Ten Minutes of Torah

with

Rabbi Chaim Weiner

 

 

Lech Lecha – 5767

 

 

בראשית יד:יח-כ

 

(יח) וּמַלְכִּי צֶדֶק מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם הוֹצִיא לֶחֶם וָיָיִן וְהוּא כֹהֵן לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן:

(יט) וַיְבָרְכֵהוּ וַיֹּאמַר בָּרוּךְ אַבְרָם לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ:

(כ) וּבָרוּךְ אֵל עֶלְיוֹן אֲשֶׁר מִגֵּן צָרֶיךָ בְּיָדֶךָ וַיִּתֶּן לוֹ מַעֲשֵׂר מִכֹּל:

 

 

 

Genesis 14: 18 - 20

 

And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. 

 

He blessed him, saying, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 

 

And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your foes into your hand." And he gave him a tenth of everything. 

 

 

 

 

Rashi:

 

He gave him a tenth of everything.   That is, Abram [gave Melchizedek] a tenth of everything, as he was a priest.

 

Hizkuni:

 

He gave him a tenth of everything.   Melchizedek gave Abraham a tenth of everything.

 

 

 

 

QUESTIONS

 

  1. What problem in the verse are they addressing?

 

  1. Which interpretation is the simple reading of the verse? Why?

 

  1. Why does Hizkuni think that it makes more sense that Melchizedek gave the tithe to Abraham?

 

 


 

Answers to last week’s questions:

 

1.      What problem in the verse are they addressing?

 

The verse mentions ‘my covenant’, but there is no record of a covenant earlier in the Torah. What covenant is the verse referring to?

 

2.      How does each commentator solve the problem?

 

Rashi says that the covenant is implied in the command to build an ark. When God tells Noah to build an ark there is an implied promise to protect him while it is being built, and to sustain him and the animals while they are on the ark.

 

Ibn Ezra says that an actual covenant or promise made to protect Noah and his family. As to the fact that it wasn’t mentioned in the Torah – he feels that the Torah doesn’t need to give every detail of a story, and there could be a covenant without it being mentioned.

 

3.      (XX) Why does Ibn Ezra bring the quote from Deuteronomy?

 

This is an additional example of a place where the Torah mentions something that must have happened earlier, but which wasn’t mentioned the first time the story was told. In the book of Numbers the Torah doesn’t mentioned that the people had asked Moses to send the spies. It is only mentioned in Deuteronomy when Moses retells the story. This supports Ibn Ezra theory that the Torah doesn’t give every detail of a story the first time around.

 

It is typical of Ibn Ezra that he mentions a verse without saying why he quotes it, which forces us to uncover what his point is.

 

 

 

 

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Ten Minutes of Torah was prepared by Rabbi Chaim Weiner, based on the methods of Prof. Nechama Leibowitz. Rabbi Weiner studied and corresponded with Prof. Leibowitz for several years.

 

 

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