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Home -> 5781 -> Emor

ויצא בן אשה ישראלית והוא בן איש מצרי ... ויקב ... את השם ויקלל

Sruly Schnair
In Emor, 5781

The son of a Yisraelite woman went out and he was the son of an Egyptian man… and he pronounced the Name and he blasphemed. (24:10,11)

The story of this Jew who committed the abhorrent sin of blasphemy, is without a doubt a gut-wrenching tale whose placement in the Torah leaves one bewildered. It happened once – one person from a murky pedigree, the only one like him in all Klal Yisrael. His mother was the only immoral woman in the entire nation. He was the only Jewish man fathered by an Egyptian. His father was the one Egyptian that was killed by Moshe Rabbeinu to protect a Jewish man. Rabbeinu Bachya wonders why the Torah felt it necessary to include this tragic debacle in the…

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Home -> 5781 -> Acharei Mos

בזאת יבוא אהרן אל הקדש בפר בן בקר לחטאת ואיל לעולה ... ומאת עדת בני ישראל יקח שני שעירי עזים.

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5781

With this shall Aharon come into the Sanctuary: with a young bull for a sin-offering and a ram for an elevation offering… from the assembly of Bnei Yisrael he shall take two he-goats. (16:3,5)

Chazal (Midrash Rabbah, Vayikra 21:11) state that the three korbanos, offerings, that were brought on Yom Kippur represented the three Avos, Patriarchs. The young bull that served as a korban chatas, sin-offering, represented Avraham Avinu. The ram that was used as a korban olah, elevation-offering, symbolized Yitzchak Avinu. The two he-goats denoted Yaakov Avinu. When the Kohen Gadol entered the Sanctuary, he did so b’z’chus, in the merit of, the three korbanos that he brought. Avraham Avinu sacrificed himself, manifesting extreme devotion, for the purpose of bringing a pagan world closer to Hashem. His love for people and his constant…

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Home -> 5781 -> Kedoshim

לא תשנא את אחיך בלבבך

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5781

You shall not hate your brother in your heart. (19:17)

The Torah alludes to one reason why one should not hate a fellow Jew: he is your brother; brothers do not hate. Clearly, this is a prohibitive mitzvah which, for “some reason,” people have difficulty observing. Chazal (Talmud Yoma 9:B) teach that Hashem destroyed the Bais HaMikdash Rishon, First Temple, because people transgressed the three cardinal sins of murder, adultery and idol worship. During the period of the Second Temple, the generation studied Torah diligently, observed mitzvos, and performed gemilus chasadim, acts of loving kindness; yet, because they fell short in their interpersonal relationships, due to sinaas chinam, baseless hatred,…

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Home -> 5781 -> Kedoshim

ואהבת לרעך כמוך

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5781

You shall love your fellow as yourself. (19:18)

To love a fellow Jew as one loves himself is the fundamental rule of the Torah. According to Ramban, this mitzvah enjoins us to want others to have the same measure of success and prosperity that we want for ourselves. Obviously, this is not in consonance with human nature, whereby one’s ego always wants a little more or a little better for himself. He does not begrudge his fellow’s success – as long as he has more. How do we define love? How do we understand loving our fellow on the same level as we love ourselves? We find the…

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Home -> 5781 -> Tazria

אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו... והובא אל אהרן הכהן

Sruly Schnair
In Tazria, 5781

If a person will have on the שאת skin of his flesh a seis… he shall be brought to Aharon HaKohen. (13:2)

When Moshe Rabbeinu noticed that inspecting the physical plagues that appeared on a body was included in the function of a Kohen, he was troubled. Chazal (Vayikra Rabbah 15:8) say that Moshe had tzaar gadol, great pain, concerning Aharon HaKohen’s function to view and render his halachic decision concerning the plague’s impurity. He felt that it was below his brother’s dignity as Kohen Gadol, High Priest, to engage in such an unappealing task. Hashem quickly reminded Moshe that Aharon and his descendants enjoy twenty-four matnos, gifts, of Kehunah, which Klal Yisrael shares with them. Chazal teach us an important message…

