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Home -> 5786 -> Naso

איש או אשה כי יפלא לנדר נדר נזיר להזיר לד'

Sruly Schnair
In Naso, 5786

A man or woman who shall disassociate himself by taking a Nazirite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem. (6:2)

The Torah juxtaposes the laws of Nazir upon the previous laws of the sotah, wayward wife.  Chazal (Sotah 2A) derive that one who sees a sotah in her degradation should take a Nazarite vow, thereby prohibiting himself from drinking wine.  One who witnesses the sotah’s punishment and realizes what led to it understands that he has just been availed a window into how easily people fall prey to temptation. He is able to observe how the yetzer hora, evil inclination, can ensnare a person and pull him down to the nadir of depravity.  Let us look at a before and…

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Home -> 5786 -> Naso

דבר אל אהרן ואל בניו לאמר – כה תברכו את בני ישראל

Sruly Schnair
In Naso, 5786

Speak to Aharon and his sons saying, so shall you bless the Bnei Yisrael. (6:23)

Hashem charged Aharon HaKohen and his descendants with conveying Hashem’s blessing to His people.  The concept of the Kohen having koach ha’brachah, power of blessing, appears enigmatic on the surface.  True, the Kohen is biologically holy, born into the Priestly family, but what about the talmid chacham, Torah scholar, who has a distinction of his own?  He has earned his status. Through toil, effort, diligence in Torah study, the talmid chacham has elevated himself.  His sanctity is acquired because it is the product of ameilus and mesiras nefesh.  I am not suggesting in any way that the Kohen is not…

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Home -> 5786 -> Naso

ביום השני הקריב נתנאל בן צוער נשיא יששכר

Sruly Schnair
In Naso, 5786

On the second day, the sacrifice was brought by Nesanel ben Tzuar, the Prince of Yissachar. (7:18)

The sequence of the offerings did not follow the relative ages of the Nesiim; rather, it apparently went according to distinction.  Nachshon ben Aminadov, Nasi of Shevet Yehudah, the tribe that represented malchus, royalty, offered the first korbanos.  Shevet Yehudah deserved this distinction.  Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 72:5) explain that Yissachar was second in line, because he represented the lomeid Torah, the talmid chacham whose nights and days were spent engrossed in Torah.  Zevulun, who supported Yissachar, was up next, indicating how much Hashem values and loves the machzik Torah, supporter of Torah. Veritably, it all boils down to how much…

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Home -> Bamidbar -> 5786

וידבר ד' אל משה במדבר סיני

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Bamidbar

Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai. (1:1)

The Torah is Hashem’s greatest gift to Klal Yisrael.  It is more than our guide for living – it is our life.  One would think that the giving of the Torah, which was a seminal experience like none other, would have occurred in a thriving metropolis, a cultured capital – not in a desolate wilderness.  Everything that Hashem does and how He does it is to teach us lessons for life and living.  Obviously, the giving of the Torah in the desert is no different.  Chazal teach that it was, indeed, deliberate.  Each commentator explores his own approach.  Perhaps we…

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Home -> Bamidbar -> 5786

ואלה תולדות אהרן ומשה ... ואלה שמות בני אהרן

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Bamidbar

These are the offspring of Aharon and Moshe … These are the names of Aharon’s sons. (3:1,2)

The pasuk commences by stating that the following are the offspring of Aharon and Moshe, but goes on to list only Aharon’s sons.  What happened to Moshe’s sons? Is Moshe considered a “father” to Aharon’s sons?  Chazal (Sanhedrin 19B) infer from here that, Kol ha’melameid es ben chaveiro Torah maaleh alav ha’kasuv k’ilu yoldo, “Whoever teaches Torah to his friend’s child, the Torah regards it as if he had begotten him.”  Thus, Moshe Rabbeinu became Aharon’s sons’ spiritual progenitor, because he taught them Torah. This statement is not poetic embellishment.  Chazal do not exaggerate.  As such, the commentators offer their…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5786

