IMREI BINAH

General Riddles
Imrei Binah - General Riddles
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The Case of the Purloined Produce

The Case of the Purloined Produce

There were two men, each one carrying on their head a basket full of produce. As they passed along, they saw a shop which was open. They entered for a short time, came out, and went on their way. Presently, the owner of the shop came and examined his shop, and saw that one of his baskets which contained a certain produce was no longer full.

He went outside and asked two men who were sitting there, whom he knew to be honest, if they had seen anyone enter his shop. They replied that so-and-so, and so-and-so who had been carrying baskets full of produce on their heads had entered his shop for a short time, come out and gone on their way. On hearing this, the shopkeeper went to the judge and lodged a claim against them.

In front of the judge, one of the defendants claimed that he had been carry a basket of produce which had been full to overflowing, so that it would have been impossible to put even a small thing into it. He further claimed that it would have been impossible to have placed something on his person, since he was wearing a plain, pocketless robe, and no trousers (pants), and on his head was a very thin, shallow hat. Witnesses verified that it was like he had said, and the judge released him.

But the other man the judge declared to be guilty, even though his basket was also full to overflowing, and he was also wearing just a plain robe and shallow hat like his friend. Nevertheless, the judge ordered to have him bound and beaten, and he confessed to his crime.

Why did the judge declare the second man guilty, when both of them with their very full baskets and plain clothing seem to be equally innocent?

Place mouse here for the answerThe first one who was released by the judge was carrying a basket full of rice, and since it was full to overflowing it was impossible that he had stolen some produce from the shopkeeper and placed it in there. And the produce that had been taken were lentils, which are impossible to eat raw and so there was no reason to suspect that he had eaten them in the shop before he had left. Therefore, he was completely free of suspicion. But his friend had been carrying a basket full of pomegranates, and so even though it was full to overflowing, there was plenty of gaps between the pomegranates to hold lentils. Therefore, the judge had reason to suspect him.

The Case of the Missing Coin

The Case of the Missing Coin

A certain person placed twenty coins in a pocket which was sewn into his garment. In the evening he came home, took off his garment and placed it somewhere else besides his bedroom, and went to sleep. In the morning he arose and donned his garment. He then checked on the coins, and found that there were only nineteen.

He deliberated over two possibilites as to what had happened. The first was perhaps this coin had fallen from him during the day when he had removed something from his pocket, and he had not noticed. The second was perhaps his servant had stolen it.

Which of these two possibilities is the most likely?

Place mouse here for the answerIt is not reasonable to suspect the servant of stealing the coin, because if he had stolen it, why did he not take the whole purse? And if he did not take the whole purse in order that his master would not realise immediately when he donned his garment that the coins had been stolen, at the very least he should have taken two or three coins out of the twenty, since the loss of this relatively small amount would not have been noticed immediately. No, the coin certainly fell from him, and was not stolen.

The Mystery of the Extra Kilo

The Mystery of the Extra Kilo

Two men dwelled with their families in the same courtyard, and each one needed to purchase four kilos of rice for his household. So each one sent his servant, and they bought the rice from the same shopkeeper, and brought the rice home, each one to his master. Each of the masters then weighed the rice that they had received, and one of them found that his weighed exactly four kilos, but the other found that his weighed five kilos.

Now, there were two observers sitting there, and one of them commented that it seemed to him that the shopkeeper had been generous, and had added a kilo to each of the purchases, but one of the servants had stolen this extra amount, whereas the second servant had been faithful and had brought home the whole amount. But the second observer responded that this was not reasonable - firstly, one should not supect a Jew of stealing, and secondly, there does not exist such a generous shopkeeper who would add as a gift one kilo on top of four kilos. Instead, he offered an alternative suggestion.

What was the scenario that the second one was proud to suggest?

Place mouse here for the answer This was the proffered scenario: The servant who had purchased four kilos which were in the end found to be five kilos was in the shop at the same time as another servant who was also buying four kilos. The shopkeeper weighed the four kilos for each of them but afterwards that second servant asked the shopkeeper to weigh out for him a further kilo and add it to his four kilos. However, whilst the shopkeeper was weighing out the extra kilo the two servant conversed with one another while their bags containing their four kilos of rice were lying in front of them, and unfortunately the shopkeeper made a mistake and poured the extra kilo into the wrong bag and nobody noticed. Thus, our servant ended up bringing home his bag with an extra kilo that did not belong to him.

