This parashah quiz is provided by special arrangement with the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. To learn more, visit www.pardes.org.il.
Questions
1. God gave Abraham one commandment with several parts at the beginning of the parasha. What was it?
2. God then told Abraham that He would do six things when Abraham obeyed this commandment. Name four.
3. Abraham left Haran and went to Canaan. Where did he first make camp and build an altar to God in the land?
4. Why were Lot and Abraham unable to live together after they returned from Egypt?
5. Where did Lot settle, and where did Abraham settle?
6. Near what city did Lot settle?
7. What was Abraham’s reaction when God told him that Sarah would bear him a son?
8. In last week’s parasha, we were told that the rainbow was a sign of the covenant between God and the people. Name three signs of the covenant between God and the Jewish people?
9. How many years passed between the time Abraham left Haran and Yitzhak’s birth?
10. In this week’s parasha, God tells Abraham that his descendents will be like what two things? What is another metaphor used for Abraham’s descendents?
Answers
1. God commanded Abraham to “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you” (12:1).
2. God told Abraham that he would: make of thee a great nation, bless thee, make thy name great, bless them that bless thee, curse them that curse thee, and in Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed (12:2-4).
3. Abraham first made camp and built an altar in Shechem (12:6-7).
4. Lot and Abraham were unable to live together because they were so well-off that there was not enough room for both of them, with their large flocks, in the same area (13:2-6).
5. Lot settled in the plain of Jordan and Abraham settled in Canaan (12:13).
6. Lot settled near Sodom (13:12).
7. Abraham fell on his face and laughed (17:17).
8. Three signs of the covenant were tefillin, circumcision, and Shabbat (17:9-14).
9. 25 years passed; Abraham was 75 when he left Haran and 100 when Yitzhak was born.
10. Abraham’s descendents will be like stars in the heavens and dust of the earth. Another metaphor used for Abrahams descendents are sand of the seashore (15:5).
Shabbat
Pronounced: shuh-BAHT or shah-BAHT, Origin: Hebrew, the Sabbath, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
Yitzhak
Pronounced: eetz-KHAHK, Origin: Hebrew, Hebrew name for Isaac.
