Shiurim on Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

Hashem comes to the Ohel Moed to chastise Miriam & Aharon for slandering Moses (Yeridah #8 or #9) / Aaron suffers through Miriam's tzarat (leprosy) / Moshe prays for Miriam to be healed / Spitting in the eye of the Metzora / Different 7-day Halachot (Metzora, Zav, Zavah, Aveilut) / Ending off with the word Tahor / Rav Zeira/Ze'ira: A Niddah (menstruating woman) needs seven clean days to become pure / The Copper Snake heals those who spoke Lashon HaRa / Rofeh Cholei Amo Yisrael (summary of the Brachos of the Amidah in Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer) / Missing Parts of Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer: Avraham is beaten up for teaching up monotheism, Atlantic Ocean cannot be measured, not writing the Oral Torah so that it won't be translated, King Solomon and the two-headed half demon, stipulating at the time of creation that seas will split, the Throne of Glory carries the Chayos, the Eitz Chaim is in the middle of Gan Eden, Michael is the Sar HaOlam, a segulah for fertily by eating a rabbit's stomach) / Making a Siyum on Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer

Was Ziporah a Cushite? / In what way did Miriam & Aharon slander Moses? / The Jews are called Cushites because of their good deeds / Jeremiah is saved by Eved-Melech the Cushite (= Baruch ben Neriah) / Zedekiah is called a Cushite King / Was Tzidkiyahu a righteou king or not? / Mahari Kara: Jeremiah is saved by a slave of the Cushite King / A Jewish Kushi tells King David that Absalom was killed / The Righteous & Loyal Cushi / People with super-human Adam-like qualities (Shimshon = Strong, Shaul = Height, Asahel = Speed, Yoshiyahu = Good nose, Zedekiah = Eyes, Avshalom = Hair, Asa = Feet, Uzziyahu = Forehead, Zerubavel = Voice) / Avshalom sees the entrance to Gehinnom beneath himself / King David prays to take Avshalom out of Hell

Sexual restraint & verbal restrain during the month of Shvat and Shovavim / Yosef is the paragon of the Tzaddik (Yesod) / One who slanders forfeits his portion in the World to Come / A real picture of the Chafetz Chaim / A "curse" as a lower-level prohibition / Speaking Lashon HaRa is destructive / The Jews complain about Hashem & the manna only to be punished by fire / The Jews prefer a plague to a fire / The Divine Fire of Punishment rests underground & consumes Nadav & Avihu, plus Korach's congregation / The Chronology of the Mitonnenim (Complainers) Story / The Divine fire also helps those who die achieve atonement

#6 Joshua stops the sun at Gibeon to delay the onset of Shabbos & neutralize witchcraft / Why didn't Yehoshua want to fight in Givon on Shabbos like he did in Yericho? / Other times the sun stood still (the first Shabbos during creation of the world, when Moshe fought Sichon) / A solar eclipse at Gibeon / When did the story at Gibeon happen (in October or in Tammuz)? / #7 Chizkiyahu overcomes his deathly illness through prayer / Isaiah gives Hezekiah a sign by moving the sun / Hezekiah shows off to the Babylonian king Merodach Baladan by opening the Ark in the Temple / Was the Ark of the Covenent captured by the Babylonians or hidden elsewhere? / Rabbi Eliyahu of Izmir: Lessons from the 7 Wonders of the World & explaining which miracles make the cut

#1 Abraham is saved from a fiery furnace / #2 Sarah gives birth at the advanced age of 90 / What was the great miracle behind Sarah's pregnancy? / Sarah nurses everybody's babies / #3 Yitzchak looks like Avraham, Avraham asks God to make himself look visibly old / #4 Jacob prays for people to get sick before they die / Blessing a person who sneezes (Chaim, Gesundheit, Asuta) / #5 The Red Sea turns into Dryland at the Exodus

Will the Third Beis HaMikdash come down from Heaven already built or will man need to build it? / A special gate in the Temple only opens on Shabbat & Rosh Chodesh / Kiddush on Shabbos & Rosh Chodesh / A special gate for Hashem that is supposed to remain closed / Only the righteous will be renewed / Ezekiel sees a river flowing from the future Temple in Jerusalem / Sweeting the Salt Water Seas

