Parashah Scavenger Hunt שְׁאֵלוֹת הַשָּׁבוּעַ
Welcome to Devash's Parashah Scavenger Hunt for Parashat Emor!
Aliyah 1 (Vayikra 21:1-15)
- A כֹּהֵן (kohen, priest) is only allowed to be involved in the burial of very close relatives. Which ones does the Torah mention?
- When can a כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל (kohen gadol, high priest) become טָמֵא (tamei, impure) for the death of a family member?
Aliyah 2 (Vayikra 21:16-22:16)
- What is the word used to describe someone who is not a kohen?
- If you were a kohen and you touched a שֶׁרֶץ (sheretz, creepy crawly creature), what should you do?
Aliyah 3 (Vayikra 22:17-33)
- What is the earliest day of its life that a lamb can be offered as a קָרְבָּן (korban, sacrifice)?
- If you bring a קָרְבַּן תּוֹדָה (korban todah, thanksgiving sacrifice), how quickly must you eat it?
Aliyah 4 (Vayikra 23:1-22)
- After seven weeks of counting, how many animals are brought as sacrifices on the 50th day?
- How many days are we supposed to eat matzah on חַג הַמַּצּוֹת (Hag Ha-Matzot, the matzah holiday aka Pesah)?
Aliyah 5 (Vayikra 23:23-32)
- What instructions does the Torah give for what to do, and not do, on יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים (Yom Ha-Kippurim)?
- Which kind of shofar blast is mentioned?
Aliyah 6 (Vayikra 23:33-44)
- Why does the Torah say we should live in סֻכּוֹת (sukkot) for a week each year?
- Which days of Sukkot are called שַׁבָּתוֹן (Shabbaton, a complete rest)?
Aliyah 7 (Vayikra 24:1-23)
- How many חַלּוֹת (hallot, loaves of bread) had to be baked each week in the mishkan?
- Who was Shlomit?
Look anywhere in the parashah to find the answer to these questions!
- According to the Torah, whom can the כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל (kohen gadol, High Priest) help bury?
- Which of the words that we use today for the four species we wave on Sukkot—לוּלָב (lulav), אֶתְרוֹג (etrog), הָדָס (hadas), and עֲרָבָה (aravah)—does the Torah use to describe them?
- Which days are referred to as a שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbaton) in our parashah? What’s called שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbat shabbaton)? What’s called מִקְרָא קֹדֶשׁ (mikra kodesh, holy occasion)?
- Of all the holidays in the parashah, which is the only one described as a time of שִׂמְחָה (simhah, joy)?
- In the middle of the section of our parashah that’s all about the holidays, which mitzvot pop up that don’t seem connected to any holiday?
From the Haftarah (Yehezkel 44:15-31)
- What jobs for kohanim appear in the haftarah, but not in the parashah?
Scroll down to see the answers!
Answers:
Aliyah 1
- Parents, kids, brother, unmarried sister (21:2-3); the kohen’s wife is not explicitly mentioned, but our Sages thought she was covered by the otherwise extra phrase כִּי אִם־לִשְׁאֵרוֹ הַקָּרֹב אֵלָיו (the relative who is very close to you)
- Never, not even for his parents (21:11)
Aliyah 2
- זָר (zar, stranger) (22:10,12,13)
- Wait for sunset, rinse in a mikveh, and then go back to eating from קָרְבָּנוֹת (korbanot, sacrifices) (22:6-7)
Aliyah 3
Aliyah 4
- 13 (7 lambs + 1 bull + 2 rams as olot + 1 goat as a hattat + 2 lambs as shelamim) (23:18-19)
- Seven (23:8)
Aliyah 5
- וְעִנִּיתֶם אֶת־ נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם… וְכָל־מְלָאכָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ (afflict yourself…and do not do any melakhah/work; 23:27-28)
- A תְּרוּעָה (teru’ah) blast (23:24)
Aliyah 6
- So that later generations will understand that God housed Benei Yisrael in sukkot when they left Egypt (23:42-43)
- Days 1 and 8 (23:39)
Aliyah 7
From Anywhere in the parashah
- No one, not even his parents (21:10-11)! But the Sifra, an early midrash on Sefer Vayikra, says that even though the kohen gadol does not bury any of his relatives, if someone needed to be buried and no one else was taking care of it, this is called a מֵת מִצְוָה (met mitzvah), and it’s such a big mitzvah to help that even the kohen gadol could do it.
- Only aravah, in the phrase עַרְבֵי־נָחַל (arvei nahal, 23:40); all the others have totally different names!
- Shabbaton: Three total—יוֹם זִכְרוֹן תְּרוּעָה(the day of memory with shofar), the first day of the seventh month (what we know as Rosh Hashanah, 23:24); days one and eight starting from the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the beginning of חַג יהוה (the holiday of God, days we know as Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret, 23:39) Shabbat shabbaton: Two total—Shabbat (23:3); Yom Ha-Kippurim, the tenth day of the seventh month (23:32) Mikra kodesh: Seven total—Shabbat (23:3); the first and seventh days of חַג הַמַּצּוֹת (the matzah holiday, what we know as Pesah, 23:7-8); the day after seven weeks of counting (what we know as Shavuot, 23:21); the day of memory with shofar (Rosh Hashanah) (23:24); Yom Ha-Kippurim (23:27); days one and eight starting from the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the beginning of חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת (Hag Ha-Sukkot, 23:34-36)
- Sukkot (23:40)
- The mitzvot of פֵּאָה (pe’ah, leaving a corner of your field unharvested) and לֶקֶט (leket, leaving dropped sheaves on the ground when you’re harvesting) (23:22)
Haftarah
- Teaching the people the difference between קֹדֶשׁ (kodesh, holy) and חוֹל (hol, regular) and the difference between טָמֵא (tamei, impure) and טָהוֹר (tahor, pure); acting as judges (Yehezkel 44:22-23)
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