Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Parashah Scavenger Hunt שְׁאֵלוֹת הַשָּׁבוּעַ
Welcome to Devash's Parashah Scavenger Hunt for Parashat Va'etchanan!
Aliyah 1 (Devarim 3:23-4:4)
- Who does Moshe blame for the fact that he cannot enter the land?
- What can we not add to or subtract from?
Aliyah 2 (Devarim 4:5-40)
- The people are warned not to make statues or images of which five types of living things?
- What are four things that an idol can’t do?
Aliyah 3 (Devarim 4:41-49)
- What was the name of the עִיר מִקְלָט (ir miklat, city of refuge) in the territory of the tribe of Gad?
- What was the name of the עִיר מִקְלָט (ir miklat, city of refuge) in the territory of the tribe of Reuven?
Aliyah 4 (Devarim 5:1-18)
- What is Shabbat supposed to remind us of, according to our parashah?
- What reward is connected to honoring your parents?
Aliyah 5 (Devarim 5:19-6:3)
- What do the people ask Moshe to do after they encounter God through fire?
- Where does God tell Benei Yisrael to go?
Aliyah 6 (Devarim 6:4-25)
- What three parts of the body are mentioned in the first paragraph of the Shema?
- Where should the words of Shema be written?
Aliyah 7 (Devarim 7:1-11)
- What does the Torah say is not a reason that God chose Benei Yisrael?
Look anywhere in the parashah to find the answer to these questions!
- In our parashah, what is the Hebrew term for the Ten Commandments?
- What famous lines from the Haggadah can you find in our parashah?
- There is a verse on our parashah that contains all 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Which one is it?
- Which pasuk in our parshah appears in the Aleinu prayer? (Hint: It’s the last line of Aleinu’s first paragraph.)
- What pasuk in our parashah is said in shul after Torah reading, when we do הַגְבָּהָה (hagbah, lifting up the Torah)?
From the Haftarah (Yeshayahu 40:1-26)
- Yeshayahu describes someone announcing good news to Jerusalem. He calls this announcer מְבַשֶּׂרֶת צִיּוֹן (mevaseret Tziyon) and also מְבַשֶּׂרֶת יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם (mevaseret Yerushalayim). Where is this mevaseret/announcer told to go?
Scroll down to see the answers!
Answers:
Aliyah 1
Aliyah 2
Aliyah 3
Aliyah 4
Aliyah 5
- Make sure God stops talking to them directly! They want Moshe to speak to God alone, and pass along what he hears (5:22-24)
- Back to their tents (5:26)
Aliyah 6
- The heart (6:5-6), the arm, and the eyes (6:8)
- On your arm and between your eyes, on your doorposts and your gates (6:8-9)
Aliyah 7
- Their size—in fact, they are very small! (7:7)
From Anywhere in the parashah
- עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים (Aseret Ha-Devarim, the Ten Words or Statements) (4:13)
- עֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם…וְאוֹתָנוּ הוֹצִיא מִשָּׁם לְמַעַן הָבִיא אֹתָנוּ לָתֶת לָנוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֵינוּ (We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt…and God took us out of there in order to bring us to and give us the land that was sworn to our ancestors) (6:21,23)
- 4:34—Here it is with one of each letter bolded:
אוֹ הֲנִסָּה אֱלֹהִים לָבוֹא לָקַחַת לוֹ גוֹי מִקֶּרֶב גּוֹי בְּמַסֹּת בְּאֹתֹת וּבְמוֹפְתִים וּבְמִלְחָמָה וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבְמוֹרָאִים גְּדֹלִים כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂה לָכֶם יהוה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם בְּמִצְרַיִם לְעֵינֶיךָ׃
- וְיָדַעְתָּ הַיּוֹם וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ אֶל לְבָבֶךָ כִּי ה’ הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת אֵין עוֹד
(Know today and keep in mind that God alone is Lord in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other) (4:39)
- וְזֹאת הַתּוֹרָה אֲשֶׁר שָׂם מֹשֶׁה לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
(This is the Torah that Moshe set before Benei Yisrael) (4:44)
Haftarah
- Up on a tall mountain (Yeshayahu 40:9)
-------------------