Renewing & reconsecrating the Jewish People like the moon / The Davidic Dynasty waxes for 15 generations & then wanes for 15 generations / Unfurling the Heavens like a scroll & like clothes / 7 Cycles of 7,000 Years until the Great Jubilee / The Celestial Bodies will wear out in the future / God renews all of creation every day / The sun bathes in the fires of the Dinor River / The sun will be 49 times stronger / The Korban Mussaf on Shabbos & Rosh Chodesh allude to the future, God's uniqueness & the election of the Jewish People / Bringing a Korban Chatas (Sin-offering) atones for God making the moon smaller / Appeasing those whom we wronged / The Greeks opposed Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, & Bris Milah because these elements symbolize the Jews' special relationship with Hashem (Zos Chanukah)

Haman's son Shimshai the Scribe / Achashverosh wants to reward Mordechai / Hatred in the Heart / Giving a king's honor to Mordechai / Haman grooms Mordechai & serves as his foot stool / Esther's party with Haman & Achashverosh / Charvonah = Eliyahu HaNavi / How many sons did Haman have? / Mordechai becomes a mini-king / What was on the coin minted by Mordechai?

Mordechai the quintessential Jew / Expounding Mordechai's names (Ben Yair, Ben Shimi, Ben Kish, Ish Yemini, Malachi, Bilshan) / Mordechai = Merodach = Marduk / Mordechai discovers plot against Achashverosh / Yosef's buried treasure / The Chaldean Language (Akkadian?) / Haman rises to power and plans his Final Solution / Haman Draws Lots (Month, Day, Week) / Mordechai & Esther plan for Hashem's salvation / Not relying on the miracle of Shemen HaMishchah (oil of annointing) / Why is fasting better than eating matzo?

Calculating how long Nebuchadnezzar reigned (40, 43, or 45 years) / Calculating 70 years of the Babylonian Exile / Babylonians -> Medians -> Persians -> Greeks / What about Cambyses and the hidden years? / Achashverosh's opulent party / Vashti is killed on Yom Kippur / When was the 180-day party (Summer or Winter)? / Vashti refuses to join the party naked / Memuchan = Daniel or Haman

King Saul pities Agag, king of Amalek / Leaving over Amalekite animals for ritual sacrifices / Amalekite sorcerers use magic to turn into animals / Riding a human donkey in the marketplace / Agag is an ancestor of Haman; Shaul, of Mordechai / Who will defeat Amalek (Binyamin, Yosef, Rachel)? / Shmuel HaNavi kills Agag and makes a comment about childless women / Eisav's opposition to Jewish Women / All the Matriarchs descend from Haran / A gnat in Titus' skull / Nebuchadnezzar the Midget

The 5 Final Letters allude to the Geulah (Redemption) / Serach bas Asher confirms that Moshe is the real deal (Pakod Pakaditi) / The Secret of the Double Peh / Making Bricks & Mortar / Rachel, daughter of Shuselach (connection to Methuselah) / The Jews exit Egypt in the day (not at night) / 4 Times to start the day (midnight, midday, sunrise, sunset) / Redemption in the merit of Yichud Hashem / Maintaining Hebrew Names & the Hebrew Language

Moses sees an Egyptian hit a Levite Hebrew / The 3 Signs Moses Presents the Pharaoh / Pharaoh's magicians cannot mimic the Plague of Boils / The Ten Plagues / The Blasphemer is the son of Shlomis bas Divri & an Egyptian / God uses 10 Fingers / Why does the Gemara start from the pinky, not the thumb? / Dipping one's finger in wine at the Passover Seder / Thumb War against Yishmael (oyev) & Eisav (soneh, tzar) in Messianic Times