אם בחוקתי תלכו ... ואם לא תשמעו לי

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Bechukosai

If you will follow My decrees … But if you will not listen to Me. (26: 3,14)

While Bechukosai is one of the two parshios of the Torah identified with the Tochechah, Rebuke (Ki Savo), it actually begins with the idyllic blessings conferred upon he who follows Hashem’s decrees.  The Torah focuses on the Jew who listens, who follows, who acts positively. Sometimes, however, one will veer off the prescribed trajectory.  He will, unfortunately, require discipline to help him return and tow the line as everyone else does.  The interpretation of teileichu, follow, gives the commentators much food for thought.  Rashi interprets the phrase, She’tiheyu ameilim baTorah, to mean by engaging in intense Torah study, with the…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5786

ורדף אתם קול עלה נדף ונסו מנסת חרב ונפלו ואין רדף

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Bechukosai

The sound of a rustling leaf will pursue them, they will flee as one flees the sword, and they will fall – but without a pursuer. (26:36)

Being that this curse is toward the conclusion of the curses, it is apparent that it is more frightening than its predecessors, such as: hunger, privation, and death.  Veritably, this curse may refer to one who is in no danger.  There is no enemy – yet his heart is racing, the anxiety is gripping him. There is no threat; yet, he is filled with panic.  The curse is not the enemy outside, but the fear from within. Such a person is not afraid of anything, other than fear itself.  Once fear becomes the reigning force in one’s mind, he no…

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Home -> Behar -> 5786

-כי תבואו אל הארץ אשר אני נותן לכם ושבתה הארץ שבת לד' שש שנים תזרע ... ובשנה השביעית שבת שבתון יהיה - לארץ

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Behar

When you come to the land that I am giving you, and the land shall rest a Shabbos to Hashem. Six years you shall sow your field … and in the seventh year there shall be a Shabbos for the rest of the land. (25:2,4)

At first glance, the sequence of the pesukim appears reversed.  One first sows his field, a process that continues for six years. Only afterward, “shall the land rest.”  Why introduce the mitzvah of Shemittah prior to mentioning the six years of labor?  Horav Yitzchak Rozenthal (Dayan, Yeshivas Midrash Bnei Tzion) distinguishes between chutz la’eretz, diaspora, whose sanctity is largely the result of human endeavor.  When a Jew studies Torah, and davens with kavanah, he sanctifies his surroundings. His kiyum ha’mitzvos, fulfillment of Torah precepts, elevates the mundane which envelops him.  His avodah, service, ushers in the kedushah.  Otherwise, it is…

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Home -> Behar -> 5786

וכי ימוך אחיך ומטה ידו עמך

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Behar

If your brother becomes impoverished, and his means falter in your proximity. (25:35)

Noticeably, when our fellow begins to falter, the Torah refers to him as achicha, your brother – not rei’acha, your fellow/friend.  A very simple explanation accounts for this textual change.  When a friend falters, suddenly our relationship with him takes an inward (toward ourselves) turn.  We are no longer friends; we are philosophers (hypothesizing reasons why we need not help).  “It is his fault.”  “I warned him, but he refused to listen.”  “Truthfully, we are not really that close.”  “He runs after me. I never sought him out.”  Each excuse is carefully presented – not to present reality, but to…

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Home -> 5786 -> Emor

ובת איש כהן כי תחל לזנות את אביה היא מחללת באש תשרף

Sruly Schnair
In Emor, 5786

The daughter of a Kohen who prepares herself through immorality desecrates her father; she is punished by fire. (21:9)

The above pasuk is chilling –describing tragedy upon tragedy.  A young woman ostensibly raised in a refined, hallowed Torah home goes off the derech, acting out her rebellion with acts of moral turpitude.  How does such a moral collapse occur – especially in such a family?  If I may use my writer’s license, I suggest a homiletic rendering of this pasuk/incident.  Several questions surface upon reading the text.  First, why does the Torah state that she desecrates her father?  It is the sacred institution of Kehunah that she profanes.  She is dragging the Priesthood through the mud – not her…

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