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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Vayishlach
2. What was Ya'akov's reasoning for dismissing Yosef's dream in which the heavenly bodies bowed to him?
3. "So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron" – Since we know that Hevron Is on a hill, why does the Torah call in the vale of Hevron?
4. What do we learn from the Torah's repetition that the pit was empty and there was no water in it?
5. How many years were Ya'akov and Yosef seperated?
6. What was this punishment for?
7. Why did Yehuda not recognize Tamar? (2 explanations)
8. What do we learn from Tamar not publicly naming Yehuda as the father of her children?
9. Why is the story of Yehuda and Tamar written just before the story of Yosef and Potifera's wife?
10. How long were the baker and the toastmaster in prison before their dreams?
11. How did the baker know that Yosef's interpretation of the toastmaster dream was correct?
12. Why did the toastmaster forget Yosef?
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Answers
1. It teaches us that they were not hypocrites.
2. Ya'akov pointed out that in the dream the moon symbolizes his mother Rachel, and since she had already passed away obviously could not come to bow to him, the entire dream must be false.
3. This hints to the deep plan of Avraham, who is buried in Hevron, to fulfill what was promised to him, that before they receive the land his offsprings would be foreigners in a strange land.
4. We learn that although it was empty of water it was infested with sneaks and scorpions.
5. Twenty two years.
6. These twenty two years were punishment for the twenty two years Ya'akov spent at Lavan's house in which he could not honor his parents.
7. A. Her face was covered. B. She used to be very modest and cover her face when she lived in his house therefore he did not suspect it was her.
8. That it is better for a man to throw himself into the fire pit than to embarrass a friend in public.
9. To teach us that just as Tamar's intentions were holy so were Potifera's wife's.
10. Twelve months.
11. They each dreamed the interpretation of the other's dream.
12. This was a punishment for Yosef putting his trust in a human being instead of In G-d.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbis in Midrash
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