Behar – Page 6 – Peninim on the Torah

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

Rashi interprets the pasuk as an enjoinment against onoaas devarim, verbal harassment. Ridiculing someone can have an enduring effect upon his personality development. The humiliation and scorn one is subject to at the hands of others can damage his psyche, impairing his self-esteem and his ability to relate to others. Humiliation does not only result from words; it can also be the consequence of an intentional snub. There is nothing as demeaning as being ignored by others, so that one feels as if he does not exist in their eyes. While the individual should not be obsessed with his ego,…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5765, Behar

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

If one were to go to a great tzaddik and receive a blessing for success and Divine assistance in all of his endeavors, it would be incredible! Who would not do anything to receive such a guarantee? As Horav Uri Kelerman, z.l., was wont to say, the opportunity is there for all of us – all of the time. Indeed, we recite the pasuk daily: “Baruch ha’gever asher yivtach b’Hashem, v’hayah Hashem mivtacho”, “Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem and Hashem is his source of trust.” The pasuk clearly states that one who has bitachon is blessed. What…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5764, Behar

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

Rashi interprets the pasuk as an enjoinment against onoaas devarim, verbal harassment. Ridiculing someone can have an enduring effect upon his personality development. The humiliation and scorn one is subject to at the hands of others can damage his psyche, impairing his self-esteem and his ability to relate to others. Humiliation does not only result from words; it can also be the consequence of an intentional snub. There is nothing as demeaning as being ignored by others, so that one feels as if he does not exist in their eyes. While the individual should not be obsessed with his ego,…

Home -> Behar -> 5764

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5764, Behar

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

If one were to go to a great tzaddik and receive a blessing for success and Divine assistance in all of his endeavors, it would be incredible! Who would not do anything to receive such a guarantee? As Horav Uri Kelerman, z.l., was wont to say, the opportunity is there for all of us – all of the time. Indeed, we recite the pasuk daily: “Baruch ha’gever asher yivtach b’Hashem, v’hayah Hashem mivtacho”, “Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem and Hashem is his source of trust.” The pasuk clearly states that one who has bitachon is blessed. What…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5763, Behar

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

Rashi interprets the pasuk as an enjoinment against onoaas devarim, verbal harassment. Ridiculing someone can have an enduring effect upon his personality development. The humiliation and scorn one is subject to at the hands of others can damage his psyche, impairing his self-esteem and his ability to relate to others. Humiliation does not only result from words; it can also be the consequence of an intentional snub. There is nothing as demeaning as being ignored by others, so that one feels as if he does not exist in their eyes. While the individual should not be obsessed with his ego,…

Home -> Behar -> 5763

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5763, Behar

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

If one were to go to a great tzaddik and receive a blessing for success and Divine assistance in all of his endeavors, it would be incredible! Who would not do anything to receive such a guarantee? As Horav Uri Kelerman, z.l., was wont to say, the opportunity is there for all of us – all of the time. Indeed, we recite the pasuk daily: “Baruch ha’gever asher yivtach b’Hashem, v’hayah Hashem mivtacho”, “Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem and Hashem is his source of trust.” The pasuk clearly states that one who has bitachon is blessed. What…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5762, Behar

“When you come into the land… the land shall observe a Shabbos rest to Hashem.” (25:2)

The pasuk seems to imply that Shemittah is to commence immediately upon the arrival of Klal Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael. The Torah, however, continues, “Six years you may sow your field,” indicating that Shemittah does not begin right away. Why is the Torah so ambiguous in conveying to us when the laws of Shemittah are to take effect? The Meshech Chochmah explains that while Hashem gave us Eretz Yisrael as a gift, certain criteria that are critical to the land’s maintenance must be met in order for the gift to endure. M’zekeinim Esbonan gives the following analogy to elucidate this idea….

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ולא תונו איש את עמיתו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5762, Behar

“Each one of you shall not aggrieve his fellow.” (25:17)

The Sefer Yereim contends that just as there is an admonition against onaas devarim, hurting a person with words, saying something to him that disconcerts and makes him feel bad, there is also an enjoinment against looking at someone with a bad/evil look. The way we look at someone – be it with disdain, scorn, or hatred – can and does hurt. Onaas mamone is the prohibition against cheating someone financially. It is a surreptitious form of stealing. In truth, one only fools himself. Horav Menachem Mendel, z.l., m’Varko, said, “According to Halachah, one should not cheat another Jew. Lifnim meshuras…

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ואכלתם לשבע וישבתם לבטח עליה. וכי תאמרו מה נאכל בשנה השביעת... וצויתי את ברכתי לכם בשנה הששית

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5762, Behar

“And you will eat your fill; and you will dwell securely upon it. If you will say: ‘What will we eat in the seventh year?’ …I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.” (25:19-21)

Klal Yisrael is assured that, in return for observing the Shemittah laws and allowing the land to rest during the seventh year, they would not be exiled. Furthermore, to those of little faith, who question how only one crop can sustain them for more than one year, Hashem promises that the prosperity will be to such an extent that their questions will be without basis. Yet, the Torah felt that the question of Mah nochal, “What will we eat?” was of such significance, that it was eternalized in the Torah. This question, however, should have been asked only once. After their…

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ואיש כי לא יהיה לו גאל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5762, Behar

“If a man will have no redeemer.” (25:26)

What a terrible feeling – not to have anyone. It is our obligation to see to it that no Jew is alone or feels alone. Some individuals make it their business to see to the physical and emotional needs of their brethren, realizing how important this is. One individual who was a towering example of chesed at its zenith was the Skverer Rebbe, Horav Yaakov Yosef Twersky, z.l. After World War II, he took a small apartment in Bucharest, Romania. During the three years that he spent there, this tiny apartment served the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of thousands…

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“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

“When you come into the land… the land shall observe a Shabbos rest to Hashem.” (25:2)

ולא תונו איש את עמיתו

“Each one of you shall not aggrieve his fellow.” (25:17)

ואכלתם לשבע וישבתם לבטח עליה. וכי תאמרו מה נאכל בשנה השביעת... וצויתי את ברכתי לכם בשנה הששית

“And you will eat your fill; and you will dwell securely upon it. If you will say: ‘What will we eat in the seventh year?’ …I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.” (25:19-21)

ואיש כי לא יהיה לו גאל

“If a man will have no redeemer.” (25:26)

YEARS

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