When did the enslavement in Egypt begin? / When was Miriam born? / The Children of Efrayim leave Egypt 30 years early / Who killed the Ephraimites (Egyptians or Philistines)? / What did the people of Efrayim do wrong (haughtiness, miscalculating the time of redemption, violating the oath)? / The bitter part of the exile lasted only 83 or 86 years (one hour in God's time) / Throwing Jewish boys into the Nile River / When was that decree enacted - before Aharon was born or afterwards? / The Birth of Moshe / Moshe is named Yekusiel or Tov (Moshe's 10 Names) / Did Bithiah speak Hebrew? / Basya saves baby Moses

Abraham questions Hashem's promise & receives bad news about the future enslavement / Chronology of the events of Abraham's life (his age at the Covenant between the Pieces) / The Jews were only in Egypt for 210 years, not 400 / Yocheved is born in Egypt, but her mother conceived elsewhere / Did Levi meet Moshe & Aharon? / Why is the miracle of Yocheved giving birth at the age of 130 not mentioned in the Torah? / 430 years begins from the birth of Efrayim and Menashe (day & night reckoned separately) / Adding 30 years to the 400 year exile & changing the whole calendar / Completing the years of the Egyptian Exile before the arrival of the Messiah

The Theology of the Baal Peor cult / Promiscuity & Idolatry are especially bad / Sexual immorality weakens the Tzelem Elokim & leads to Avodah Zarah / Pinchas spears Zimri & Kozbi in their sexual organs / The priestly presents of the forearm, cheeks, & stomach / Pinchas prayed for the end of the plague / Pinchas = Eliyahu (double theophoric name) / 80 Kohanim Gedolim descend from Pinchas / Can Eliyahu HaNavi's wife get remarried? / The prohibition of Stam Yaynam (gentile wine) / Spear (romach) = mercy (rachamim) = donkey (chamor) = womb (rechem) / Ibn Virga on the ban on gentile wine / The Festival of the First Vintage in the DSS / Wine leads to promiscuity / Pinchas leads the War of Revenge against Midian / Elazar's prophecy about what to do with Midianite vessels / Why did the Jewish Soldiers bring back Midianite women?

Jews are on a higher level than angels / Do Jews die because of Adam's sin or because of the sin of the Golden Calf? / Why do we light candles on Erev Shabbos? / Freedom from death = Dying by Divine kiss / The angels take back the crowns they gifted the Jews / Yeshiva = Sitting with tranquility & complacency / Did the Jews stray after Moabite woman or Midianite women? / Are Midianites black? / The Midianites entice Jewish Men with cheaper deals / The etymology of the word aphrodisiac / Sinning under the influence of wine / The prince of Shimon publicly fornicates with a Midianite princess

Limitations of the Satan's Power / Does the Satan have power on Yom Kippur? / Sukkos is a time for repentance from love / The Scapegoat as a bribe to the Satan / Why is the Scapegoat not considered Avodah Zarah? / Imitating the ministering angels on Yom Kippur / The Minhag to stand the entire Yom Kippur / The angels violate the ban on cooking meat & milk together / Going to the Mikvah on Erev Yom Kippur / Moshe wants to "see God" before asking for forgiveness / Who said the 13 Attributes of Mercy (Moshe or Hashem)? / Why didn't Moses ask for atonement for all future sins as well?

Who wrote the second pair of Luchos (Tablets)? / The number 40 represents a new creation / The angels are jealous of the Jews receiving the Torah & Moshe's response / The angels wanted the esoteric parts of the Torah without its simplest, literal meaning / Supernatural remedies / Investigating the Letters of the Torah / Blowing the Shofar on Motzei Yom Kippur / When does Yom Kippur offer its atonement? / Why is Yom Kippur called Shabbaton? / Dying on Erev Yom Kippur, Yom Kippur, & Motzei Yom Kippur / Yom HaKippurim = Yom Kippur = The One Day of the Year / Yom Kippur & Purim will always continue to exist