Name the food

Name the food

A man asked his son to bring him a food that naturally consisted of two different types attached one to the other and both of which are eaten, but each one has a different colour and a different taste. His son brought to him as he requested.

What was the food?

Place mouse here for the answer His son brought him an egg which contains the white and the yolk, both of which are eaten and each of which has a different colour and taste.

The Dilemna of the Valuable Rice

The Dilemna of the Valuable Rice

A man once received a large vase full of a special type of rice as a gift, a food which was very precious to him since it was unavailable where he lived. He gave it to his wife, instructing her to guard it and not to take from it for cooking until he told her to do so. But this woman had a young son, and she used to cook for him every day a small amount of rice with milk only for him, and when there was no other rice in the house she used to take from this vase without her husband's permission, until the amount in the vase had been reduced by a fifth.

One day, her husband told her to bring the vase of rice to him, and she understood that he wished to take some of the rice from it to send to a friend as a gift. The woman was confused and did not know what to do, because when her husband would see that the vase is not full he would deal sorely with her for disobeying his instuctions not to take from it but only to guard it.

However, she had another son who was very clever, and he advised her to do such-and-such, and thereby her husband would not be any the wiser. But she responded that it was impossible for her to do this, so he gave her a different counsel, and with this she succeeded in covering up her misappropriation of the special rice. What were these two pieces of advice?

Place mouse here for the answerInitially he advised her to empty the vase and to place inside enough ordinary rice from the house to make up what was missing, and then to refill it with her husband's rice so it would again appear full of the original rice. However, she replied that it was impossible for her to do this because she did not have any other rice in the house right now, and if she waited until she would go and buy some he would notice that she had taken a very long time just to bring the vase from the downstairs room.
He therefore advised her that when she brings up the vase she should she act as if she stumbled on something so that the vase will fall from her and smash into pieces on the floor, scattering the rice. Thus, not longer having the original vessel her husband will not know that some of the rice is missing.

The Question of the Bag of Bran

The Question of the Bag of Bran

There was once a man who owned male and female hens, but he wanted to go with his family for a month's vacation, and it was impossible to take the hens with him. So he instructed his helper to deposit the male hens by a certain person, and the female hens by another person. He also instructed him to purchase two kilos of bran, and to give them to one of these two people.

But his helper forgot to which of the two he was supposed to give the bran. His friend said to him: Why are you confounded? You should be able to work our for yourself to whom you should give the bran. To whom did he bring the bran, and how did he understand that this was the correct one?

Place mouse here for the answerSince he had been instructed to bring the bran to only one of the caretakers we must say that it was to the house where the male hens had been deposited, since they will not lay eggs and thereby profit the depositee. Therefore, to avoid causing him a loss he supplied him with bran to feed them. But the second person will not mind the expense of feeding them since he will profit from all the eggs that will be laid.

The Mystery of the Murky Memory

The Mystery of the Murky Memory

Someone once said to his mother: Give me permission to go to the city of Paris, to see it and its inhabitants. His mother replied to him: My son, you were already in Paris for six months, but you were confined in a prison and you did not see the city or its inhabitants. He was amazed at her words! When did he go there, and why was he confined in a prison, and how is it possible that he was there but he did not see it or its inhabitants?

Explain this!

Place mouse here for the answerHe was in Paris for six months when his mother was pregnant with him and he was imprisoned in her womb. And since he was thus imprisoned he certainly did not see the city or its inhabitants.

What is it?

The Common Factor

There is something that is common to everything in the world - to all types of inanimate objects, plants, animals and humans, to everything in the seas and the rivers, to everything on the earth and in the heavens. It is found by all of them.

What is it?

Place mouse here for the answerA name is what they all have in common, because there is nothing in the world that does not have a name.

The Crowd Conundrum

The Crowd Conundrum

There is a famous riddle that is asked about an individual who saw a crowd of people and asked them how many of them there were. They replied that if he doubled their number and then added half their number and then a quarter of their number and then added himself, there would be a total of one hundred people. From these facts he was able to determine how many there were without counting them.

