Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

  • Reset
Category

Back to Home -> Shoftim ->


Home -> 5780 -> Shoftim

צדק צדק תרדף

Sruly Schnair
In Shoftim, 5780

Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue. (16:20)

If we know of one imperative that hardly requires an injunction concerning its primacy, it is the pursuit of righteousness. Nonetheless, the Torah not only feels the need to mention it, but to mention it twice; tzedek, tzedek, “righteousness, righteousness.” Everyone is involved in mitzvah performance (or so they claim), but even the execution of the most significant mitzvah must be carried with spiritual and moral integrity. A mitzvah should not be carried out at the expense of others. To appropriate funds for the needy – funds that have been “earned” in a less than reputable manner – is not…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5780 -> Shoftim

לבלתו רום לבבו מאחיו ולבלתי סור מן המצוה ימין ושמאל

Sruly Schnair
In Shoftim, 5780

So that his heart not become haughty over his brethren. And not turn from the commandment right or left. (17:20)

The Torah demands that the Jewish king maintain a sense of humility, shying away from anything that might present him as pretentious and vain. The fact that he is king neither gives him license to act haughty, nor does it allow him to feel that he is better than anyone. With his position comes enormous responsibilities, as well as temptation to accede to a yetzer hora, evil inclination, that will play with his subconscious, encouraging him to act pompously and to use his office for personal gain. Monarchy, as with all leadership positions, is not a free pass. It creates…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5780 -> Shoftim

תמים תהיה עם ד' אלקיך

Sruly Schnair
In Shoftim, 5780

You shall be whole hearted with Hashem, your G-d. (18:13)

Rashi explains this to mean that one should follow Hashem with perfect faith, not being concerned about what will occur in the future (as was the custom in those days to seek out the counsel of diviners and astrologers). This means accepting whatever befalls a person with wholeheartedness and absolute conviction, recognizing it as the will of Hashem. Once, during the Middle Ages (as quoted by Horav Eli Munk, zl, in The Call of the Torah), a holy man gave a kemeiah, amulet, to someone who was anxious about the future. He warned him not to open it for an…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5780 -> Shoftim

כפר לעמך ישראל אשר פדית

Sruly Schnair
In Shoftim, 5780

Atone for Your People Yisrael that You have redeemed. (21:8)

The Midrash Tanchuma (Haazinu) quotes the Toras Kohanim concerning the above pasuk: Kapeir l’amcha Yisrael, “Atone for Your People Yisrael.” This applies to the living; asher padisa; “that You have redeemed,” refers to the departed. This teaches that the living redeem the deceased. Therefore, it is our custom to memorialize the memory of the departed on Yom Kippur by praying for them, setting aside tzedakah, charity, in their behalf. I might think that tzedakah has no effect once a person passes on from this world. Thus, we learn from asher padisa, through the medium of tzedakah. The Midrash continues describing…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5780 -> Re'eh

ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה

Sruly Schnair
In Re'eh, 5780

See, I present before you today, a blessing and a curse. (11:26)

It all boils down to choices. It is either a blessing or a curse. We really cannot have it both ways. A blessing that ends up as a curse is not much of a blessing. Why is it that some of us become victim to the “poor choice syndrome”? Why can we not look at a poor choice for what is, and just say, “No”? It is the yetzer hora, evil inclination, who does an excellent job of concealing the curse in our poor choices. In fact, he often presents it as a blessing, and we fall for his ruse….

Continue Reading

Home -> 5780 -> Re'eh

ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה. את הברכה אשר תשמעו.

Sruly Schnair
In Re'eh, 5780

See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing that you listen. (11:26,27)

Noticeably, the Torah begins with Re’eh, see, in the singular (instead of Re’u) in the plural form; then, it writes lifneichem, before you, in the plural (not lifanecha in the singular form) and concludes with, asher tishme’u, plural that you listen (not tishma) singular. In his Aderes Eliyahu, the Gaon, zl, m’Vilna, explains that the Aseres HaDibros, Ten Commandments, are spoken to Klal Yisrael in the singular, because when they stood at Har Sinai, all of Klal Yisrael were standing k’ish echad b’lev echad, as one person with one heart. Their unity was complete. Thus, Hashem spoke to them as…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5780 -> Re'eh

כי יסיתך אחיך ... לאמר נלכה ונעבדה אלהים אחרים אשר לא ידעת אתה ואבתיך

Sruly Schnair
In Re'eh, 5780

If your brothers… will incite you… saying, “Let us go and worship the gods of others,” that you did not know, you or your forefathers. (13:7)

Rashi explains the meaning of, “That you did not know, you or your forefathers”: “This matter is of great disgrace to you. For even the other nations (pagans) do not reject what their ancestors passed on to them, but this meisis, inciter, says to you, ‘Abandon what your ancestors passed on to you.’” Why does Rashi point the finger at the individual who is being incited to leave Judaism, intimating that it is humiliating to him to reject the traditions of his forebears, when, in fact, the individual who should be humiliated is the one who is acting disgracefully –…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5780 -> Re'eh

לא תאבה לו ולא תשמע אליו ולא תחוס עינך עליו ולא תחמל ולא תכסה עליו

Sruly Schnair
In Re'eh, 5780

You shall not accede to him and not hearken to him; your eye shall not take pity on him, you shall not be compassionate nor conceal him. (13:9)

“With prejudice” is legalese for dismissing a case/plaintiff permanently. The case is over and done with. No one is interested in rehashing it or listening to any appeals for clemency. Concerning the meisis/meidiach, one who entices others to go astray, the Torah goes to great lengths to underscore its disdain for anyone who would entice another Jew to worship idols. Regardless of the victim’s relationship with the enticer, he must turn him in and see that he is brought to justice. Although the Jewish court is to manifest utmost compassion and seek every avenue to look for extenuating circumstances that…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5780 -> Re'eh

וזה אשר לא תאכלו ... והחסידה

Sruly Schnair
In Re'eh, 5780

This is what you shall not eat…the chasidah. (14:12,18)

As the designated Banim atem la’Hashem Elokeichem, “Children to Hashem, your G-d” (ibid 14:1), we must act in accordance with our special status. It should serve as a source of pride and obligation. The Torah enjoins us with certain prohibitions which are entirely acceptable to the gentile world, but, to Hashem’s children, are an anathema. Among these prohibitions are the Jewish dietary laws which prohibit us from consuming certain animals, fowl and fish. Among the fowl, the Torah lists specific fowl which are considered unkosher due to their “character” which, of course, only the Creator Who created them knows. Among…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5780 -> Eikev

וידעת עם לבבך כי כאשר ייסר איש את בנו ד' אלקיך מיסרך

Sruly Schnair
In Eikev, 5780

You should know in your heart that just as a father will chastise his son, so Hashem, your G-d, chastises you. (8:5)

We have undergone much hardship throughout our tumultuous history. These were not isolated occurrences during which we were subject to the whims and fancies, disdain and loathing, all products of a cruel, envious world who blamed every one of life’s incongruities on the Jews. Whatever happened to us did not “just happen.” It was all Heavenly-designated by a loving Father, Who, at times, was either meting out fatherly discipline or providing us with “opportunities” to secure our spiritual future. Everything was the result of the profound love that a father has for his son. The Kedushas Levi (m’Berditchev) explains why…

Continue Reading

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

You have Successfully Subscribed!