What day of the year was Matan Torah (6 Sivan or 7 Sivan) & what day of the week (Friday or Shabbos)? / Eating dairy on Shavuos because the Torah was given on Friday / Moshiach will come in 1990 / How long did Matan Torah take? / The Jewish Men return to their wives ("tents") / Moshe separates from his wife / Studying the Written Torah during the day (male, sun) & Oral Torah at night (female, moon) / Moshe breaks the Luchos on the 17th of Tammuz / Moshe spends 40 days wiping out idolatry from amongst the Jews / Seder Olam: Moshe Rabbeinu spends 3 periods of 40 days atop Mount Sinai / Blowing the Shofar on Rosh Chodesh Elul amp; the entire month of Elul / Not blowing Shofar on Erev Rosh HaShanah / Tekiah-Teruah-Tekiah: Sounding the Shofar "sweetens" the Din (Elokim) into Rachamim (Hashem) / Rachamim begins after Chatzos (Midnight) / The Torah makes man free

Jewish Men wore earrings like Egyptians / Throwing God's name into the fire & a calf emerges / How was Aharon allowed to erase Hashem's name? / The Cow Moos / The Satan possesses the Golden Calf / God tells Moshe about the Golden Calf & Moshe descends the mountain / Moses gets weak & throws down empty tablets (Luchos) / Aaron defends his actions / The Levites did not participate in the Golden Calf & and help mete out punishments to the idolaters / Moshe defeats 5 angels sent to destroy the Jewish People (Ketezef, Af, Cheimah, Mashchis, & Charon) / Mose is buried across from Baal Peor to neutralize Charon-Af

God swears that He will do whatever Moses wants (except for entering the Holy Land & immortality) / The Jews want to imitate Egyptian idolatry (Apis Bull) / Did the Jews intend to replace God or use an intermediary to worship Him? / Chur is Moshe's nephew (son of Miriam & Calev) / What does Efrati mean? / Did Jewish women or Erev Rav women resist giving their jewelry for the Golden Calf? / Rosh Chodesh is a special holiday for women / A minhag that woman don't work on Rosh Chodesh

Relating the Story of the War with Amalek as a form of Rebuke / Remembering Amalek & Remembering Shabbos / Remember in order to destroy / The commandments about Amalek only apply in the Holy Land / King Saul is reminded of the commandments about Amalek / Those who urinate on the wall / Why did the Jews delay wiping out Amalek? / Those who kill even for a mitzvah become cruel / Why was Yaakov scared of killing Eisav? / Is Nachal Eisan the name of a place or a description? / Doubting the commandment to kill Amalek's women, children, & animals / The Kennite descendants of Yisro separate from Amalek / The 10 nations that got mixed up

The Jews deny Divine providence / Amalek attacks the Jewish wayfarers / tzar + oyev = 2 types of enemies / Amalekites target the Jews outside of the Clouds of Glory / Yehoshua assembles the right army to fight Amalek / Moshe invokes the Matriarchs' Merit / One on the left, one on the right / Flanking the Chazzan on fast days and Yom Kippur / Imitating Moshe in prayer & Repeating after the Chazzan / Eisav's grandson Amalek leads by example / God's oath about wiping out Amalek

Chronology of the stories in this chapter / The story of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish (Reish Lakish) & his two robber friends / Teshuvah only works before death / Finding water at the sea / Pharaoh rebels against Hashem & then acknowledges Him using parallel terminology / Pharaoh is saved from the Splitting of the Sea / Pharaoh becomes the gatekeeper of Gehinnom or the King of Nineveh / Jonah rebukes Nineveh for their immorality & Pharaoh backs him up / Maharam of Rothenburg is the Baal HaTurim's father's teacher / The population of Nineveh repent & God gives them another chance for 40 years / The Catholic concept of indulgences is not like Korbanot/Teshuvah / The mechanics of Teshuvah / When will the Jewish People finally do complete teshuvah (HaRotze B'Teshuvah)?