Explain how he knew, and how many there were.

Place mouse here for the answerThere were 36 people. The calculation is as follows: Double the number of the crowd is 72. Add half of the crowd and you have 90. Add a quarter of the crowd and you have 99. Finally add one for the person who was asking the question and we arrive at 100.

The Bathhouse Calculation

Another famous riddle concerns a mixture of Jews, Muslims and Christians who entered a bathhouse. Now, the custom in that place was that each Jew paid four coins to enter the bathhouse, Christians paid two coins, and every four Muslims paid one coin.

At the end of the day a total of forty men had entered, and the bathhouse attendant had received forty coins, and from this he was able to calculate how many Jews, Christians and Muslims had entered that day.

How many of each had entered?

Place mouse here for the answerThere was one Jew, fifteen Christians and twenty-four Muslims.

The Problematic River Crossing

The Problematic River Crossing

Another famous riddle concerns a person who had a wolf, a sheep and a sheaf of wheat, and was travelling alone and needed to take care that the wheat would not be eaten by the sheep, nor the sheep by the wolf.

On the way he needed to cross a river, but the ferry was very small and so he would only be able to cross the river with one of the three each time. This was a problem, because if he took the wolf first the sheep would eat the wheat. And if he took the sheep first what should he do next? If he next transfers the wolf it will eat the sheep when he goes back for the wheat. And if instead he next transfers the wheat, then the sheep will eat it when he goes back for the wolf.

What should he do?

Place mouse here for the answerFirst transfer the sheep and then return and transfer the wheat. On the return trip take the sheep back so as not to leave it with the wheat, and then transfer the wolf. Finally, return and transfer the sheep.

The Ten Liters of Wine

The Ten Liters of Wine

Another famous riddle concerns a person who had vessel which was full to the brim with exactly ten liters of wine. He also had a second, empty vessel which could hold exactly seven liters, and another empty vessel which could hold exactly three liters, and no other vessels. He wanted to divide the wine so that there would be five liters in the original vessel, and five liters in the second vessel.

How should he do this?

Place mouse here for the answerFirst pour from the ten liters into the three-liter vessel, and pour this three liters into the seven-liter vessel. Again pour into the three-liter vessel and pour this into the seven-liter vessel. Do this a third time and two liters will remain in the three-liter vessel and one liter in the ten-liter vessel. Pour all the wine from the seven-liter vessel into the ten-liter vessel and it will now contain eight liters. Pour the two liters from the three-liter vessel into the seven-liter vessel, refill the three-liter vessel from the eight liters and pour this into the seven-liter vessel. There will now be five liters in each of the biggest vessels.

The Pocket Money Puzzle

The Pocket Money Puzzle

Another famous riddle concerns someone who said to his friend: If you give me thirty-three coins I will have three times as many coins as you have left in your pocket! His friend responded: If instead you give to me thirty-three coins I will have four times as many coins as you have left in your pocket!

How many coins did each person have?

Place mouse here for the answerOne of them had 57 coins and the other one had 63 coins.

The Problem of the Jealous Brothers

The Problem of the Jealous Brothers

Another famous riddle concerns a man who told his three sons that he had some money in a certain room in the house, and that they should go and help themselves from it. So the first son jumped up and ran to the room and took what his heart desired. The second son followed and did the same and finally the third son took whatever remained.

However, the second and third sons discerned that the first son had taken more than them, and they started to quarrel with him, saying: Why did you take more than us? Give us some of the money that you took! He responded: I will give to each one of you an amount equivalent to the amount each one of you took. And so he did.

But then the first and third sons realised that now the second son had more than them, and they began to argue with him. He responded similarly that he would give to each of them the same amount that they currently held. And so he did.

But now the first and second sons realised that now the third son had more than them, and they began to argue with him. He responded likewise that he would give to each of them the same amount that they currently held. He did so and finally each of them had the same amount of money.

How much money did each one have when they first took from the room?

Place mouse here for the answerThe first brother took thirteen coins, the second brother took seven, and the third brother took four.

To be continued Bs"d
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