Eikev – Page 3 – Peninim on the Torah

את ד' אלקיך תירא

Hashem, your G-d, shall you fear. (10:20)

Fear is a powerful word which connotes various emotions, from respect to anxiety, love to awe. Since Hashem is beyond anything we can imagine, the definition of fear with regard to the Almighty must also be unique. The notion of comparing the fear one should have for a talmid chacham, Torah scholar, to that which one should have for Hashem begs elucidation. The Midrash Tanchuma (Beha’alosecha) teaches us that the es, conjunctive word, which precedes (es) Hashem Elokecha (tira) instructs us to fear one who has mastered the Torah. (Clearly, such mastery involves much more than erudition. It applies to…

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למען ירבו ימיכם וימי בניכם על האדמה אשר נשבע ד' לאבתיכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5777

In order to prolong your days and the days of your children upon the land that Hashem has sworn to your forefathers. (11:21)

I just came across a homily published in 1929 by Horav Elazar Meir Preill, zl, Rav of Elizabeth, New Jersey, in which he decries the lack of respect for the “older” generation. There used to be a time (he writes) when the older generation were the pillars of the Jewish community, their advice sought, appreciated and accepted. “Here” (in America at that time), the younger generation has taken charge – relegating their forebears to a place of honor in a nursing home or to a corner of their homes. Not only is their opinion not sought, it is not accepted….

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ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ד' אלקיך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5776

Chazal teach us that Bentching, Grace after meals, is a mitzvah min haTorah, Biblical command. Veritably, it is obvious that one should offer his gratitude upon deriving benefit from another. When we take into consideration that food sustains us and that Hashem is the Source of all food, it does not take a deep thinker to understand the obligation of u’beirachta – “and you shall bless.” If we eat and are satisfied, the natural consequence should be blessing Hashem. Indeed, before the Torah was given to Klal Yisrael, our Patriarch, Avraham Avinu, taught the world about the greatness of Hashem…

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כי הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5776

That it was He who gives you the strength to make wealth. (8:18)

Targum Onkelos adds his own interpretation to the above translation. He writes: Hu d’yahiv lecha eitzah l’mikni nechassin, “He (Hashem) gave you the idea to purchase property.” Horav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, zl, explains that, while one may attribute his financial success to siyata diShmaya, Heavenly assistance, he does not deny that it was his strategy, his personality, his cunning, his business acumen – “him, him, his.” He had Divine assistance, but it was his idea to initiate the project. Onkeles teaches us that this is categorically untrue. The very eitzah, idea, was not self-initiated. It, too, was placed into his…

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ואתפש בשני הלוחות ואשליכם מעל שתי ידי ואשברם לעיניכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5776

I grasped the two Tablets and threw them from my two hands, and I smashed them before your eyes. (9:17)

Ramban explains the hidden meaning behind Moshe Rabbeinu’s admonition to the people, “Your sin was too great to tolerate. Until the moment that I saw you ‘playing’ – dancing and reveling – before the Golden Calf (I might have been able to tolerate your sin), I could no longer refrain from acting. I broke the Luchos, Tablets.” Apparently, it was not the creation of the eigal, Golden Calf, that catalyzed Moshe’s action. It was the way the people were behaving. They had lost complete control of themselves, an indication that they had no clue concerning the gravity of their nefarious…

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ללכת בכל דרכיו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5776

To walk in all His ways. (11:22)

How does one “walk” in the ways of Hashem? Furthermore, should it not have said to walk in Hashem’s footsteps? One walks in someone’s footsteps; one follows in his path. Perhaps, we may suggest that “footsteps” and “ways/path” are variants only when one follows in a path that was ready-made by others. When one forges a path, his footsteps are the path. In other words, Hashem makes the path, creates the derech. Wherever Hashem “walks,” He is teaching us what should be the standards of living, what should be the derech of a Yid. Hashem’s halichah, walking, creates the derech,…