Repenting shields one from punishment/retribution / Returning to Hashem every day / Elijah rebukes Ahab for killing Naboth & Ahab repents / To what extent did Achav do teshuvah? / The different components of teshuvah / King David sins by counting the Jewish People & then repents / Plague in the Time of King David (Avishai dies) / When are the Jews uncountable? / Just thinking about repenting already does something / The penitent King David asks for mercy & God stops the plague / The Angel of Death makes David cold in his old age / King Menashe indulges in idolatry & murder / In Chronicles, Menashe repents; in Kings, this isn't mentioned

The Jews throw away their idols / Crossing the sea with Micah's Idol / Angelic Wall of Fire / Why do we say half-Hallel on the last days of Pesach? / The Sea Refuses to Split / Who enters the sea first (Tribe of Binyamin or Nachshon)? / Pharaoh's Horse Charges into the Sea / Punishment is middah kneged middah (measure for measure) / Jewish Boys thrown into the River / Feeding on milk & honey / Seeing the Dead Egyptians / Follow the Leaders (Moses & Miriam) in Song / Pharaoh declares that no one is like Hashem / The Egyptians are buried in the sea / Explicating the Song of the Sea

Death & Resurrection at Sinai / Moses hesitates to enter the Arafel (dark cloud) / At Sinai, the souls returned to God / When the Jews came back to life at Sinai were they like new people? / Commanding the Jews indirectly / Punishing those who worshipped the Golden Calf / A prophet can temporarily suspend any prohibition except for idolatry / Which commandments did the Jews hear directly from God? / Forseeing the Jews' betrayal at Sinai with darkness at the mountain / Hearing & seeing God's voice / Habakuk distills 613 Mitzvos down to 1 idea

Mabit: Individual gentiles who didn't reject the Torah become converts / Shavuos: Two Oaths / Images of the sneh on rocks from Mount Sinai / Separate Seating at Matan Torah / Do the men always follow the women? / Sleeping extra on the summer day of Shavuos / The Sinaitic Revelation is like a wedding / Staying up the whole night of Shavuot / Hashem betroths the Jews through the Torah & other similarities to weddings / God speaks to Moses / Abstinence in preparation for Matan Torah / Moshe adds an extra day to prepare / Hashem wants Moshe off the mountain before revealing Himself / The Jews died & were resurrected at Sinai

Descending on Mount Sinai (Yeridah #6) / Lifting the Mountain / The Nations of the World reject the Torah / Esau lives by the sword, Ishmael by theft & promiscuity / Multitudes of Angels at Sinai / The Fiery Religion (Aish Das) / The Torah is given with endearment & an oath / Who swore at the reception of the Torah (God or the Jews)? / Is a Noahide obligated to keep his word? / The Torah is said to the Jews' left ear / Which shoe do you take off first on Tisha B'Av? / The Jews unite when camping at Mount Sinai / Horeb = Sinai (Sneh) / 5 Names for Mount Sinai (Har HaElokim, Bashan, Gavnunim, Chorev, & Sinai) / Why do we eat cheese on Shavuos?

Revelation at the Burning Bush (Yeridah #5) / Hashem is in pain alongside the Jewish People / The History of Moshe's Staff / What was written on Moshe's staff (plagues, names of God)? / The Legend of Excalibur the Sword & Moshe's Staff in Jethro's Garden / 40 Years of Moshe's Life: Shepherd for Yisro or King of Cush / The Intrigue of the Burning Bush / Take off your shoes in holy places / Moshe's enemies are dead / The Uniqueness of Moshe's Prophecy / Two souls in one body / Hashem reveals His name(s)

Joseph understands 70 languages & dream interpretation / Yosef escapes harm from the Ayin HaRa / Who was the "translator" (meilitz)? / Yosef never raised the prices / Egypt builds storagehouses for the famine / Yosef swears that he will bury Yaakov in the Holy Land / The Egyptians pay their last respects to Jacob & get rewarded / Eisav claims ownership of Maarat HaMachpelah & ends up killed / Who killed Esau (Chushim ben Dan or Yehudah ben Yaakov)? / Yehuda & Dan must join together to build the Temple & destroy Amalek / Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz: Don't get used to undesirable situations / Yitzchak prays on Eisav's behalf

Hashem goes down to Egypt with Yaakov (Yeridah #4) / Yaakov sees the potential danger of being exiled to Egypt / Which of Jacob's wives came to Egypt with him (Was Bilhah still alive)? / Whom did Jacob's sons marry (twin sisters or Canaanite women)? / Counting Jacob's 70 Descendants (are Hashem, Yocheved, Bilhah, & Yaakov in the list?) / About 600,000 Jews exited Egypt / Yosef lives 110 years instead of 120 as a punishment / How is silence considered an admission (shitkah k'hodaah)? / A father is like a king / Yosef resists the temptation of Potiphar's wife / Joseph ejaculates from his fingers / For how long was Yosef in jail (Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer vs. Seder Olam)?

