Okay, I'll start off with a question: Moshe is described as k'vad pe, k'vad lashon, and aral s'fasayim. Are those distinct? What does each one mean? Does anyone discuss this?
@jake That would make sense, then. So k'vad peh would mean he stutters, k'vad lashon would mean he can't speak Hebrew fluently to the people, and aral sefasayim would mean that he doesn't know how to speak high-quality Egyptian to Pharaoh. Maybe.
@jake Our greatest Teacher ever came to Lashon Hakodesh later in life. Great image for ba'alei teshuva (a category in which I include all those who grow up in the Diaspora, speaking Diaspora languages, and then learn Hebrew).
@IsaacMoses In fact, it might even make Pharaoh not want to admit him into the palace at all (lehavdil, the way a kohen with a blemish isn't allowed to enter the heichal)
I remember D'rashos HaRan saying that part of the reason Gd wanted Moshe to be the leader with influency and not a dynamic speaker (maybe even an impediment) was that people would follow him because of the truth of his message instead of just his being a dynamic leader.
@IsaacMoses I don't remember the source. I think it was my rebbe in grade school, I think tied to the midrash about his grabbing a hot coal and putting it into his mouth as a baby.
@jake You know, though, one difficulty with that is that the Gemara (Sotah 12b) explicitly rejects the possibility that Moshe could have had a physical defect (א"כ עשיתו למשה רבינו בעל מום). So it sounds like if it was physiological, it would have to be internal.
@IsaacMoses Good question, I don't know. The context there is a suggestion that as a baby he already had the voice of an older child (הוא ילד וקולו כנער), which AFAIR isn't a technical mum. But a harelip would certainly be, and I don't know about scarred lips.
@Alex, By the way (off topic), about the Moshe timeline found in Yalkut Shimoni I mentioned last week, I found that although many Rishonim take the stories thare as at least partially fact, ibn Ezra (no surprise here) is not a big fan. He writes that the entire thing is just "hevel".
This is not a question, but I object to the spelling of the transliterated word "Hashavu'a" as in, "Visit our Parashat Hashavu'a Chat, going on right now."
The correct pronunciation, if one is emphasizing the 'Ayin, is Hashavua'. As in רוח, the פתח is pronounced before the final radical (letter ...
This reminds me of another topic: According to those who say the "Isha Kushis" in Parshas B'haalosecha is not Tzipora, but rather a woman Moshe married in Kush, was she around in Egypt for this whole story?
@jake Do those opinions say that she was with Moshe at the time that Miriam and Aharon spoke about it, or that they were referring back to something that had happened decades earlier?
@IsaacMoses I wouldn't take it that hard. Arguably, even though he's right that the ayin comes at the end, there needs to be something to represent the epenthic alef between the vowels.
@jake Dunno, they might have been saying something like, "There was that Kushis lady that he married way back when. Pity he's not still married to her, instead of Tzipporah..." (or: "if he was going to separate from his wife because of his prophecy, too bad it wasn't her rather than Tzipporah that had to suffer that fate...")
@jake Good point. Which probably means that (according to these opinions) indeed he left her behind in Kush.
@msh210 True, but I think Seth's point is that if you're going to take care to represent them, you should do it at the end of the word too (especially for words of this class where the positions of the consonant and patach genuvah are so often mistakenly interchanged).
New question, if no one minds: Where did the magicians get water to replicate the plague of blood? If the only source for water was to buy it from Goshen, did they actually spend good money just to try to discredit Moshe and Aharon?
@Alex The "not real" would answer your other question too.
@Alex True, just saying.
@Alex Although maybe they had the power to turn blood to water first. Wouldn't answer your second question, but it gets rid of the "yesh me'ayin" problem.
@jake Could be, I guess. Though then you'd also have to assume that Hashem would temporarily suspend the makkah (so that this water doesn't turn to blood) to give them their chance to show their stuff.
Reminds me of another topic: How does Rashi know anything about magic? ("Magicians couldn't make lice because they were too small or not touching the ground.") Was he quoting something, and if so, how did they know?
@jake The part about not touching the ground is definitely from Chazal - look at the story of Shimon ben Shetach and the witches. The part about "smaller than a barleycorn" is in Sanhedrin there.
@Alex True. Also, if water would be brought into Egypt from outside, I would think it would immediately become blood.
@Alex I was just thinking the same thing about Shimon ben Shetach.
@Alex It does seem a little strange that they knew what was going on in the magical community. Or maybe it was common knowledge (lift a witch off the ground and they can't hurt you).
@jake That, plus anyway the members of the Sanhedrin were expected to know about the details of magical practices so they could judge such cases (the Gemara there mentions R. Eliezer knowing a lot about magically harvesting cucumbers - there was a question about that on the site recently).
@jake A lot of ink has been spilled on that, the more so because Rambam does accept the Gemara's distinction of "real" acts vs. illusions. I'd have to look up sources.
@jake Will do, bez"h. It'll make a good question for the site.
On a different note: does anyone say that the first three makkos did affect the Jews too? We find only with arov and the later makkos that Hashem says He'll make a distinction there.
@jake Seems like an odd definition of a nes, though, considering that the makkos themselves were miraculous. That almost makes it sound like they were natural events, and that Hashem had to use miracles to protect the Jews from them!
Anyway, that still leaves the question of why only beginning with arov does Hashem say that He'll spare the Jews.
@Alex I would say more like the makkos themselves were the miracles, but how could we call it a "miracle for the Jews" if they were included? Must be part of the miracle is that it didn't affect them.
@Alex I seem to recall some comment on "I will separate" (I can't remember the word now but it's from the root pe-lamed-alef) saying something about how such division itself is a miracle.
As an alternative to the other FAQ format being fleshed out here on MSO, I'd like to propose something far more terse that covers the bare essential mechanics of being a moderator.
Feel free to add more questions, but keep them short: this isn't the place to get into complex moderation issues, ...
As per the FAQ for Stack Exchange sites, this FAQ will serve the following purposes:
To be the canonical reference for moderators across the Stack Exchange sites for things that are beyond question (typically, "how" questions)
For situations that a moderator will face, provide information to he...
This link came to my inbox today. It is a pro-Israel, and pro-Jewish website, to be sure, but my question is; Is it being fair to Islam, at least as far as we know?
Are there elements in Judaism that are engaged in a dialogue with Islam that would lead you to believe that anything in the linked...
Many people, including myself, added or will add a candle on Friday night for each child that is born. Where and when did this custom originate?
This link came to my inbox today. It is a pro-Israel, and pro-Jewish website, to be sure, but my question is; Is it being fair to Islam, at least as far as we know?
Are there elements in Judaism that are engaged in a dialogue with Islam that would lead you to believe that anything in the linked...