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כי לא על הלחם לבדו יחיה האדם כי על כל מוצא פי ד' יחיה האדם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5775

Not by bread alone does man live, rather by everything that emanates from the mouth of G-d does man live. (8:3)

The phrase yichyeh ha’adam, does man live, is mentioned twice in the pasuk. Interestingly, Targum Onkeles uses two variant translations for the word yichyeh. With regard to the first part of the pasuk – “Not by bread alone does man live,” he writes, miskayeim enasha – is a man sustained/preserved. In the second part of the pasuk – “rather by everything that emanates from the mouth of G-d does man live,” he writes, chayei enasha, man lives. Why does the text change? (The variant translations are to be found in the older Chumashim. Many contemporary printings follow the standard corrected…

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כאשר ייסר איש את בנו ד' אלקיך מיסרך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5775

Just as a father will chastise his son, so Hashem, Your G-d, chastises you. (8:5)

Hashem’s discipline is likened to that of a loving father who is compelled to impose order in the life of his child. Discipline is a form of instruction which is vital and critical to a child’s development. The following are excerpts from a series of lectures given by the venerable Mashgiach of Beth Medrash Gavohah, Horav Matisyahu Solomon, Shlita. The Torah unequivocally forbids berating or embarrassing anyone, regardless of his wrongdoing. Chavalah, hitting, and onaah, persecution, are specifically prohibited. Just because someone is guilty of committing a sin does not give us license to humiliate or hit him. Concerning chinuch,…

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וברכת את ד' אלקיך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5775

And bless Hashem, Your G-d. (8:10)

One of the most common blessings we recite following food or drink consumption is the brachah acharonah, after-blessing, Borei nefashos rabos v’chesronan, “Who creates numerous living things with their deficiencies.” The Tur explains the concept chesronos, deficiencies, to mean that Hashem has created the hashlamah, completion, the (sort of) antidote to everything that we might be missing from our lives. The Rashba (Teshuvos 149), however, disagrees, explaining that we pay gratitude to Hashem specifically for (what appears to us as) the deficiencies in our lives. It is our way of affirming the manner in which Hashem has created us. For…

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ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ד' אלקיך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5775

You will eat and you will be satisfied, and bless Hashem, your G-d. (8:10)

When a person eats or drinks, he prefaces his eating with a blessing and, upon completion, he once again offers his blessing. What if a person has no desire to eat, he is just not hungry, or he does not particularly care for the food that is being served? One would think that he has no obligation to eat. One does not eat just to avail himself the opportunity to recite a blessing – or should he eat just for the blessing? The following episode should enlighten us. The Bobover Rebbe, Horav Shlomo, zl, related that, when he was a…

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את ד' אלקיך תירא

Hashem, your G-d, shall you fear. (10:20)

למען ירבו ימיכם וימי בניכם על האדמה אשר נשבע ד' לאבתיכם

In order to prolong your days and the days of your children upon the land that Hashem has sworn to your forefathers. (11:21)

ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ד' אלקיך

כי הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל

That it was He who gives you the strength to make wealth. (8:18)

ואתפש בשני הלוחות ואשליכם מעל שתי ידי ואשברם לעיניכם

I grasped the two Tablets and threw them from my two hands, and I smashed them before your eyes. (9:17)

ללכת בכל דרכיו

To walk in all His ways. (11:22)

כי לא על הלחם לבדו יחיה האדם כי על כל מוצא פי ד' יחיה האדם

Not by bread alone does man live, rather by everything that emanates from the mouth of G-d does man live. (8:3)

כאשר ייסר איש את בנו ד' אלקיך מיסרך

Just as a father will chastise his son, so Hashem, Your G-d, chastises you. (8:5)

וברכת את ד' אלקיך

And bless Hashem, Your G-d. (8:10)

ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ד' אלקיך

You will eat and you will be satisfied, and bless Hashem, your G-d. (8:10)

YEARS

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