Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

Category

Back to Home -> 5783 ->


והיה כי תמצאן אותו רעות רבות וצרות וענתה השירה הזאת לפניו לעד

It shall be that when many evils and distresses come upon it, then this song will speak up before it as a witness. (31: 21)

The word v’hayah, it shall be, is used to imply simchah, joy. We wonder what the portent of ra’os rabos v’tzaros, many evils and distresses, has to do with joy? On the surface, it comes across as a period which clearly does not denote simchah. Horav Yitzchak Yedidyah Frankel, zl (Rav of Tel Aviv), offers an inspiring explanation for the placement of the term v’hayah in connection with tzaros rabos. He quotes Chazal (Pesichta Eichah Rabbah) who relate a powerful dialogue that ensued between Avraham Avinu and “representatives” of the alef–beis, Hebrew alphabet. The Midrash relates Avraham Avinu’s defense of…

Continue Reading

ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת

So now, write this song for yourselves. (31:19)

The last mitzvah in the Torah is the command to write a Sefer Torah. This mitzvah is incumbent upon everyone. If one cannot personally write a Sefer Torah, he should commission its writing. The poskim teach that any sefer, especially one which is a collection of his own chiddushim, original thoughts, has greater significance. Furthermore, one who is unable to write should designate a room in his house to serve as a study which houses his seforim. Indeed, the most important room in his home should be where his seforim are kept. We are the People of the Book. We…

Continue Reading

ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת ולמדה את בני ישראל

So now, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to Bnei Yisrael. (31:19)

The shirah, song, to which the Torah is referring is Shiras Haazinu, which is called a song because it is written in the form of poetic verse. The Rambam (Hilchos Sefer Torah 7:1) implies from here that it is a mitzvah for every Jew to write a Sefer Torah for himself. Although the Torah here says only to write a song, it is incumbent on us to write the entire Torah. It seems that the Torah is being written in order to write Shiras Haazinu. Why should the mitzvah of kesivas Sefer Torah, writing a Torah scroll, be presented in…

Continue Reading

ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת

So now, write this song for yourselves. (31:19)

The Rambam in Hilchos Tefillin, Mezuzah V’Sefer Torah (7:1) writes, “It is a mitzvah from the Torah incumbent upon each and every Yid to write a Sefer Torah for himself, as it says in the pasuk, “V’atah kisvu lachem es ha’Shirah ha’zos.” (Since one cannot write parshiyos, chapters of the Torah, at various intervals and put them together, the exhortation to write Shiras Haazinu implies that it should be written as part of the entire Torah.) “Even if his forbears left him a Sefer Torah, he still has a mitzvah to write his own Sefer Torah. If he writes it…

Continue Reading

הקהל את העם האנשים והנשים והטף... למען ישמעו ולמען ילמדו... ובניהם אשר לא ידעו ישמעו ולמדו ליראה את ד'

Gather together the people, the men, the women and the small children… so that they will hear and so that they will learn… and their children who do not know – they shall hear and they shall learn to fear Hashem. (31:12,13)

Sforno comments concerning the young children’s hearing and learning, “The young children assembled at the time of Hakhel, who are too young to be capable of appreciating the words read by the king, will nonetheless sense that something of significance is transpiring. Eventually, they will inquire and learn as they mature, for their curiosity and desire to know will have been aroused.” This explanation illuminates the practical benefit of attending the Hakhel for young people. The experience will ultimately cause them to pursue the Torah’s teachings when they mature and become capable of absorbing its lessons. We have no idea…

Continue Reading

ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת

So now, write this song for yourselves. (31:19)

The Talmud Chagigah 15b quotes Rabbi Yochanan, who asks: “What is the meaning of that which is written (Malachi 2:7), ‘For the Kohen’s lips should keep knowledge and they should seek Torah from his mouth; for he is an angel of Hashem, Lord of Hosts’?” The pasuk is teaching: If a rebbe is similar to an angel, they should seek Torah from his mouth, but, if not, they should not seek Torah from his mouth.” Obviously, the comparison of an angel to a rebbe requires elucidation. Rambam offers a basic explanation, taking a frank approach. A rebbe must be a…

Continue Reading

ואמר ביום ההוא על כי אין אלקי בקרבי מצאוני הרעות האלה. ואנכי הסתר אסתר פני ביום ההוא

He will say on that day, “Is it not because my G-d is not in my midst that these evils have come upon me?” And I will surely conceal My face on that day. (31:17,18)

Hashem warns that if Klal Yisrael does not put a halt to their sinful behavior, He will have no recourse but to conceal His Countenance from them. Rashi explains hester panim, Divine concealment, as if Hashem does not see our pain. Targum Onkeles adds, “I will distance them, and remove My Shechinah from them.” Apparently, the Torah has a concept of sinful behavior which incurs punishment. If we do not sin, we will, of course, not receive any affliction or hardship which we do not deserve. It seems, however, that if one sins continuously, almost as if ignoring Hashem’s Presence,…

Continue Reading

וד' הוא ההלך לפניך הוא יהיה עמך

Hashem, it is He Who goes before you; He will be with you. (31:8)

Hashem never leaves us. He listens to our prayers. The reply that we receive may not be what we are seeking, we have no question that Hashem has listened. During our periods of travail, when we think that we are alone – we are not. He is there sharing in our pain. Sadly, some people have great difficulty coping with pain, to the point that they become overwhelmed with despair and give up hope. They forget that a loving Father in Heaven guides the world, and whatever occurs is by His Divine decree. While it is understandable to feel anxious,…

Continue Reading

ואנכי הסתר אסתיר פני ביום ההוא

But I will surely have concealed My face on that day. (31:18)

Hashem will conceal His Presence from us. Indeed, many times Jews feel that Hashem has “disappeared” from their lives. They should know that the Almighty is always present. At times, however, He conceals Himself, making it that much more difficult for us to perceive Him. This only means that we must look harder. Why does the Torah repeat itself – hasteir astir, double concealment? Concealment, by its very definition, is absolute. Something is either hidden, or it is not. If one can easily locate it, it is not really concealed. Horav Reuven Karlinstein, zl, explains that this concealment is unique…

Continue Reading

ויאמר ד' אל משה הנך שכב עם אבתיך יקם העם הזה וזנה אחרי אלהי נכר הארץ ... ועזבנו והפר את בריתי אשר כרתי אתו ... ואנכי הסתר אסתיר פני ביום ההוא ... ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת ולמדה את בני ישראל

Hashem said to Moshe, “Behold, you will lie with your forefathers, but this people will arise and stay after the gods of the nations of the land… and they will forsake Me and annul the covenant that I formed with them… I will distance them and make Myself oblivious to them. So now, write this song for yourselves and teach it to Bnei Yisrael. (31:16,18)

The above pasukim paint a stark picture of the spiritual deterioration that will occur in the period following Moshe Rabbeinu’s petirah, passing. While it did not happen immediately, the dynamics that led to the nation’s freefall from their igra ramah, spiritually-elevated perch, to a bira amikta, nadir of depravity, were apparent. During certain moments in history – even in the last two hundred years, leading up to the present – we have observed an acute distancing from positive spiritual activity. For many, assimilation has almost been a way of life. Within the observant camp, a spiritual tug of war has…

Continue Reading

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

You have Successfully Subscribed!