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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5776

אם בחקתי תלכו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Bechukosai

If you will follow My decrees. (26:3)

Rashi interprets Im bechukosai teilechu, shetiheyu ameilim baTorah, “That you engage in intensive Torah study.” Ameilus means toil, labor. Success in Torah study is not determined by acumen, but by application. Given the spiritual nature of Torah as a result of its Divine origin, it is not who one is, but how he applies himself to studying and reviewing the Torah. Indeed, the greatest gedolim, Torah leaders, achieved their plateau not simply because of their brilliance, but due to their extreme ameilus. The Raavad writes (Teshuvos 39), “I have relinquished much sleep from my eyes; much food became spoiled because…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5776

אם בחקתי תלכו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Bechukosai

If you will follow My decrees. (26:3)

So much has been written concerning the meaning of this pasuk. I would like to submit my understanding. The word teileichu is translated here as “to follow.” It also means to walk/go. Together, these meanings imply that we are to walk/go forward using Hashem’s decrees as our GPS, our moral compass, to provide our sense of direction. In other words, a Jew does not “lead,” he follows – Hashem. Having said that, we might take this idea a bit further; chukim are mitzvos whose reasons defy human rationale. There are reasons for these mitzvos, but these reasons are Divine. Hashem…

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Home -> Bamidbar -> 5776

ולא יבואו לראות כבלע את הקדש ומתו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Bamidbar

But they shall not come and look as the holy is inserted, lest they die. (4:20)

Bnei Kehas were blessed to be participants in a very auspicious service: transporting the holy vessels which include the Aron Hakodesh, Holy Ark. One who works with nitroglycerine cannot take any chance. His every movement must be precise and organized. Thus, great care was exerted to see to it that Bnei Kehas approached their service in the Mishkan in the most orderly manner. It is forbidden for anyone other than a Kohen to gaze upon the holiest vessels in their uncovered state. Thus, the Kohanim were given the sole responsibility of inserting these items into their wrapping prior to their…

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Home -> Bamidbar -> 5776

והיו לי הלוים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Bamidbar

And the Leviim shall be Mine. (3:12)

Chazal (Midrash Rabbah 1:10) refer to Shevet Levi as neemanei aretz, trusted ones of the land. Their stalwartness in not flinching when they had to take a position that was far from favorable earned them the approval and trust of Hashem. Klal Yisrael, however, did not make the correct choice             when Moshe Rabbeinu called out Mi l’Hashem elai, “Who is for Hashem – to me!” This occurred during the chet ha’eigel, sin of the Golden Calf, when the erev rav, members of the mixed multitude, rebelled against Hashem. Moshe quelled the mutiny, and it became time to take decisive…

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Home -> Bamidbar -> 5776

ואלה תולדות אהרן ומשה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Bamidbar

These are the offspring of Aharon and Moshe. (3:1)

Interestingly, the Torah begins the pasuk stating that the following are the sons of Aharon and Moshe, but mentions only the sons of Aharon HaKohen. Rashi explains that whoever teaches the son of his friend Torah, it is considered as if he gave birth to him. A rebbe is a child’s spiritual mentor — and much more. As his spiritual mentor, he has the opportunity to mold his student’s life, inspire his goals and aspirations, essentially to change him. He becomes the child’s spiritual progenitor, granting him spiritual life, which is of infinitely greater value than his physical life. Playing…

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Home -> 5776 -> Balak

מה טובו אהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5776

How goodly are your tents, O Yaakov, your dwelling places, O Yisrael. (24:5)

Chazal interpret the terms ohalecha, your tents, and mishkenosecha, your dwelling places, as allusions to the habitats, which house our spiritual heritage, namely our bais haknesses, shul, and bais hamedrash, study hall. The ohel is the ohel shel Torah, tent/study hall where Torah is studied; Mishkan is the place where the Shechinah, Divine Presence, reposes, the synagogue. Targum Yonasan ben Uziel elucidates the pasuk uniquely, “How goodly are your study halls, the place where Yaakov, your father/Patriarch, served/studied”. He makes a point of including an inference to our Patriarch for his devotion to Torah study and as the one who…

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Home -> 5776 -> Balak

ובגוים לא יתחשב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5776

And not be reckoned among the nations. (23:9)

The Viznitzer Rebbe, zl, was wont to interpret this pasuk as an imperative. The Jew does not want, nor should he care, if he is nechshav, acknowledged, considered, appreciated by the gentile world. Our goal as Jews is to be acknowledged by Hashem and by our people. What the world thinks of us is a factor only in the sense that a negative impression made by us will somehow create a chillul Hashem, desecrating Hashem’s Name. If, for some reason, the gentile people view us as “different”, who cares? Their opinion of us has no bearing whatsoever on our lives….

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Home -> 5776 -> Balak

וירא בלק בן צפור את אשר עשה ישראל לאמורי... ובלק בן צפור מלך למואב בעת ההיא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5776

Balak ben Tzipor saw all that Yisrael had done to the Emori… Balak ben Tzipor was King of Moav at the time. (22:2,4)

The sequence of the pasuk is enigmatic. Why does the Torah mention Balak’s position as King of Moav only after relating what he saw concerning the Jewish People’s destruction of the Emori? Would it not be more realistic to state, that “Balak, King of Moav, saw all that Yisrael had done to the Emori”? The Alter, zl, m’Kelm, explains that the answer to our question lies in the words, “Balak ben Tzipor was King of Moav”. Why was he appointed king? It is not as if his lineage warranted his succession to the throne. Balak was a nobody. Yet, he…

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Home -> 5776 -> Acharei Mos

דם יחשב לאיש ההוא דם שפך ונכרת האיש ההוא מקרב עמו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Acharei Mos, 5776

It shall be considered as bloodshed for that man, he has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from the midst of his people. (17:4)

After Noach saved the animals during the Flood, Hashem permitted man to partake of animals for food. If a man slaughters a consecrated animal outside of the Bais Hamikdash, the process is referred to as shchutei chutz, slaughtering “outside”. This act of slaughtering reverts to pre-Noach days and is deemed tantamount to committing bloodshed. There is no death penalty, because the individual did not take a human life; on a cosmic level, however, he did spill blood – which is an offense punishable by Heaven. Horav Ezra Barzal, zl, quotes Rashi who compares this spilling of blood to human killing….

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Home -> 5776 -> Acharei Mos

וסמך אהרן את שתי ידו על ראש השעיר החי והתודה עליו... ושלח ביד איש עתי המדברה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Acharei Mos, 5776

Aharon shall lean his two hands upon the head of the living he-goat, and confess upon it… and send it with a designated man to the desert. (16:21)

The ish iti, designated man, who accompanied the seh l’azazel, he-goat, to the desert did not go alone. In fact, Chazal teach (Yoma 66b) Mi’yakirei Yerushalayim hayu melavin oso ad succah ha’rishonah, “Some of the eminent men of Yerushalayim would accompany him to the first booth”. There were altogether ten booths from Yerushalayim to the cliff where the seh l’azazel met its death. The first booth was two thousand amos, cubits, from the city, which is the techum Shabbos, the distance one may walk on Shabbos beyond the city limits. Horav Mordechai Leib Saks, zl, makes a noteworthy observation. Let…

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