Shoftim – Page 4 – Peninim on the Torah

על פי התורה אשר יורוך ועל המשפט אשר יאמרו לך תעשה – לא תסור מן הדבר אשר יגידו לך ימין ושמאל

According to the teaching that they will teach you and according to the judgment that they will say to you, shall you do; you shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left. (17:11)

The decision rendered by the courts must be obeyed, even if one is convinced that it is wrong. Even if the judge/Torah scholar seems to be conveying that right is left and left is right, you must listen, accept and execute the law as told. We must maintain unswerving obedience to the directive issued by our gedolim, Torah leaders of the generation. Not everyone warrants the title gadol, Torah giant. Some may qualify as scholars, but, unless one reflects the total demeanor of mussar, ethics, yiraas Shomayim, fear of Heaven, in addition to being erudite, one does not qualify as…

Home -> 5777 -> Shoftim

מי האיש אשר בנה בית חדש ולא חנכו ילך וישב לביתו פן ימות במלחמה ואיש אחר יחנכנו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5777

Who is the man who has built a new house and has not inaugurated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war and another man will inaugurate it. (20:5)

An individual whose mind is not on the battle, will – due to his fear or lack of enthusiasm – erode the morale of his comrades. The Torah mentions those individuals who return home and are free from joining the army. These are men who had just initiated an endeavor: taken a wife; built a house; planted a vineyard. For practical reasons, their minds are focused elsewhere – not on the battlefield. Rashi remarks concerning one who has built a house and has yet to move in: He is anxious concerning the possibility that he might die and someone else…

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שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך... ושפטו את העם משפט צדק

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5776

Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities… and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. (16:18)

It is almost that time of year when Hashem makes a reckoning of our deeds of the past year and renders His decisions for the coming year. We all could use “help” in obtaining favorable judgments. The easiest and most propitious way is by doing all that is asked of us. In other words, good people will receive a good judgment. What about those who were not perfect, who made their share of mistakes, who committed sins without malice (of course), but sins nonetheless? What is the best advice for them, other than teshuvah and going through the process of…

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והיתה עמו וקרא בו כל ימי חייו... לבלתי רם לבבו מאחיו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5776

It shall be with him and he shall read from it all the days of his life… so that his heart does not become haughty over his brethren. (17:19,20)

Arrogance is an indication of a defective character. Arrogant people are (often) those who failed to be recognized and respected by others who are important to them. Their solution is to lord it over others to whom they feel superior, thus receiving acknowledgment by force. Most often, the arrogant person has nothing about which to be haughty. It is like air puffed into an empty container. When it dissipates, the container returns to its original vacuous state. Having recently read a “confession” of a “once” arrogant person (the “pin” that releases the air had allowed him to finally see his…

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הוא ינוס אל אחת הערים האלה וחי

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5776

He shall flee to one of these cities and live. (19:5)

The purpose of the city of refuge was to protect the inadvertent murderer from the wrath of the goel ha’dam, redeemer/close relative, who seeks to avenge the death of his relative. The word v’chai, “and live,” has a powerful connotation. Chazal teach (Makkos 10b), “If a student goes into exile, his rebbe goes with him; if a rebbe goes into exile, his yeshivah goes with him. Avid lei midi d’tihevei lei chiyussa, “Provide him with arrangements that will enable him to live.” Apparently, another rebbe would not suffice. The inadvertent murderer requires his personal rebbe from whom he had been…

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וענו ואמרו ידינו לא שפכה את הדם הזה ועינינו לא ראו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5776

They shall speak up and say, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, and our eyes did not see.” (21:7)

Obviously, no one suspects the elders of participating in the murder of the individual whose corpse was found in the field. Rashi explains that they mean to say that they were unaware of this traveler and had no part in allowing him to go on his way, lonely, without food or escort. We derive from this statement that had they been aware of his presence and need, they would have been guilty of neglecting another Jew, so that there would be blood on their hands. This is the extent of responsibility demanded of a leader. Maharal m’Prague observes that the…

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לא תקים לך מצבה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5775

And you shall not erect for yourself a pillar. (16:22)

