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Home -> 5777 -> Korach

רב לכם בני לו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Korach, 5777

There is much to you, Bnei Levi. (16:7)

Rashi asks: Korach was a pikeach, clever person. What is it that he saw which led him to this shtus, folly? (What did he think? He obviously knew that what he was undertaking was mutinous. Did he think that he would emerge unscathed?) Eino hitato – His eye led him to error. He saw a great chain of descendants emerging from him (referring to Shmuel HaNavi, the twenty-four mishmaros, watches, which officiated in the Bais Hamikdash. Among them were included Neviim, prophets, who possessed Ruach HaKodesh, Divine inspiration). Korach ruminated to himself, “Is it possible that all of this greatness…

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Home -> 5777 -> Korach

ויקח קרח בן יצהר בן קהת בן לוי

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Korach, 5777

Korach ben Yitzhar, ben Kehas, ben Levi, took (separated himself). (16:1)

Noticeably, Yaakov Avinu’s name is omitted from Korach’s lineage. Rashi comments that it was the Patriarch himself who prayed that his name be deleted from anything connected to Korach. Simply, Yaakov wanted no association whatsoever, even by name, with Korach. This, of course, does not deny the fact that everyone knows that Yaakov was Levi’s father, and, in turn, the Patriarch of Korach’s lineage, but the deletion of Yaakov’s name declares that no part of Korach’s nefarious behavior had its source in Yaakov. Yaakov is the epitome of emes, truth. Machlokes, controversy, by its very nature, is founded in sheker,…

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Home -> 5777 -> Korach

ויקח קרח

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Korach, 5777

Korach took (separated himself). (16:1)

Korach was the first prominent demagogue to create a rift in Klal Yisrael when he impugned Moshe Rabbeinu’s leadership, and, by extension, created a mutiny against Hashem. Targum Onkeles defines machlokes, controversy, as: pilug; a split; a breach; a rift. Klal Yisrael is supposed to live in harmony. We must strive to emulate Hashem, Who is Echad, One. Thus, when we live together as one, we give satisfaction to Hashem. Chazal distinguish between a machlokes, which is l’shem Shomayim, for the sake of Heaven, and one which is not. A machlokes l’shem Shomayim is a dispute in which each party…

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Home -> 5777 -> Korach

ויקח קרח

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Korach, 5777

Korach took, (separated himself). (16:1)

Korach had it all, but, it was not enough for him. He wanted more, or he simply did not want Moshe Rabbeinu to have it. Korach was a clever dissident who was able to attract a powerful following of supporters. First, he told the people that he was acting on their behalf. Since he already had it all, he had no need for personal leadership. He was taking a stand for “others.” He felt that the people were being exploited, and he was coming to their rescue. Kol ha’eidah kulam kedoshim, “The entire congregation is holy”; “Hashem is in their…

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5777

לך רד כי שחת עמך אשר העלית מארץ מצרים...עשו להם עגל מסכה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Ki Sisa

Go! Go down! For your people that you brought up from the land of Egypt has become corrupt …They hand made themselves a molten calf. (32:7,8)

The idyllic relationship that had emerged between Hashem and Bnei Yisrael when we overwhelmingly accepted the Torah at Har Sinai changed with the sin of the Golden Calf. After the chet ha’eigel – nothing has been the same. Had Moshe Rabbeinu not intervened, it would have been – deservedly – all over. Indeed, the sin continues to dog us to this very day since, in variations, we have yet to comprehend the repeat performances we have in some way presented. U’b’yom pakdi u’pokadeti aleihem chatasam, “And on the day that I make My account, I shall bring their sin to…

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5777

וירא העם כי בשש משה לרדת מן ההר ויקהל העם על אהרן ויאמרו אליו קום עשה לנו אלהים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Ki Sisa

The people saw that Moshe had delayed in descending the mountain, and the people gathered around Aharon and said to him, “Rise up, make for us gods!” (32:1)

One error, one simple mistake was all that was needed to precipitate Klal Yisrael’s tragic rebellion, their egregious demonstration of infidelity– the construction of the Golden Calf. How did a people who had recently received the Torah under circumstances that were unreal become so faithless, almost overnight? It was all due to a mistake, an error in judgment. They thought that Moshe was to have been back, but they erred. Once they exhibited fear, Satan was certain that he had ensnared them. They were putty in his hands. He seized the opportunity and created an illusion of a deceased Moshe…

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5777

לדעת כי אני ד' מקדשכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Ki Sisa

To know that I am Hashem, Who makes you holy. (31:13)

Chazal (Shabbos 11:B) teach, “Hashem said to Moshe, ‘I have a good (very special) gift in My treasury (where I keep My precious treasures). It is called Shabbos. I wish to give it to Klal Yisrael. Go and inform them.’” Shabbos is a precious treasure that Hashem saved especially for His children. We must learn to appreciate the unique nature of this gift, and, above all, how much it means to Hashem. The Tzaddik, Horav Avraham, zl, m’Porisav related in the name of the Chidushei HaRim, the meaning of, Leich v’hodiam, “Go and inform them” (which Hashem said to Moshe)….

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5777

אך את שבתותי תשמרו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Ki Sisa

However, you must observe My Shabbasos. (31:13)

Tishmoru is written in the plural, implying that the exhortation to observe Shabbos is being spoken to a group. The Chafetz Chaim, zl, commented, “It is not enough that you and your household observe Shabbos. You must see to it that other Jews also observe Shabbos.” Thus, it is not a singular command. Rarely do we find the Torah instructing us not only to personally observe, but also, to see to it that our observance influences others. I write this specifically because our observance, our valuing Shabbos, our sensitivity to this mitzvah is the only way the alienated Jew will…

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5777

זה יתנו כל העבר על הפקודים מחצית השקל בשקל הקדש

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Ki Sisa

This shall they give – everyone who passes through the census – a half-shekel of the sacred shekel. (30:13)

Why was Klal Yisrael commanded to contribute a half-shekel coin? Would it have been so difficult to give a whole shekel? This question has been treated extensively by the various commentators. The gist of their commentary focuses on the need for each individual Jew to view himself as a mere half. No Jew is whole, alone and in and of himself. Horav Yoshiyahu Pinto, Shlita, offers a powerful insight into the half-shekel requirement. He explains that a Jew should view every occurrence, every circumstance, every issue that he faces, as being only half of the story. Another side to the…

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Home -> 5777 -> Ki Seitzei

לא יבוא עמוני ומואבי בקהל ד' ... על דבר אשר לא קדמו אתכם בלחם ובמים...ואשר שכר עליך את בלעם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Seitzei, 5777

An Amomite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of Hashem… because of the fact that they did not greet you with bread and water… and because he hired against you Bilaam. (23:4,5)

Two reasons are given as to why we may not accept converts from the nations of Ammon and Moav: A) They did not come forward to greet us with bread and water as we journeyed through the wilderness following 210 years of slavery; B) They hired Bilaam, the evil pagan prophet, to curse us.  These are two good reasons, which are clearly quite different from one another. The first reason criticizes their lack of etiquette, of human decency. The second reason excoriates them for attempting to destroy one another. They are so distant from one another that they hardly belong…

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