- The parsha begins: "Shofetim and Shoterim". Who were the shoterim and
what was their job?
They were the officers of the court and were to enforce the sentences
of the judges
- We are familiar with the phrase: "justice, justice, thou shall
pursue". What are the rewards for following this mitzvah?
You would live and inherit the land Hashem gave you.
- This parsha tells us about four kinds of leaders among the Jewish
people. Who were they?
Judges, priests, king, and prophets.
- B'nai Yisrael was told that when she came into the land, she was to
have a king. Who was to choose the king and who was automatically
eliminated from consideration?
Hashem; a foreigner.
- What were 4 things the king was forbidden from doing?
Multiply horses to himself to go to war; cause the people to return
to Egypt; multiply wives to himself; and to accumulate large amounts of
gold and silver.
- What was he commanded to do and why?
He was to copy the law in a book (a Torah) from the laws of Hashem as
enforced by the priests.
- The Levites were to have no portion. To what does that refer and what
was their inheritance?
No inheritance of land; Hashem was their inheritance.
- Why did we have prophets among the people from time to time?
The people were afraid to receive Hashem's word directly, so He had
to speak through intermediaries, the prophets.
- At least 4 categories of males were not required to go into battle.
What were they?
He who had built a new house and not dedicated it; he who had planted
a vineyard and not used the fruit yet; he who had bethrothed a wife, but
not consumated the bethrothal; he who was afraid to go to battle.
- What was the difference in how B'nai Yisrael was to treat those
defeated enemies who lived within Eretz Yisrael and those living outside
the Land and why did Hashem differentiate?
For those living outside the land, Bnai Yisrael was to proclaim
peace to the city. If the people refuse, BY was to besiege the city and
when Hashem gave the city over, BY was to kill every male; the women,
children, and cattle were to be taken as spoils. Those living within the
land who were defeated were to be totally destroyed, so that BY would
not follow their way of life.
- If a person was murdered and the murderer was unknown, who decided
which city had to take responsibility? What were the elders of the
responsible city to do?
The elders and judges; the elders were to take a heifer of the herd
(which had never been under the yoke) to a rough valley (which had not been plowed or sown), and break the heifer's neck; the priests would say a blessing over the heifer, and then all the elders of the city would wash their hands over the heifer.
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