Questions on Chumash

Real questions, submitted by actual OU Torah followers, with their real answers. NOTE: For questions of practical halacha, please consult your own rabbi for guidance.

Q. Hi, do you know where I would find pesukim and mefarshim on why Avraham and Yitzchak had to have hard time having children, while Yaakov didn't? Thank you.

A. Thanks for your question. The Talmud in Yevamos (64a) discusses why the Avos were initially childless: because God desires the prayers of the righteous. I have not seen anything that specifically addresses why Yaakov was not included but might I suggest that Yaakov was in fact also "childless" at first? Rachel was Yaakov's favorite wife, for whom he worked 14 years to marry. We also see that Yaakov doted on his children with Rachel, Yoseif and Binyamin. While Yaakov was not infertile with all four of his wives, withholding children from the one he truly loved was no doubt a source of pain to him, not just to Rachel.

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Q. Is there any record of Zipporah's conversion to Judaism? In the Torah it says she and Moses were married by Jethro who was a Midianite priest and there is no mention of their conversion like there is was Rebekah and Rachel. I was wondering if it was discussed somewhere else like in a Mishnah or something?

A. Thanks for your question. I have literally never seen anything on the conversion of Tzipporah; I'm pretty sure we just take it for granted. It can certainly be inferred from her circumcising her Jewish son.

One point of clarification: all it says is that Yisro gave Moshe his daughter Tzipporah for a wife (Exodus 2:21), it doesn't say that he officiated at the wedding. Whether they had a ceremony at all is left to the reader's imagination since all marriage required was consummation. I doubt very much that Moshe would have participated in a wedding officiated by an idolatrous priest.

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Q. Bereshis says "a river issues forth from Eden... and from there it divided and became four headwaters," but rivers do not naturally separate into smaller water courses, except for temporary obstacles, rivers collect from streams and then the rivers gather in the seas. So is Bereshis talking about a supernatural river?

A. No, it's talking about regular rivers. It's pretty clear that Pras is the Euphrates and Hidekel is the Tigris, but it's unclear what rivers Pishon and Gichon are meant to be. One of them is likely the Nile and the other might be the Ganges. It's also possible that the geography changed dramatically as a result of the flood and that the rivers in question may no longer exist as described.

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Q. Hi, after listening to the first class on Chronicles, I was interested to hear how that Avraham, Isaac and Yaakov all declined to let Timna convert. I would like to know how come Avraham could have declined her? They must have had very good reasons to decline her. Are there any other sources for this? I would be interested to read it.

A. Thanks for your question. We're not told explicitly why the Avos rejected Timna but I've seen it speculated that they evaluated Timna's request and deemed it to be insincere - she was less motivated by religious zeal than she was by an interest in joining the prestigious family of Avraham. This hypothesis is supported by Timna's reaction; becoming a concubine to Eisav's son isn't something you do if you want to get closer to God. It is something you do if you want to brag that you're related to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.

Rabbi Jack's latest book, Ask Rabbi Jack, is now available from Kodesh Press and on Amazon.com.