King Saul pronounces a ban on eating & his son Jonathan violates the cherem to eat honey / Yehonosson is spared from punishment & a Korban Olah is brought instead / A king's right to execute & pardon / The Assyrians import Kusim (Samaritans) into the Shechem area / The Kusim bring Mesopotamian idolatry to the Holy Land & are punished with lions / Two Jewish priests teach the Samaritans Torah / The Bad Samaritans antagonize the Jews / A cherem is imposed on eating kusi bread & they are banned from converting to Judaism / Later decrees against the kutim

A Cherem is like an oath / Joshua conquers Jericho & consecrates it as a cherem for Hashem / Ramban's Mishpatei HaCherem: Different types of Cherem / Achan illegally takes from the booty of Jericho / The Golden Tongue of Terafim / Who died in the first battle of Ai (36 Tzaddikim or just Yair ben Menashe)? / Yehoshua figures out who violated the cherem (via Urim V'Tumim, lots, & the Holy Ark) / Achan is punished but has a place in Olam Haba / Aleinu should be said standing up / Yehoshua bin Nun wrote Alenu, Achan wrote Al Ken Nikaveh / The Concubine at Gibea (Pilegesh B'Givah) & the civil war against the tribe of Binyamin / The people of Yavesh Gilead violate the cherem / Ramban: Yiftach consecrates his daughter by way of cherem

Yaakov loves his Ben Zekunim, Joseph's brothers are jealous / Gavriel helps Yosef find his brothers / Joseph's brothers put him in a pit & then sell him to Ishmaelites to buy shoes / Did Reuven know that Yosef was sold? / How much is Yosef worth as a slave (20 shekel)? / Joseph's brothers impose a cherem (excommunication/ban) on publicizing what they did to Joseph / Including Hashem in the minyan needed to institute the cherem / Nobody tells Yaakov that Yosef was sold / When does a cherem need 10 people (Rabbeinu Tam vs. Maharach Ohr Zarua & Zayis Raanan) / Asara Harugei Malchus (The Ten Martyrs) atone for the sin of selling Joseph

How many wives did Eisav have? / Yaakov returns to his father's house & encounters Eisav / Did Esau live in Hebron or Mount Seir? / Yitzchak was still alive when Yosef was sold / Yaakov & Eisav split their father's inheritance / Esau consults with Ishmael or the Children of Ishmael / Esau leaves the Holy Land for Seir or Rome / When was Rome Established? / The Blessings of Esau / Is Rome a walled city to keep Shushan Purim?

A snake comes out of the wall = Shechem ben Chamor the Hivvite / Was Dinah an immodest tomboy? / Shechem lures Dinah outside & rapes her / Osnath = Dinah's daughter from Shechem or an Egyptian convert / Why did Yaakov send away Osnat with an amulet containing Hashem's name? / Potiphar's wife adopts Osnas / Why did Shimon & Levi kill all the people of Shechem (3 answers)? / Yaakov curses Shimon & Levi in Greek / Why didn't Dinah do an abortion? The implications of the Yosef-Dinah story for Halachos of IVF

Amos: Yaakov flees from a lion (Lavan) & encounters a bear (Eisav) / Arami Oved Avi = Laban tries to destroy the Jewish People / Jacob fights the angel sent to save him from Esau / The angel blesses Yaakov & gives him the name Yisrael / An angel's name tells us its job / The prohibition of Gid HaNashe / Michael-Metatron is the Kohen Gadol in the Heavens & Patron of the Jewish Nation / Yaakov gives maaser (tithe) of his animals to Eisav / Jacob gives 1/10 of his sons to HaShem (Levi) / The 4 Firstborns are already holy (Reuven, Dan, Gad, & Yosef) / Levi is chosen because he was born third to his mother / Importance of the third born (third-born calf, Moshe Rabbeinu) / The number 3 represents tiferes/emes as the perfect balance of chesed & gevurah / Eisav the blood-sucking vampire / Flattering the wicked to make peace

