Discover and learn every week, "5 Facts" written on the weekly Parshah that you can share at your Shabbos table.

21:10

וְהַכֹּהֵן֩ הַגָּד֨וֹל מֵאֶחָ֜יו אֲ‍ֽשֶׁר־יוּצַ֥ק עַל־רֹאשׁ֣וֹ ׀ שֶׁ֤מֶן הַמִּשְׁחָה֙ וּמִלֵּ֣א אֶת־יָד֔וֹ לִלְבֹּ֖שׁ אֶת־הַבְּגָדִ֑ים אֶת־רֹאשׁוֹ֙ לֹ֣א יִפְרָ֔ע וּבְגָדָ֖יו לֹ֥א יִפְרֹֽם׃

The priest who is exalted above his fellows, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been ordained to wear the vestments, shall not bare his head or rend his vestments.

• How often would a High Priest require a haircut?

• A High Priest must get a haircut at least once a week, preferably on Fridays.
• The High Priest would have an especially beautiful hairstyle. It is said that Ben Elasa, the son in law of Rabbi Yehudah HaNassi, who was a very wealthy man, use to pay large sums of money to have this hairstyle. He did this in order for others to know how the Priest’s hairstyle should look like.

22:27

שׁ֣וֹר אוֹ־כֶ֤שֶׂב אוֹ־עֵז֙ כִּ֣י יִוָּלֵ֔ד וְהָיָ֛ה שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים תַּ֣חַת אִמּ֑וֹ וּמִיּ֤וֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי֙ וָהָ֔לְאָה יֵרָצֶ֕ה לְקָרְבַּ֥ן אִשֶּׁ֖ה לַה'׃

When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall stay seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as an offering by fire to the LORD.

2. What is the minimum required age for a Korban to be brought?

• An animal can only be brought as a korban, after it is 8 days old. This is in order to be certain that it is a viable animal.

23:40

וּלְקַחְתֶּ֨ם לָכֶ֜ם בַּיּ֣וֹם הָרִאשׁ֗וֹן פְּרִ֨י עֵ֤ץ הָדָר֙ כַּפֹּ֣ת תְּמָרִ֔ים וַעֲנַ֥ף עֵץ־עָבֹ֖ת וְעַרְבֵי־נָ֑חַל וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם לִפְנֵ֛י ה' אֱ-לֹהֵיכֶ֖ם שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִֽים׃

On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.

3. What does the Etrog and its tree have in common?

• The Talmud teaches that the bark and fruit of the Etrog tree, have the same taste.
• This is because the bark and fruit have the same chemical composition.
• Others say, that it is the soft, green branches of a young Etrog tree that tastes similar to the Etrog fruit.

4. How many days must we use the 4 species on Sukkot?

• Although in the Beit Hamikdash the 4 species were used every day of Sukkot, the Torah only commands us to use them on the first day of Sukkot. After the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai enacted that the 4 species be used everywhere on every day of Sukkot, in order to remember the Beit Hamikdash. This remains the custom today, except for Shabbath, when they are not used.

24:10

וַיֵּצֵא֙ בֶּן־אִשָּׁ֣ה יִשְׂרְאֵלִ֔ית וְהוּא֙ בֶּן־אִ֣ישׁ מִצְרִ֔י בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַיִּנָּצוּ֙ בַּֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה בֶּ֚ן הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִ֔ית וְאִ֖ישׁ הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִֽי׃

There came out among the Israelites, a son one whose mother was Israelite and whose father was Egyptian. And a fight broke out in the camp between that half-Israelite and a certain Israelite.

5. Who was this “son”?

• This “son” was the son of a Jewish mother from the tribe of Dan and an Egyptian father. This was the only case of a sexual impropriety during the entire period of enslavement.
• This wicked son was the result of an Egyptian who had relations with a Jewish woman from the tribe of Dan. When this woman tried to set up her son’s tent among the tribe of Dan, they prevented her from doing so. This is because tribal classifications go after the father, and this boy’s father was not Jewish.