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Home -> 5786 -> Chukas

ותמת שם מרים ותקבר שם

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5786

And Miriam died there, and she was buried there. (Bamidbar 20:1)

Miriam HaNeviah is a study in contrasts, a striking paradox of leadership without fanfare.  While she is known for her far-from-passive leadership and for her merit in sustaining the nation with water for forty years, she did not seek recognition.  Indeed, it is under such tension – true leadership and devotion to truth – that her greatness emerged.  Her most outstanding merit, which she manifested time and again, was her unyielding emunah, faith in Hashem.  She did not wait for a miracle to buttress her faith.  She anticipated it as if it were already a reality. Let us peruse a…

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Home -> 5786 -> Korach

ויקח קרח ... ויקהלו על משה ועל אהרן

Sruly Schnair
In Korach, 5786

Korach…separated himself…They gathered together against Moshe and against Aharon. (16:1,3)

The controversy Korach initiated against Moshe Rabbeinu serves as the paradigm of a machlokes shelo l’shem Shomayim – a dispute that is not for the sake of Heaven.  Korach rebelled against Moshe Rabbeinu and, by extension, against Hashem and His Torah. Chazal teach that such a dispute is destined not to endure, for it is rooted, not in truth, but in ego and self-interest. What is a machlokes?  The word is rooted in chelek – a portion, a division. A baal machlokes is one who separates himself from others, creating fragmentation where there should be unity.  He does not merely…

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Home -> 5786 -> Korach

ויקח קרח

Sruly Schnair
In Korach, 5786

Korach separated himself. (16:1)

I had a rebbe in yeshivah who would emphasize to me (more often than I care to admit) that a person who is wearing blue-colored lenses will always see blue.  This was his way of telling me that I was looking at things through a distorted, self-serving perspective.  The most compelling tragedy of Korach (among the many tragedies of Korach) was not merely the argument that he promoted, but the manner in which he misused the greatness with which he had been endowed. Hashem grants a person gifts: talent, perception, emotional depth, even flashes of Ruach HaKodesh, Divine Inspiration.  These…

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Home -> 5786 -> Korach

ויקח קרח

Sruly Schnair
In Korach, 5786

Korach…separated himself. (16:1)

Machlokes, discord, controversy, is one of the most destructive forces in a person’s life.  It does not merely create disagreement – it consumes perspective, distorts judgment, and unravels long-time relationships to the point that it can erode one’s entire quality of life.  At the root of the problem is that, in the heat of discord, a person loses himself.  It suddenly becomes only about “me.”  The need to be right, to win, to prove my point, takes center stage over the truth.  It is no longer about clarity, but validation.  The individual denigrates the actions of his antagonist, because after…

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Home -> 5786 -> Shelach

שלח לך אנשים ויתרו את ארץ כנען

Sruly Schnair
In Shelach, 5786

Send forth men, if you please, and let them spy out the Land of Canaan. (13:2)

The Torah introduces the meraglim stating, kulam anashim, “All were men.”  Chazal explain anashim as a term reserved for men who are honorable, upright, men of stature.  This explanation only intensifies the question that is on everyone’s mind:  How did such distinguished personalities err so egregiously?  Their reaction and the manner in which they later riled up the nation led to the people’s ultimate exclusion from entering Eretz Yisrael, transforming that night – the Ninth of Av – into our national day of mourning.  If these men were such kesheirim, men of integrity, how did they fall so catastrophically? I…

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Home -> 5786 -> Shelach

שלח לך אנשים ויתרו את ארץ כנען

Sruly Schnair
In Shelach, 5786

Send forth men, if you please, and let them spy out the Land of Canaan. (13:2)

Rashi notes the juxtaposition of the meraglim debacle upon the story with Miriam in which she spoke against Moshe Rabbeinu.  She spoke negatively of her brother, underscoring his departure from his wife’s tent. He did not know when Hashem would summon him; thus, he must always be prepared.  Miriam looked askance at this behavior, feeling it was not fair to Tziporah, Moshe’s wife.  Her words were considered slanderous and, as a result, Hashem punished her with tzaraas, spiritual leprosy, which confined her to seclusion for seven days.  Due to her extraordinary distinction, Hashem had the entire nation remain encamped until…

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Home -> 5786 -> Shelach

היש בה עץ אם אין

Sruly Schnair
In Shelach, 5786

Are there trees in it or not? (13:20)

Rashi explains that Moshe Rabbeinu’s mention of a tree is an allusion to a tzadik.  He wanted the spies to find out if a righteous person was living in the land, in whose merit the people would be sheltered from attack.  This refers to Iyov, who was a saintly and virtuous man – but who died right before the spies reached the land.  With this in mind, we infer that Moshe did not require the services of the meraglim to ascertain the Jews ability to conquer the land.  Hashem would provide for their triumph.  If a righteous man lived in…

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Home -> 5786 -> Beha'alosecha

דבר אל אהרן ... בהעלתךך את הנרות ... ויעש כן אהרן

Sruly Schnair
In Beha'alosecha, 5786

Speak to Aharon … when you kindle the lamps. Aharon did so. (8:2,3)

Rashi adds, the Torah is underscoring the praise of Aharon – she’lo shinah; he did not deviate in any way from the instructions that Hashem had given him.  This is written after Aharon was consoled, for neither he nor his shevet, tribe (Levi), were to be included in the Chanukas ha’Mishkan, inauguration of the Sanctuary.  Hashem told him, Shelcha gedolah mi’she’lahem, “Yours is greater because you will light the Menorah, which would continue throughout their journey in the wilderness and in the Bais HaMikdash.” (Actually, the lighting of the Chanukah Menorah, which continues to this very day, is a continuation…

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Home -> 5786 -> Beha'alosecha

ויהי אנשים אשר היו טמאים לנפש אדם ...למה נגרע לבלתי הקריב את אדם קרבן ד' במועדו

Sruly Schnair
In Beha'alosecha, 5786

These were men who were contaminated by a human corpse…Why should we be diminished by not offering Hashem’s offering in its appointed time?” (9:6,7)

Some men were ritually impure due to contact with a human corpse, and they could not sacrifice the Pesach-offering on that day … These men said, “We are ritually impure through contact with a human corpse.  Why should we be diminished, so as not to bring the offering of Hashem on its appointed time?”  (9:6) One must be ritually pure in order to offer the Korban Pesach (or any Korban for that matter).  These men were tamei meis, ritually impure, due to their contact with a human corpse.  Confronted with the circumstance, they came to Moshe Rabbeinu and offered their…

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Home -> 5786 -> Beha'alosecha

והאיש משה ענו מאד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה

Sruly Schnair
In Beha'alosecha, 5786

Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth. (12:3)

The Torah describes Moshe Rabbeinu as the humblest of all men.  This does not mean that he was unaware of his unparalleled greatness, his extraordinary achievements, or his role as Klal Yisrael’s quintessential rebbe and leader.  On the contrary, Moshe understood exactly who he was.  Yet, his humility lay in how he perceived the source of his greatness.  He felt that he had been granted opportunities that no one else had received.  Had others stood at Har Sinai, had they learned Torah directly from Hashem, they, too, could have risen to his level of leadership. Chazal teach that the Torah…

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