Abraham's Treaty with the Jebusites in buying the Mearat HaMachpelah (Cave of the Patriarchs) / Was Ephron a Hittite or Jebusite? / Yevus = Yerushalayim / Copper statues stop King David from conquering Jerusalem / King David hates idolatry / The blind man & the lame man / Dovid HaMelech conquers & buys Jerusalem / Yitzchak's new deal with the Philistines / The Jebusites of Jerusalem were really Plishitim / The Philistine treaty expired or was voided by the time of the Samson / Yaakov's treaty with Lavan / Sons are tantamount to brothers

The Birth of Yaakov's sons / Whom did Jacob's sons marry? / Yosef & Dinah are related to Din / Yaakov flees to and from Lavan / Rabbi Eliezer Levi: Yaakov dreams about sheep / What are terafim & how do you make them? / Why did King David have teraphim in his house? / Are terafim considered Avodah Zarah? / The etymology of the word terafim / Why did Rachel steal her father's terafim (3 answers)? / Rachel dies of Jacob's curse / Terafim are ritually impure

Yaakov reaches the local well in Charan / Meeting young women at the well is a segulah for a successful journey (Eliezer, Jacob, Moses, Saul) / Young women are free from sin / Why was Rachel a shepherd (because most of Lavan's sheep died in a plague of pestilence or because Lavan had no sons)? / Jacob's "foot" blesses Laban's household / A nephew is called a brother / How would yibum apply to an avunculate relationship? / Grandchildren are tantamount to children / Jacob married Lavan's 4 daughters (Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, Zilpah)

Seder Olam: Missing 14 Years from Yaakov's life were spent learning in the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever / Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer: Yaakov was 77 years old when he left his parents' house / How far is Beersheba from Moriah? / Yaakov is the antithesis to laziness / Yaakov took 3 hours to pray Mincha / Jacob takes 12 stones from the altar to which Isaac was bound / Jacob dreams of a ladder with angels / 4 Images on HaShem's Throne of Glory (Lion, Eagle, Ox/Cherub, Jacob) / If angels have wings, then why did they need a ladder to go up? / Jacob foresees the future exile / How many rungs were on Jacob's ladder? / How can Yaakov use his pillow-stone to make an altar for Hashem? / From where did Yaakov have oil to pour on his matzeivah? / The Foundation Stone from which the Temple will be built / The Blessing of HaEl HaKadosh

Yaakov receives 2 sets of blessings from Yitzchak / Yacov = calm & humble, Esau = haughty & desirous / Eisav ate meat, Yaakov ate mushrooms / Edom because he was born red & desired red lentils / Red lentils are only red before cooked / Yaakov grabs Eisav's YOD (akev/heel) / Red is the color of hunger / Lentils as the food of mourning / Hevel & Haran die in their parents' lifetime / Avraham & Yitzchak dig wells / Who named the site Beer Sheva - Abraham or Isaac (5 answers)? / How to count the 7 wells that Yitzchok dug

Idolators lose out on resurrection / Stropkover Rebbe: King David died & came back to life, Yaakov Avinu never died / Idolatry looks real but only Hashem really heals / Will the people who died in the Deluge, in Sodom, and in the Wilderness return by the resurrection? / Olam HaZeh = Night, Olam HaBa = Day / 6 things cry out but are not heard (cutting a fruit tree, snake shedding its skin, woman divorced from her husband, first intercourse, leaving the birth canal, soul leaving the body) / In the future man will rectify Adam's sin, but the snake's punishment is forever / Using family, money, & good deeds to escape death / Resurrecting people from all over the world / The soul is similar to God / The Destruction of the Temple effects the fertile ecology of the Holy Land / The Dew of Light that brings Resurrection

