Peninim on the Torah – Page 24 – Hebrew Academy of Cleveland

ששת ימים תעבד ועשית כל מלאכתיך ויום השביעי שבת לד' אלקיך

Six days shall you labor and accomplish all your work. But the seventh day is Shabbos to Hashem, your G-d. (5:13,14)

The group of friends with whom one surrounds himself speaks volumes about his true character. Such friends often share similar values, interests and beliefs. By observing the dynamics in these relationships, we are able to gain insight into a person’s priorities and attitudes. Furthermore, friends significantly influence a person’s priorities and actions. This impact can be either positive or negative. The litmus test of a person’s true identity may be determined by his circle of friends. With this idea in mind, the Bais Av (Horav Elyakim Schlesinger) explains the verse we recite in the Friday night zemiros, K’challah bein reiosehah…

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כבד את אביך ואת אמך

Sruly Schnair In Va'eschanan, 5784

Honor your father and your mother. (5:16)

The Kuzmirer Rebbe, Shlita, relates that his father (Horav Ephraim, zl), who was the son of the saintly Horav Yechezkel, zl, m’Kuzmir, decided to travel alone, in complete anonymity. He refused to reveal his illustrious pedigree as the Kuzmirer’s son. He entered the shul in a small town and promptly sat down in the rear of the shul together with a few simple men whose relationship with anything spiritual was foreign. (While they might have been spiritually challenged, they all at least made it their business to attend shul.) The Rebbe felt spiritually uplifted sitting where he was, not garnering…

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וקשרתם לאות על ידך והיו לטוטפת בין עיניך

Sruly Schnair In Va'eschanan, 5784

Bind them as a sign on your arm, and let them ornaments between your eyes. (6:8)

The mitzvah of Tefillin carries profound symbolism for the continuity and eternity of Am Yisrael. Tefillin serve as a physical embodiment of the Bris, Covenant, between Hashem and His People. It is a mitzvah in which we physically bind the words of the Shema, the central declaration of our faith in Hashem, to our bodies. These two leather boxes, which contain within them pesukim of the Torah, are a daily reminder of Jewish identity and heritage hailing back to the exodus from Egypt. Thus, when a person fulfills the mitzvah of Tefillin daily, he not only serves Hashem, but he…

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בך בחר ד' אלקיך להיות לו לעם סגלה מכל העמים

Sruly Schnair In Va'eschanan, 5784

Hashem, your G-d, has chosen you to be for Him a treasured people above all the peoples. (7:6)

We are called the chosen people – an appellation that has, throughout the centuries, caused much Jewish blood to be spilled. Atah B’chartanu mikol ha’amim, “You chose us from among all the nations,” is how we commence our Yom Tov Shemoneh Esrai. We utter these words with utmost pride. Do we really understand their meaning and significance? Horav Shimshon Pincus, zl, approaches this concept practically. Imagine, if six thousand years ago, Hashem would have asked mankind if it was worth creating the world. (This is hypothetical, since if there is no world, there would be no mankind.) Perhaps the responses…

Home -> Devarim -> 5784

איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם

Sruly Schnair In 5784, Devarim

Eichah, how can I alone bear your contentiousness, your burdens, and your quarrels. (1:12)

Chazal (Eichah Rabbah 1:1) observe that three leaders prophesized using the word eichah, how: Moshe Rabbeinu, Yeshayahu, and Yirmiyahu. Moshe said, Eichah essa levadi? “How can I alone bear?” Yeshayahu said, Eichah haysah l’zonah kiryah ne’emanah? “How has the faithful city become a harlot?” (Yeshayahu 1:21). Yirmiyahu said, Eichah yashvah vadad? “How she sits alone” (Eichah 1:1). This, say Chazal, may be compared to a woman who had three guests: one she saw when she was successful; the other when she was failing; and, the third, following her downfall. According to the Midrash, the three eichah’s represent a timeline of…

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ואקח את ראשי שבטיכם

Sruly Schnair In 5784, Devarim

So I took the heads of your tribes. (1:15)

Rashi explains how Moshe Rabbeinu “took” the heads of the tribes: “I persuaded them verbally; I said, ‘Fortunate are you! Over whom do you come to be appointed?’ Over the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. Over people who are called ‘brothers’ and ‘friends’ of Hashem, a ‘portion’ and an ‘inheritance’ of Hashem and all other expressions of endearment.” Moshe convinced the heads of the tribes that they were about to become leaders of a select group of people – ones whom Hashem esteemed. Likewise, Moshe implied to the people that they were special. A remarkable lesson in chinuch, education,…

