha change, and where possible, the chapter closes on a "sour note" designed to show the Jewish people in a bad light.

For example shortly after Shechem's rape of Dinah, apparently the goyish chapter ends with the words of her brothers saying in Bereishis 34:31 "Should he treat our sister like a harlot?"

The aliyah break is nowhere near.

quote:

Originally posted by Baltan:
Dear Rabbi Flom,
"Our chapters in the Chumash are from the Christians"???? What does that mean?
Thanks.
Lynn

Dear Lynn,
In the Torah, there is no punctuation or end of sentences.There are breaks (empty spaces of varying lengths) to make sort of paragraphs or end of a Book of the Torah. We have a mesorah (tradition) on the division of the sentences. The Christians use (basically) our sentences and put them into a chapter system. This is quite convenient and therefore we use it.
Thanks.
Rabbi Flom

quote:

Originally posted by rob:
Furthermore on the chapter numbers, my rabbi pointed out that often times the chapter change does not match an aliya or parsha change, and where possible, the chapter closes on a "sour note" designed to show the Jewish people in a bad light.

For example shortly after Shechem's rape of Dinah, apparently the goyish chapter ends with the words of her brothers saying in Bereishis 34:31 "Should he treat our sister like a harlot?"

The aliyah break is nowhere near.

Dear Rob,
I have never made proper research on comparing the chapter endings as opposed to our end of the aliyah, but sometimes, at least at first glance, some of our stops are funny. Also, I haven't researched it, but our aliyah stops don't always fit in with the parsha stops. (IE With the spacing in the Torah.)
A little example of an oddity.In parshas Bo:Our "sheni" is 8 sentences before a "Pei-paragraph". Our "shelishi" is 3 sentences after the"pei paragraph and 5 sentences before the next "pei". The Christians have the new paragraph, in fact, at the new "pei".
Another interesting example, in Bishalach,Our "Chamishi" coincides with a "samech paragraph" and the Christians have a new paragraph with the next sentence. Certainly, superficially, we can see why the Christians did it their way.
Take care.
Chaim Flom

quote:

Originally posted by rob:
Furthermore on the chapter numbers, my rabbi pointed out that often times the chapter change does not match an aliya or parsha change, and where possible, the chapter closes on a "sour note" designed to show the Jewish people in a bad light.

For example shortly after Shechem's rape of Dinah, apparently the goyish chapter ends with the words of her brothers saying in Bereishis 34:31 "Should he treat our sister like a harlot?"

The aliyah break is nowhere near.

Dear Rob,
I did a little more research on the subject, and found out that sometimes our aliyah stops are not near the breaks in the Torah, because we don't end an aliyah on a "sour note". So even if that we be an ideal stopping point, we don't end the aliyah there.
Take care.
Chaim Flom

Dear Rabbi Flom,
Aside from the chapters in the Chumash, do we use other things from the non-Jews?
Thanks.
Mark

Dear Mark,
The fact that we have in Navi Shmuel 1 & Shmuel 2 and also Melachim 1 & Melachim 2 is from the Christians. We had Shmuel and Melachim, each as one book. The Christians made each one into two books around the year 400 which had no effect on us. However, in the 1500's, when Daniel Bomberg made the printing press, he printd them the Christian way. (He was Christian.) Ever since then, we use that system.
An interesting result of this is the following: On Shabbos and Yom Tov (whenever there is Mussaf) we say in Bentching, "Migdol yeshuos (Shmuel 2 -22:51)" and on weekdays we say "Magdil yeshuos"(Tehillim 18:51).Some want to say that really we are always supposed to say "Magdil" but some siddurim pointed out that in Shmuel 2 it says "Migdol". It abbreviated the words "BeShmuel 2" as "BSHB" and this explanation says that people MISTAKENLY thought it meant "BiShabbos". However, this explanation CAN'T be, because, as I mentioned, the Jews started using Shmuel 1& 2 in the 1500's, yet the Avudraham, in 1350 discusses why we say Migdol-Magdil !!
Take care.
Rabbi Flom