Peninim on the Torah

השמרו לכם פן יפתה לבבכם וסרתם ועבדתם אלהים אחרים והשתחותם להם

Beware for yourselves lest your heart be misled and you turn away and serve other gods and bow down to them. (11:16)

Rashi interprets v’sartem, and you turn away, as referring to one who abandons Torah study. Accordingly, one who severs his relationship with Torah will ultimately become an idol worshipper. This is a strong statement. Will abandoning the Torah lead one so far away that he would serve idols? Apparently the answer is, “Yes.” We wonder why. Horav Shimon Schwab, zl, addresses this question and explains that there are two diverse ways of understanding the term elohim acheirim, other gods. The words, elohim acheirim, in the context of this pasuk can be defined either as “other gods,” which would thus denote…

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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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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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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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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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לא תערצון ולא תיראון מהם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Devarim

“Be not terrified nor frightened of them.” (1:29)

Klal Yisrael had witnessed the destruction of the mightiest armies. Egypt was like nothing in the hands of Hashem. Likewise, Amalek went down into the dung heap of history, putty in the hands of the Almighty. Why is it that the nation that had been sustained by Hashem through the travails of wilderness journey for forty years was in deathly fear of a handful of small, scattered Canaanite kingdoms? Indeed, as noted in an earlier pasuk (27), Klal Yisrael suggested that Hashem must hate them to put them in such a terrifying situation. The Bostoner Rebbe, zl, notes that fear…

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ותקרבון אלי כלכם ותאמרו נשלחה אנשים לפנינו ויחפרו לנו את הארץ

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Devarim

You approached me, all of you, and said, “Let us send men ahead of us and let them spy out the land.” (1:22)

Rashi describes the contrasting scenario in which the people came to Moshe Rabbeinu and “suggested” that spies be sent to reconnoiter Eretz Yisrael. “And you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders…” This was a reference to the decorum manifest by the people when they accepted the Torah. That approach was proper. The young honored the elders and sent them ahead of them. And the elders honored the heads of the tribes by allowing them to precede them. In this case, however, “You approached me, all of you as a rabble, with the young pushing the…

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הבו לכם אנשים חכמים ונבנים וידועים לשבטיכם ואשימם בראשיכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Devarim

“Designate for yourselves men who are wise, understanding and well-known to your tribes, and I shall appoint them as your leaders.” (1:13)

Rashi explains that the tribes among whom the leaders grew up and lived would know them better than Moshe Rabbeinu did. Moshe said, “If each of them were to come before me wrapped in his Tallis, I would not know who he is, from which tribe he has descended, and if he is worthy.” In other words, apparently Moshe had difficulty discerning the pedigree and true nature of each judicial candidate. This seems inconsistent with the pasuk in Sefer Shemos 18:21, in which Moshe is told to “seek out men of ability, G-d-fearing men of truth who hate improper gain.”…

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איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Devarim

“How can I carry by myself your contentiousness, your burdens and your quarrels?” (1:12)

The nation of Moshe Rabbeinu was not an easy people to lead. Apparently, they needed to be trained in the ways and means of peoplehood – with the first requisite lesson being respect for leadership. Rashi identifies Moshe’s three complaints. The first was contentiousness. The people were difficult to deal with, especially during litigation. If a litigant saw his rival prevailing, he insisted on a trial delay, with the claim that he has other witnesses to testify in his behalf ,or additional proof to support his position. Alternatively, he might have demanded his right to call for more judges on…

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ודי זהב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Devarim

And Di Zahav. (1:1)

Sefer Devarim is the last will and testament of Moshe Rabbeinu to his beloved nation. Concerned lest they succumb to the blandishments of the pagan nations which inhabited Canaan, Moshe spoke words of rebuke to them, pointing out areas of deficiency in their natural/national character which must be rectified. Rather than mention these sins explicitly – due to his concern about a negative reaction – he alluded to them by employing names of places which did not actually exist. These names allude to a variety of indiscretions, and areas in which they mutinied against Hashem. Di Zahav refers to the…

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השמרו לכם פן יפתה לבבכם וסרתם ועבדתם אלהים אחרים והשתחותם להם

Beware for yourselves lest your heart be misled and you turn away and serve other gods and bow down to them. (11:16)

ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ד' אלקיך

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

וברכת את ד' אלקיך

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

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)

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)

לא תערצון ולא תיראון מהם

“Be not terrified nor frightened of them.” (1:29)

ותקרבון אלי כלכם ותאמרו נשלחה אנשים לפנינו ויחפרו לנו את הארץ

You approached me, all of you, and said, “Let us send men ahead of us and let them spy out the land.” (1:22)

הבו לכם אנשים חכמים ונבנים וידועים לשבטיכם ואשימם בראשיכם

“Designate for yourselves men who are wise, understanding and well-known to your tribes, and I shall appoint them as your leaders.” (1:13)

איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם

“How can I carry by myself your contentiousness, your burdens and your quarrels?” (1:12)

ודי זהב

And Di Zahav. (1:1)

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