Jeremiah foretells the punishment to befall Jewish false prophets in Babylonia / The Archangel Michael saves Yehoshua ben Yehozedek from a fiery furnace / Fornicating with married Chaldean women & starting up with Nebuchadnezzar's daughter / The Book of Shoshana / False Prophets have strong sexual desires (Jesus, Mohammed, Shabtai Tzvi, Jacob Frank) / Was Nevuchadnezzar's statue consider idolatry? / Why did the Jews deserve to be killed in the Story of Purim? / Nebuchadnezzar spares Daniel, but send Chananya, Mishael, and Azaria into a fiery furnace / Yechezkel is buried in Iraq / Ezekiel Resurrects those who bowed to Nebuchadnezzar's idol / Dew of Resurrection / Those who lend money with interest do not return in the resurrection / Reading about Ezekiel reviving dry bones on Shabbos Chol HaMoed Pesach

Saul conjures the Spirit of Samuel / Saul's Aunt Tzephaniah was a necromancer / A woman with a man's name / Do necromancy and idolatry actually work? / What clothes will those who rise up in the resurrection wear? / Laws of Burial Shrouds (Tachrichin) / Shmuel returns with his tunic & tells Shaul to go fight / When is Shmuel HaNavi's Yahrzheit (in Iyyar, Sivan, or Tishrei)? / Doing an Upsherin a Kever Shmuel HaNavi

Why did Josiah consult with Huldah instead of Jeremiah? / Shallum ben Tikvah's wife becomes a prophetess in the merit of his kindness / Elisha's dead body revives Shalum ben Tikva after his death / The case of Chanamel ben Shallum proves that if somebody dies & comes back to life, he is not considereed a new person in Halacha / Elisha resurrects 2 people (double Elijah) / Who was the man revived by Elisha's Tomb (Shalum ben Tikva, the false prophet eaten by the lion, Tzedkiah ben Canaana, or the son of the Shunnamite Woman)?

Were Eliyahu and Elisha married or bachelors? / The Shunnamite Woman = Sister of Avishag the Shunnamite = Wife of Iddo/Oded the Prophet = Mother of Chavakuk / Elisha promises the Ishah Shunamis that she will have a son / Gechazi molests the Shunamite Woman after her sons dies / Elisha sends his stick with Gehazi to resurrect the child / Gechazi disobeys his master & makes Elisha resurrect the child himself / Gehazi resurrects a dog or a lion / Elisha revives the Shunnamite Woman's son through prayer, the merit of Elijah, & the merit of Tzedakah

Purim is the Holiday of Techiyas HaMeisim / Resurrection will take place in Alphabetical Order (generational order, order of merits) / Moshe saw Yehoshua's humility before renaming him / Mabit: 3 Reasons for Resurrecting the Dead (a chance to do more Mitzvos, living what you deserve to live after Adam's sin is rectified, rewarding the body for its role in Mitzvos) / Rasag's 10 Questions about Resurrection / Resurrection in the Holy Land versus in the Diaspora / 3 Levels of Resurrection (right after death, dry bones, rotten bones) / If one dies and comes back to life, does he need to remarry his wife or is he considered the same person? / Can Eliyahu HaNavi's wife get remarried? / Does a Golem count for a minyan? / Is there a Mitzvah to get drunk on Purim? / Did Rabbah really kill Rav Zeira?

Yitzchak was not just a farmer, he instituted Maaser / Agriculture in Eretz Yisroel is a Mitzvah / Tzedakah has the power of Techiyas HaMeisim (Resurrecting the Dead) / Resurrection is an act of Gevurah / The Tzarfati Woman (mother of the prophet Yonah) hosts Eliyahu HaNavi / Casting Suspicions on Elijah the Prophets spurs him to pray for her dead son / How was Eliyahu allowed to live in the same courtyard as a widow? / Was Eliyahu HaNavi married? / If Eliyahu was a Kohen (Pinchas) how can he touch the body of the dead chld to become ritually impure (6 answers)?