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Home -> 5771 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5771

“Whoever touches the mountain shall surely die.” (19:12)

The mountain represents a sphere of holiness that is beyond the reach of the average person. To penetrate the boundaries around it is intensely dangerous to the welfare of the individual. The Chafetz Chaim, zl, derives an important lesson concerning the reverence we must accord to a talmid chacham, Torah scholar. A mountain has no intelligence and no feelings. Yet, simply because it was the place from which the Torah was given, it attained such an element of kedushah, holiness, that the people were admonished not to touch it. How much more so should we revere the Torah scholar who…

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Home -> 5771 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5771

Hashem descended upon Har Sinai…; Hashem summoned Moshe to the top of the mountain, and Moshe ascended. (19:20)

Elevating Klal Yisrael to the level of Kabbolas HaTorah, receiving the Torah, was not an overnight task. The Jewish People had been enslaved in Egypt for two-hundred and ten years, suffering persecution and degradation, misery and emotional pain, until they cried out to Hashem. This catalyzed their return to Him, effecting their spiritual development, and preparing them for the seminal movement in Jewish history: the Giving of the Torah. Egypt was the crucible that tempered their spirit. The era of Egyptian bondage served as their incubation period, during which they evolved from the Hebrew people to Bnei Yisrael, endowed with the…

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Home -> 5771 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5771

I am Hashem, your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt. (20:2)

Yashem identified Himself to Klal Yisrael as the One Who performed the miracles of the Exodus. It would have been logical for Hashem to have identified Himself as the Creator of the Universe, which is clearly a more encompassing title than the Liberator Who freed them from bondage. While it is true that his liberation involved many miracles which attested to Hashem’s awesome powers, they still pale in comparison with the creation of the Universe. In the Kuzari, Rabbi Yehudah Halevi, zl, explains that Hashem spoke of the Exodus because it was a phenomenon that was seen, as the entire…

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Home -> 5771 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5771

You shall not take the Name of Hashem, your G-d, in vain. (20:7)

The Talmud Shavuos 39a relates that when Hashem said the words of Lo sisa…,“You shall not take the Name of Hashem, your G-d, in vain,” the entire world shook. We wonder why this particular commandment had such a frightening effect on people, more so than Lo signov, “Do not steal,” Lo sirtzach, “Do not murder,” or any of the other commandments for that matter. The Kotzker Rebbe, zl, explains that, regrettably, some people convince themselves and others that under certain circumstances, for the “greater good,” one can find a dispensation to steal – even to murder! It is all done in…

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Home -> 5771 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5771

You shall not ascend with steps upon My Altar. (20:23)

This simply means that when we build the ramp leading up to the Altar, it must be made smooth and inclined – not with ascending levels (Rashi). Otherwise, the Kohen would be compelled to take wide steps, which might lead to his humiliation. The word maalos has another meaning: qualities, attributes, aspects concerning an individual which, so to speak, elevate him, make him stand out. The Chafetz Chaim, zl, applied this other definition to a homiletic rendering of the pasuk. When the Kenessiah Gedolah took place in Vienna in 1923, the Chafetz Chaim made a great effort to attend. Frail, and…

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Home -> 5770 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5770

“Yisro heard… everything that G-d did to Moshe and to Yisrael, His people.” (18:1)

Yisro heard about two events: the miracles at the Red Sea, when the Egyptians were punished for their treachery; and the war against Amalek, when Klal Yisrael triumphed over their archenemy. Yisro was not the only one who “heard.” Many heard; he, however, internalized it and acted positively in response. Why did Yisro need two incidents to impress upon him the greatness of Hashem and His People? Was not the splitting of the Red Sea a sufficient miracle to influence his way of thinking? Indeed, the war with Amalek could have been misconstrued as a victory effected by Klal Yisrael’s…

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Home -> 5770 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5770

“The name of one was Gershom, for he had said, ‘I was a sojourner in a strange land.’” (18:3)

Horav Shlomo Margolis, Shlita, notes that Yosef Ha’tzadik named his first son Menasheh because “G-d has made me forget  all  my  hardship  and  all  my  father’s     household” (Bereishis 41:51). Upon naming their sons, Moshe Rabbeinu and Yosef recognized the significance of remembering the past. There are people who attempt to erase the past, to eradicate the memories of the previous generation, its culture and way of life. Some are even ashamed of the past, considering it to be obsolete and antiquated. Not so the Torah- oriented Jew. He remembers the past; he venerates the past; he lives the present and…

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Home -> 5770 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5770

“Beware of ascending the mountain or touching its edge; whoever touches the mountain shall surely die.” (19:12)

Rabbi Paysach Krohn cites the Kotzker Rebbe’s homiletic interpretation of this pasuk. This was to be the basis of a speech  that  Rabbi  Moshe  Sherer,z.l., was to deliver at Agudath Israel’s 76th Annual Dinner. Regrettably, Rabbi Sherer, who served as Agudah’s president for over thirty years, passed away that morning. The following is the Rebbe’s exegesis and Rabbi Sherer’s supplemental note. There are instances when one undertakes a project with the desire to make a significant contribution via his work. All too often, as happens with many of us, we do not achieve our planned goals. Yet, this does not faze…

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Home -> 5770 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5770

“Honor your father and your mother.” (20:12)

To what extent must one honor his parents? Horav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Shlita, focuses on the degree of kavod, honor, one must accord to a parent who, due to illness or advanced age, has a deteriorated mental capacity. The question becomes stronger in situations when the illness has advanced to the point that there are serious issues of extreme hardship for the children, both as sons or daughters to their parents and as husbands or wives to their respective mates. How much does one have to sacrifice for a parent? How much hardship, and – at times – abuse must one…

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Home -> 5769 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5769

“Yisro heard… everything that G-d did to Moshe and to Yisrael, His people.” (18:1)

Yisro heard about two events: the miracles at the Red Sea, when the Egyptians were punished for their treachery; and the war against Amalek, when Klal Yisrael triumphed over their archenemy. Yisro was not the only one who “heard.” Many heard; he, however, internalized it and acted positively in response. Why did Yisro need two incidents to impress upon him the greatness of Hashem and His People? Was not the splitting of the Red Sea a sufficient miracle to influence his way of thinking? Indeed, the war with Amalek could have been misconstrued as a victory effected by Klal Yisrael’s…

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