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Home -> 5781 -> Metzora

זאת תהיה תורת המצורע

Sruly Schnair
In Metzora, 5781

This shall be the law of the metzora. (14:2)

The Talmud (Horayos 12b) relates that Rava asked Rav Nachman if a Kohen Gadol who was afflicted with tzaraas, spiritual leprosy, may marry a widow. (Under normal circumstances, the Kohen Gadol may not marry a widow. However, since as a metzora he is disqualified from serving, perhaps the prohibition against marrying a widow would not presently pertain to him.) The answer was not available to him. On another occasion, Rav Pappa raised the same question to Rav Nachman. This time, Rav Huna, son of Rav Nachman, interjected with the answer that, just as a Kohen Gadol who becomes tamei, ritually…

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Home -> 5781 -> Metzora

זאת תהיה תורת המצורע

Sruly Schnair
In Metzora, 5781

This shall be the law of the Metzora. (14:2)

The Torah devotes no less than 115 pesukim (Tazria-Metzora) to the various forms of tzaraas and their purification process. Clearly the lengthy focus on tzaraas indicates the significance the Torah extends to the precursor of tzaraas: lashon hora, evil/slanderous speech. The motzi shem ra, individual who uses his tongue to propagate negative information about a fellow Jew, is the one who becomes the tzaraas victim. Thus, the parshiyos dealing with the tzaraas plagues indicate the severity of lashon hora. Interestingly, the only allusion in the Torah that connects tzaraas with lashon hora is in Devarim 24:8,9 when the Torah admonishes…

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Home -> 5781 -> Shemini

ויקחו בני אהרן נדב ואביהוא איש מחתתו

Sruly Schnair
In Shemini, 5781

The sons of Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, each took his fire pan. (10:1)

Yalkut Shemoni (Shemini, Remez 524) adds that each one – Nadav and Avihu – took his fire pan, mei’atzmo, on his own, neither discussing it with – nor accepting advice from – his brother. The two brothers erred in thinking that it was a mitzvah to offer on their own without first receiving a Divine mandate. It makes sense to assume that their error was extremely minute, as they were such righteous individuals. They certainly did not arrive at their individual decisions without intense cogitation. Clearly, they thought the matter through and rendered their individual decisions. Nonetheless, the Yalkut implies,…

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Home -> 5781 -> Shemini

וימתו לפני ד'

Sruly Schnair
In Shemini, 5781

And they died before Hashem. (10:2)

When a person renders a decision, he must take into consideration its effect on others, as well as all the ramifications, direct and indirect, present and future, that will result from his decision. Nadav and Avihu did not marry. Chazal (Midrash Rabbah, Vayikra 20:10) consider them guilty of haughtiness for not marrying. They would say, “Our father is the High Priest;” “Our father’s brother is the king/leader of the nation;” “Our uncle is the Nasi, Prince of the tribe of Yehudah.” “We are next in line for the hierarchy of the Priesthood. Is there a woman that is suitable for/worthy…

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Home -> 5781 -> Shemini

אך את זה לא תאכלו ... את הגמל כי מעלה גרה הוא ופרסה איננו מפריס ... ואת השפן כי מעלה גרה הוא ופרסה לא יפרים ... ואת הארנבת כי מעלת גרה היא ופרסה לא הפריסה טמאה היא לכם

Sruly Schnair
In Shemini, 5781

But this is what you shall not eat… the camel (for it brings up its cud), buts its hoof is not split … and the hyrax, for it brings up its cud, but its hoof is not split… and the hare, for it brings up its cud, but its hoof is not split. It is unclean to you. (11:4,5,6)

The Torah teaches us that an animal achieves kosher status when it possesses two identifying signs/characteristics: split hooves; and chews/brings up its cud. We are taught that three animals, the camel, hyrax and hare, chew their cud, but, since they do not have split hooves, they are deemed unkosher. In his Nitzotzos, Horav Yitzchak Hershkowitz, Shlita, observes what appears to be an anomaly in recording the three circumstances of a lack of split hooves. In animal number one, the camel, the Torah writes, uparsah einenah mafris, which loosely translated means, it presently does not have split hooves. The next animal,…

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