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Home -> 5775 -> Va'eschanan

אנכי ד' אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים מבית עבדים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Va'eschanan, 5775

I am Hashem, your G-d, Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt from the house of slavery. (5:6)

A well-known question was posed by Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi (Kuzari 1:25): Since the first mitzvah of the Aseres HaDibros, Ten Commandments, is the enjoinment to believe in Hashem, why not mention that Hashem created Heaven and earth? Why does our liberation from Egypt play such a critical role in our hashkafah, philosophy/outlook. He explains that, while the creation of the world is the penultimate experience, no one was around to see it.  Yetzias Mitzrayim, the Exodus, was witnessed by millions. There is no question that something witnessed is something remembered. Yetzias Mitzrayim left a lasting influence on the psyche of…

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Home -> 5775 -> Va'eschanan

לא תספו על הדבר אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם ולא תגרעו ממנו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Va'eschanan, 5775

You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor shall you subtract from it. (4:2)

The Torah is Divinely authored and, as such, it is perfect. To add or subtract from the written word of G-d is to imply that it lacks perfection and is somehow not applicable in all venues or under all circumstances. When Hashem commands that Tefillin have four parshios, He does not mean that four is a minimum, allowing for us to add a fifth parsha at will. Every number that Hashem gives us is the requisite for this mitzvah. To add or subtract is to distort and demean the pristine nature of the Torah. To do so is to deny…

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Home -> 5775 -> Vaeira

הירא את דבר ד' מעבדי פרעה הניס את עבדיו ואת מקנהו אל הבתים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vaeira, 5775

Whoever among the servants of Pharaoh feared the word of Hashem chased his servants and his livestock to the houses. (9:20)

What is the meaning of avdei Pharaoh, the servants of Pharaoh? What about the citizens of Egypt? What did they do? The Meshech Chochmah explains that, when word went out from Moshe Rabbeinu that all Egyptians should take their animals inside, the immediate reaction was to comply. After all, Moshe seemed to have a powerful track record. It would be suicide to defy his warning. Pharaoh, however, would not allow his people to cave in to Moshe. He dispatched his servants throughout the land with an order to actively disregard Moshe’s warning. The Egyptian citizen was now in a quandary:…

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Home -> 5775 -> Vaeira

ונתתי את ידי במצרים והוצאתי את צבאתי את עמי בני ישראל מארץ מצרים בשפטים גדלים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vaeira, 5775

And I shall put My hand upon Egypt; and I shall take out My legions – My People Bnei Yisrael – from the Land of Egypt. (7:4)

Hashem promised to take the Jewish People out of Egypt, dealing with the Egyptians and punishing them for mistreating the Jews. There is no question that the Egyptians deserved a very strong punishment – one which they would remember for all time. They persecuted and murdered an innocent people who had done nothing to them. Now, they would pay not only with their material bounty, but with their own blood. They would suffer as we suffered. While this is all understandable and unquestionably deserved by the Egyptians, did it have to occur before the Jews could be redeemed from Egypt?…

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Home -> 5775 -> Vaeira

ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם והייתי לכם לאלקים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vaeira, 5775

I shall take you to Me for a people, and I will be a G-d to you. (6:7)

The election of Klal Yisrael as the nation upon whom Hashem confers His Name is a concept about which every ben Torah, every observant Jew and Jewess, is acutely aware. Sadly, the term “observant” in this case is more than a mere adjective. It defines those who believe in Klal Yisrael as the am ha’nivchar, “chosen people.” We choose to be chosen, and only we are willing to aspire to be worthy of the mission of “choseness.” Of the millions who carry the name Jewish to define race, only those who are knowledgeable and committed to this mission understand its…

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Home -> 5775 -> Vaeira

והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלת מצרים והצלתי אתכם מעבדתם וגאלתי אתכם בזרוע נטויה ובשפטים גדלים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vaeira, 5775

And I shall take you out from under the burdens of Egypt; I shall rescue you from their service; I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. (6:6)

The above pasuk contains therein the four different expressions of redemption, which represent four progressive stages of the redemption with which Hashem liberated Klal Yisrael from Egypt. These three are followed by V’lakachti eschem Li l’am, “I shall take you to Me for a people,” referring to the Giving of the Torah, our acceptance of which made us Hashem’s nation. The Chidushei HaRim wonders about the sequence of the expressions, of placing V’hotzeisi, “And I shall take you out” before V’hitzalti, “And I shall rescue you from their service.” One would assume that, in the sequence of redemption, cessation of…

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Home -> 5775 -> Tzav

ופתח אהל מועד תשבו יומם ולילה שבעת ימים ושמרתם את משמרת ד' ולא תמותו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tzav, 5775

At the entrance of the Ohel Moed shall you dwell day and night for a seven day period, and you shall protect Hashem’s charge so that you will not die. (8:35)

The Chasam Sofer, as cited by U’masuk Ha’or, interprets this pasuk homiletically to teach us a lesson concerning man’s true focus in life. If a person lives his life in such a manner that he “dwells” in front of the Ohel Moed it means that he never forgets the most important principle of existence in this world: life does not go on forever. One day, each and every one of us will return “home,” from whence we came. If this awareness accompanies our every life’s endeavor, then we will merit to “protect Hashem’s charge, so that you (we) will not…

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Home -> 5775 -> Tzav

וישם על המצנפת אל מול פניו את ציץ הזהב נזר הקדוש

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tzav, 5775

He put the Turban on his head; and, upon the Turban, toward his face, he placed the golden Head-plate, the sacred diadem/crown. (8:9)

Interestingly, the Tzitz HaKodesh, Holy Head-plate worn by the Kohen Gadol, is referred to as a nezer, crown/diadem, while the crown worn by a king is called an atarah. Why is the Kohen Gadol’s crown called a nezer, and the crown of the Melech Yisrael, King of Yisrael, called an atarah? Horav Moshe Nechemiah Kahanov, zl, distinguishes between these two terms in the sense that their functions are not similar. The nezer, which is wrapped around the forehead does not, in fact, cover the entire head. In the case of the Kohen Gadol, it was a gold plate with Hashem’s…

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Home -> 5775 -> Tzav

ואת כל העדה הקהל אל פתח אהל מועד

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tzav, 5775

Gather the entire assembly to the entrance of the Ohel Moed. (8:3)

Rabbeinu Bachya writes that the ability of the entire eidah, Jewish congregation, to assemble in front of the Ohel Moed was miraculous. Hichzik ha’muat es ha’merubah, this was a case of the few supporting the many. Indeed, the Midrash quotes a dialogue between Moshe Rabbeinu and Hashem concerning this anomaly. Moshe asked, “Ribono shel olam, how can I place 600,000 men and 600,000 youths in front of the Ohel Moed?” Hashem replied, “Concerning this you are wondering? The Heavens were (originally) the size of the pupil of an eye; yet I ‘stretched’ it out to cover the entire world.” In…

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Home -> 5775 -> Tzav

אם על תודה יקריבנו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tzav, 5775

If he shall offer it for a Thanksgiving offering. (7:12)

Rashi explains that the Korban Todah, Thanksgiving offering, was offered as gratitude for miracles incurred in four different circumstances: when one who has crossed the sea; when one traveled through the wilderness; when one was liberated from prison; or when one was healed from serious illness. In each of these circumstances, the Torah enjoins the individual to demonstrate his gratitude to the Almighty. Interestingly, the Korban Todah was accompanied by forty loaves which, together with the sacrifice, had to be consumed during the requisite period of one day and a night – less time than was allotted for a regular…

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