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Reading Assignment - Class #8

Please read mitzvot #207, 209 – 211.  Please try to answer the following questions.  I have not laid out the questions step by step, but try to follow the detailed arguments all the way through to the end.


Mitzvah #207

  1. Review what we said earlier about how a woman becomes a niddah and a zavah, and how the woman becomes t’horah again from those states.
  2. The author traces several steps in the changing history of the rules for this mitzvah.  What initial change did the rabbis make?  What problem ensued?  What legislation did Rabbi Yehudah haNasi initiate to solve that problem?  What changes happened after that?


Mitzvah #209

  1. Read Lev. 18:22, Deut. 7:3-4 and 23:18.  The author explains how Onkelos, Rambam and Ramban each understand these verses.  Can you summarize each opinion?
  2. The author lists a series of punishment protocols for this mitzvah.  (Last paragraph on 364-365 and first paragraph on 366-367.)  Try to explain why each pair of participants gets the punishment he gets.

Mitzvot #210 and 211

  1. Consider the punishment to an animal involved in these prohibitions.  Try to trace the cases the author describes to be sure you can explain each result.
  2. Which of these mitzvot apply to non-Jews?  To non-Jews who convert to Judaism?  To non-Jewish slaves owned by Jews?