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אם על תודה יקריבנו

Sruly Schnair
In Tzav, 5786

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

A KorbanTorah, thanksgiving offering, is brought by the beneficiary/survivor of a life-threatening crisis.  Chazal (Berachos 54b) break this obligation down into four categories: yordei ha’yam, those who have crossed the sea; holchei midbaros, those who have traveled the wilderness; choleh she’ nisrapeh, those who have been healed from serious illness; and chavush she’yotzei mi’bais ha’assurim, those who have been released from captivity.  Obviously, the obligation for gratitude exceeds these four cases, but they serve as primary examples. On a practical level, the Torah instructs the individual who brings the korban to prepare a large, festive meal, and invite all of…

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Home -> 5786 -> Tzav

אם על תודה יקריבנו

Sruly Schnair
In Tzav, 5786

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

Chazal teach that one who has been saved from danger is obligated to bring a korban todah.  Unlike most korbanos, the todah was accompanied by forty loaves of bread which had to be eaten within a single day and night.  The abundance of food and the compressed time frame virtually required that others be invited to share in the meal.  The Torah, in effect, mandated publicity. Some people enjoy the attention they receive when everyone is patting them on the back and wishing them well.  Others are private people who shun the public limelight and view attention-grabbing as showboating, grandstanding….

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Home -> Vayikra -> 5786

ויקרא אל משה

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Vayikra

Hashem called to Moshe. (1:1)

Chazal (Midrash Rabbah) note that Moshe Rabbeinu actually had ten names, but he is called Moshe, which was the name which Pharaoh’s daughter gave to him.  Va’tikra shemo Moshe, va’tomer ki min ha’mayim meshisuhu; “She called his name Moshe, as she said, ‘For I drew him from the water’” (Shemos 2:10).  It is a great name which recalls the most memorable event in the life of Bisyah, Pharaoh’s daughter.  Linguistically, however, the name appears enigmatic.  If Moshe was drawn from the water, he should have been called Mashui, not Moshe.  The name Moshe implies the future tense, one who will…

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Home -> Vayikra -> 5786

ויקרא אל משה

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Vayikra

Hashem called to Moshe. (1:1)

The Midrash underscores the fact that Moshe Rabbeinu had ten names.  Hashem called to Moshe, summoning him by the name which Bisyah bas Pharaoh had given to him.  This is not the first time that the Torah mentions his name.  Why does the Midrash choose Vayikra el Moshe as the place for commenting about Moshe’s name?  Perhaps it is the textual relationship – Vayikra, He called, with the naming of Moshe by Bisyah, Vatikra shemo Moshe (Shemos 2:10).  The kriah, calling out by Hashem, could be viewed as official confirmation of Bisyah’s kriah in naming him. In any event, the…

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Home -> Vayikra -> 5786

אשר נשיא יחטא

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Vayikra

When a ruler sins. (4:22)

Asher is translated as “when,” alluding to the fact that it happens that even the high and mighty leader sins.  Chazal further translate it as being connected to ashrei, fortunate. This motivates Chazal to assert that a generation whose leader seeks atonement for his unintentional sins is fortunate, because this means that he will surely repent his intentional sins.  Chazal underscore the good fortune of a nation whose leader concedes and seeks atonement for his fallibility.  On the one hand, this is an enviable character trait – one to which more leaders should ascribe – but, at the end of…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5786

ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קדש שבת שבתון לד'

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Vayakhel

On six days, work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem. (35:2)

Noticeably, Hashem first issued the command to build the Mishkan in Parshios Terumah and Tetzaveh. In Parashas Ki Sissa, He reiterated the laws of Shabbos.  Moshe Rabbeinu, on the other hand, begins Parshas Vayakhel with the laws of Shabbos. Afterwards, he gives a recounting of the construction of the Mishkan.  Why did Moshe alter from Hashem’s derech, way?  Gur Aryeh explains that Moshe did not relate all the laws of the Mishkan at one time, but rather, over a few days.  He feared that, if he did not complete delivering the laws before Shabbos, they – not knowing that the…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5786

ויבאו האנשים על הנשים כל נדיב לב

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Vayakhel

The men came with the women, everyone whose heart motivated him. (35:22)

The outpouring of financial support for the Mishkan was overwhelming.  They could not stop the people from donating.  This is an anomaly in the world of fundraising.  Anyone who has ever attempted to raise funds for a worthy cause will agree that it is often like pulling teeth.  Some give more readily than others, but, for most people, separating themselves from the contents of their wallets requires real effort.  Yet this reality did not play itself out during the appeal for the Mishkan.  Then, everyone came forward immediately.  Not only did they give willingly, they gave to the point that…

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Home -> Pekudei -> 5786

These are the reckonings of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of Testimony. (38:21)

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Pekudei

אלה פקודי המשכן, משכן העדת

Rashi notes the redundancy of the word Mishkan.  He explains that the two words allude to the Mishkanos, which were taken from us.  In a play on words, the letters of mishkan can also be read as mashkon, collateral.  Chazal intimate that the two Batei Mikdash are collateral for the sins committed by the nation, and Hashem took them from us until that time that we repent and deserve its return.  The obvious question is: It was the Bais HaMikdash that was destroyed, not the Mishkan.  It is related that Horav A. Mishkovsky, zl, explained that, in the Bais HaMikdash,…

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Home -> Pekudei -> 5786

אלה פקודי המשכן, משכן העדות

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Pekudei

These are the reckonings of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of Testimony. (38:21)

We were blessed with the presence of a Sanctuary in our midst during three periods in Jewish history.  The period of the Mishkan lasted until the first Bais HaMikdash.  The first Bais HaMikdash was followed seventy years later by the second Bais HaMikdash.  While the two Batei Mikdash were eventually destroyed, the Mishkan remained eternal. Just because it is not in our immediate environs does not mean it is not secure in a Heavenly sphere.  Furthermore, as noted by Chazal (Shabbos 21B), it is prohibited to derive pleasure from the neiros, lights.  In his commentary to the Gemora, the Rav…

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Home -> Pekudei -> 5786

Moshe saw the entire work, and Moshe blessed them. (39:43)

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Pekudei

וירא משה את כל המלאכה … ויברך אתם משה

What did Moshe Rabbeinu say to them?  What b’rachah, blessing, did he give them?  Yehi ratzon she’tishreh Shechinah, b’maaseh ye’deichem;  “May it be the will of Hashem that the Shechinah rest upon your handiwork.”  This blessing begs elucidation.  A blessing adds benefit; it elevates; it aspires for more.  The Mishkan was built already, the work of Bnei Yisrael complete.  Its entire purpose was for the Shechinah to rest on it.  What is the purpose of the b’rachah? Horav Boruch Dov Povarsky, Shlita, explains that the Mishkan was a spiritual edifice.  It manifested itself in material/physical components, but its essence was…

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