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ובמדבר אשר ראית אשר נשאך ד' אלקיך כאשר ישא איש את בנו בכל הדרך אשר הלכתם... ההלך לפניכם בדרך

Sruly Schnair In 5784, Devarim

And in the Wilderness, as you have seen, that, Hashem, your G-d, bore you, as a man carries his son, on the entire way that you traveled… Who goes before you on the way. (1:31,33)

Moshe Rabbeinu points out to Klal Yisrael that, throughout the nation’s hazardous journey through the Wilderness, they were all under Hashem’s protection. He led them at every step of the way. Hashem is compared to a loving father carrying his child in his embrace – a simile which conveys a sense of care, protection and guidance – which, in effect, is the way we should relate to Hashem at all times. This concept speaks to the comforting belief that we are never alone. Not only is someone always looking out for us, but that someone is Hashem, and He has…

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וידבר משה... זה הדבר אשר צוה ד'

Sruly Schnair In 5784, Matos

Moshe spoke… “This is the matter that Hashem has commanded.” (30:2)

Rashi distinguishes between the level of nevuah, prophesy, which Moshe Rabbeinu achieved and the level of the other Neviim. Moshe prophesized with the wording, Zeh ha’davar, “This is the matter,” while the other Neviiam prophesized with the words, Koh amar Hashem, “So said Hashem.” The Malbim explains that “so said Hashem” implies that the Navi is relating what Hashem had earlier communicated to him. Zeh ha’davar implies that Hashem is presently in the process of communicating with those addressed by speaking, as it were, through the medium of the prophet. If so, why when addressing the roshei ha’matos, heads of…

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ואת בלעם בן בעור הרגו בחרב

Sruly Schnair In 5784, Matos

And Bilaam ben Be’or they killed with the sword. (31:8)

Rashi comments that Bilaam came against Klal Yisrael and exchanged his craft with their craft, for we triumph only with our mouths through prayer and supplication. He came and seized their craft by cursing them with his mouth. They, too, came against him and exchanged their craft for the craft of the other nations, who come/fight with the sword. The power of prayer is awesome – especially when it emanates with sincerity and feeling from a pure mouth. Sometimes it is critical that one know how to pray (how to present his case). A special segulah, aid, to achieving a…

Home -> Masei -> 5784

אלה מסעי בני ישראל אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים

Sruly Schnair In 5784, Masei

These are the journeys of Bnei Yisrael, who went forth from the land of Egypt. (33:1)

The Torah makes a point of detailing each and every one of the nation’s encampments in the Wilderness. Clearly, we must derive a lesson from this pasuk. Horav Yeruchem Levovitz, zl, explains (based on the commentaries of the Rishonim) that the idea of yetzias Mitzrayim, the Egyptian exodus, is based on the principle that it and all its accompanying miracles and wonders were revealed for anyone to see. No room existed for even the biggest fool or greatest agnostic to deny what took place. If one possessed a modicum of intelligence, he saw what was clearly Divine intervention in its…

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ששת ימים תעבד ועשית כל מלאכתיך ויום השביעי שבת לד' אלקיך

Six days shall you labor and accomplish all your work. But the seventh day is Shabbos to Hashem, your G-d. (5:13,14)

כבד את אביך ואת אמך

Honor your father and your mother. (5:16)

וקשרתם לאות על ידך והיו לטוטפת בין עיניך

Bind them as a sign on your arm, and let them ornaments between your eyes. (6:8)

בך בחר ד' אלקיך להיות לו לעם סגלה מכל העמים

Hashem, your G-d, has chosen you to be for Him a treasured people above all the peoples. (7:6)

איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם

Eichah, how can I alone bear your contentiousness, your burdens, and your quarrels. (1:12)

ואקח את ראשי שבטיכם

So I took the heads of your tribes. (1:15)

ובמדבר אשר ראית אשר נשאך ד' אלקיך כאשר ישא איש את בנו בכל הדרך אשר הלכתם... ההלך לפניכם בדרך

And in the Wilderness, as you have seen, that, Hashem, your G-d, bore you, as a man carries his son, on the entire way that you traveled… Who goes before you on the way. (1:31,33)

וידבר משה... זה הדבר אשר צוה ד'

Moshe spoke… “This is the matter that Hashem has commanded.” (30:2)

ואת בלעם בן בעור הרגו בחרב

And Bilaam ben Be’or they killed with the sword. (31:8)

אלה מסעי בני ישראל אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים

These are the journeys of Bnei Yisrael, who went forth from the land of Egypt. (33:1)

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