It is forbidden to set up a single stone for worship – even if it is in order to worship the true G-d, Hashem. He has despised these stones ever since the pagans decided to employ them as a means for their own worship. Only an altar comprised of numerous stones or of earth creates the proper modality of worship. Horav Levi Yitzchak, zl, m’Berditchev, renders this prohibition homiletically as referring to the most common form of worship: self-worship. Chazal state (Pirkei Avos 4), “This world is compared to a vestibule before Olam Habba, the World to Come.” Our world…

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לא תסור מן הדבר אשר יגידו לך ימין ושמאל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5775

You shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left. (17:11)

Some individuals find it hard to follow the direction set forth by the Torah sages of each generation. They feel that the guidance of the gedolim, giants of Torah, must be consistent with their personal line of thinking. Accepting the sage advice of a Torah leader is a bit too much for them to handle. The ben Torah who conforms to the direction of the chachmei haTorah, wise men of Torah, lives a life of peace and calm, serene in the knowledge that he is following the path that Hashem has established for him. He realizes that, after all is…

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ואמר אליהם שמע ישראל אתם קרבים היום למלחמה על אויביכם אל ירך לבבכם אל תיראו ואל תחפזו ואל תערצו מפניהם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5775

He shall say to them, “Hear, O Yisrael, today you are coming near to the battle against your enemies; let your heart not be faint; do not be afraid; do not panic and do not be broken before them. (20:3)

Chazal (Talmud Sotah 44) teach that, during a war, it is absolutely prohibited to run from the enemy. While today, outside of Eretz Yisrael, we cannot really say that the Jewish People are involved in a physical war, we are certainly embattled in a spiritual battle against an anti-Semitic world that does not want to see us observing Torah and mitzvos. What a sad commentary it is that anti-Semitic gentiles have a greater perception of the value of Torah and mitzvos to the Jew than do our secular brethren. They have long ago relegated our People’s treasure, Hashem’s Divinely authored…

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מי האיש הירא ורך הלבב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5775

Who is the man who is fearful and fainthearted? (20:8)

Prior to selecting those individuals who were to represent the nation in war, we find the Kohen Gadol asking all those who had just made family commitments– a new wife; a new house; a new vineyard– to leave the circle and return home. The Kohen left the scene, and the officers took charge. According to Rabbi Yosi HaGelili, the last declaration, which exhorted he who was afraid to leave, focuses on a person who is not as much a coward as he is afraid of dying. He is fearful of the impact that his sins will make on his successful…

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על פי התורה אשר יורוך ועל המשפט אשר יאמרו לך תעשה – לא תסור מן הדבר אשר יגידו לך ימין ושמאל

According to the teaching that they will teach you and according to the judgment that they will say to you, shall you do; you shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left. (17:11)

מי האיש אשר בנה בית חדש ולא חנכו ילך וישב לביתו פן ימות במלחמה ואיש אחר יחנכנו

Who is the man who has built a new house and has not inaugurated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war and another man will inaugurate it. (20:5)

שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך... ושפטו את העם משפט צדק

Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities… and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. (16:18)

והיתה עמו וקרא בו כל ימי חייו... לבלתי רם לבבו מאחיו

It shall be with him and he shall read from it all the days of his life… so that his heart does not become haughty over his brethren. (17:19,20)

הוא ינוס אל אחת הערים האלה וחי

He shall flee to one of these cities and live. (19:5)

וענו ואמרו ידינו לא שפכה את הדם הזה ועינינו לא ראו

They shall speak up and say, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, and our eyes did not see.” (21:7)

לא תקים לך מצבה

And you shall not erect for yourself a pillar. (16:22)

לא תסור מן הדבר אשר יגידו לך ימין ושמאל

You shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left. (17:11)

ואמר אליהם שמע ישראל אתם קרבים היום למלחמה על אויביכם אל ירך לבבכם אל תיראו ואל תחפזו ואל תערצו מפניהם

He shall say to them, “Hear, O Yisrael, today you are coming near to the battle against your enemies; let your heart not be faint; do not be afraid; do not panic and do not be broken before them. (20:3)

מי האיש הירא ורך הלבב

Who is the man who is fearful and fainthearted? (20:8)

YEARS

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