Parashat Nitzavim: Scavenger Hunt
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Devash: Scavenger Hunt

Parashah Scavenger Hunt שְׁאֵלוֹת הַשָּׁבוּעַ

Welcome to Devash's Parashah Scavenger Hunt for Parashat Nitzavim!
The answers to the first seven questions can be found in the matching numbered aliyah in the Torah reading. The answers to the last three are harder and can come from anywhere in the parashah.
  1. What two kinds of physical jobs are mentioned in this aliyah? Look for the answer in Aliyah #1 (Devarim 29:9-11)
  2. What surprising group of people are included in the בְּרִית (brit, covenant)? Look for the answer in Aliyah #2 (Devarim 29:12-14)
  3. What letters in this aliyah have dots over them? Look for the answer in Aliyah #3 (Devarim 29:15-28)
  4. What word in this aliyah might make you think of an eight-day-old boy? Look for the answer in Aliyah #4 (Devarim 30:1-6)
  5. What three kinds of “fruit” are mentioned in one verse? Look for the answer in Aliyah #5 (Devarim 30:7-10)
  6. In what two places are God’s commands not located? Look for the answer in Aliyah #6 (Devarim 30:11-14)
  7. This aliyah lays out four kinds of opposites. What are they? Look for the answer in Aliyah #7 (Devarim 30:15-20)
  8. How many times does the root ש.ו.ב. (to return) appear in our parashah?
  9. There are two four-word phrases from the first paragraph of the Shema that appear in our parashah three times each. What are they?
  10. Four city-kingdoms are mentioned in our parashah. Which fifth one is missing and why? (This is a hard one!)
Scroll down to see the answers!
Answers: 
  1. Woodchopping and water-drawing (29:10)
  2. People who aren’t even there! (29:14)
  3. לָנוּ וּלְבָנֵינוּ עַ (29:28)
  4. וּמָל (umal)—It’s from the same root of the word מִילָה (milah) in the term בְּרִית מִילָה (brit milah, circumcision) (30:6)
  5. פְּרִי בִטְנְךָ (pri vitnekha, the “fruit” of your belly [kids!]); פְּרִי בְהֶמְתְּךָ (pri vehemtekha, the “fruit” of your animals [baby animals]); פְּרִי אַדְמָתְךָ (pri admatkha, the fruit of your land [food]) (30:9)
  6. In heaven, and across the sea (30:12-13)
  7. Life and death; Good and evil; Heaven and earth; Blessing and curse (30:15, 19)
  8. Seven for sure: וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ, וְשַׁבְתָּ, וְשָׁב, וְשָׁב, תָשׁוּב, יָשׁוּב, תָשׁוּב—these all appear in 30:1-10. Some people think the word שְׁבוּתְךָ in 30:3 also comes from this root.
  9. בְּכׇל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכׇל נַפְשֶׁךָ (bekhol levavkha uvekhol nafshekha, with all your heart and all your soul) (30:2,6,10) and אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם (asher anokhi metzavkha hayom, that I command you today) (30:2,8,11)
  10. We hear about the destruction of Sedom, Amorah, Admah, and Tzvoyim (29:22). Back in Lekh Lekha, Avraham fought a war against five kings. It was the kings of these four places, plus one more: Bela, king of Tzo’ar (see Bereishit 14:2). But Tzo’ar is not mentioned here in Nitzavim because it wasn’t destroyed like the other four were! God spared that town because Lot, Avraham’s nephew, needed a place to take shelter while his home town of Sedom was being wiped out (see Bereishit 19:18-23).