Challenge – Page 34 – Peninim on the Torah

“May He make you so many more like you a thousand times, and may He bless you as He has promised you.” (1:11)

Just as Moshe Rabbeinu was on the verge of leaving Am Yisrael, he offered up a tefillah, prayer, that the nation be blessed with amazing future growth. He adds one word, however, which sheds light on the Torah‘s perspective upon Jewish survival. Moshe says, “May He make you so many more like you.” The true blessing is that the future generations are “like you,” following in the traditional path paved by their ancestors with blood, sweat, and tears. In order to insure that the Jewish children of today and tomorrow serve as links in the chain of tradition, it is…

Home -> 5753 -> Pinchas

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Pinchas, 5753

“(Pinchas) has turned away My wrath from the Bnei Yisrael in that he was jealous for My sake among them (so) that I did not consume the Bnei Yisrael in My jealousy.” (25:11)

In its purest form, zealousness is contingent upon three criteria. The zealot must perform his act totally “le’shem shomayim,” for the sake of Heaven. There should be no personal prejudice or vested interest which “motivates” his urgent reaction. Second, it is imperative that the zealot not remove himself from the community. He must challenge any incursion from within. Running away and hurling stones at the sinners does not reflect true kana’us, zealousness. Horav Nissan Alpert, z.l., points out that a third contingency is regrettably often overlooked. Those individuals who exhibit unbounding devotion to Hashem’s ideals may react zealously and swiftly…

Home -> 5753 -> Balak

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Balak, 5753

“I have set up the seven altars.” (23:4)

Bilaam emphasizes to Hashem that he had instructed Balak to erect seven altars. Rashi explains that Bilaam emphasized the number of altars for a specific reason. By virtue of erecting seven altars, Bilaam sought to negate the combined efforts of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, who had built seven altars through their combined efforts. Bilaam foolishly thought that he could equate his altars to the altars erected by the Avos, Patriarchs, by merely constructing the same number of alters. Horav D. Feinstein, Shlita, suggests that perhaps Bilaam attributed a special significance to the number seven. Since Bnei Yisrael had seven altars…

Home -> 5753 -> Bo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Bo, 5753

“And Hashem said to Moshe. Behold I am about to cause to rain for you bread from the Heaven, and the people will go out daily to collect (their daily portion) so that I can test them if they will follow in My Torah or not.” (16:4)

The Divine gift of manna was essentially the last of the great miracles which surrounded the Egyptian Exodus. These wonders were designed to illuminate our path and guide us in our belief in Hashem. Indeed, Chazal view the manna as the ultimate miracle which nurtured our emunah and stimulated our bitachon in Hashem. Hashem brought us through the desert in a long, circuitous way. He nourished us with manna from Heaven and water from the Well in order to imbue Torah into our bodies and souls. Relying upon Hashem to provide “parnasah,” livelihood, and believing in His “ability” to sustain…

Home -> 5775 -> Vayeitzei

וישג לבן את יעקב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5775

Lavan overtook Yaakov. (31:25)

Imagine how Yaakov Avinu must have felt when Lavan caught up with him. He made an attempt to escape. He knew that if Lavan overtook him, he had little chance to remain alive. No one could best Lavan. So Yaakov kept on running, while Lavan continued his pursuit. The Midrash teaches us that, while Yaakov was running from Lavan, unbeknownst to him, another enemy, his brother Eisav, was also in pursuit. Armed to the teeth with four hundred trusted soldiers, Eisav was finally free to rid himself of Yaakov. His brother would pay a hefty price for appropriating the blessings….

Home -> 5775 -> Vayeira

ויתפלל אברהם אל האלקים וירפא אלקים את אבימלך... וד' פקד את שרה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeira, 5775

Avraham prayed to G-d, and G-d healed Avimelech… Hashem remembered Sarah. (20:17) (21:1)

Rashi notes the juxtaposition of Sarah Imeinu’s conception and giving birth to Yitzchak Avinu upon Avraham Avinu’s prayer on behalf of Avimelech. He explains that the Torah put this passage (Sarah’s conception and giving birth) next to the incident of Avimelech to teach that whoever seeks mercy by praying for his friend, while he himself (the individual praying) needs that same thing (for which he is praying on behalf of his friend), he (the one praying), is answered first. Avimelech was in need – Avraham prayed for him; thus, he was answered by Hashem – before Avimelech. Imagine two people…

Home -> Vayechi -> 5775

ועתה שני בניך הנולדים לך בארץ מצרים עד באי אליך מצרימה לי הם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Vayechi

And now, your two sons who were born to you in Egypt before my coming to you in Egypt shall be mine. (48:5)

Horav Moshe Feinstein, zl, derives from this pasuk that the symbol of the pertinacity of a Torah education; its staying power, and ability to overcome challenge, is whether it is still perceived in later generations. An education that endures generations is a good education. This idea is gleaned from Yaakov Avinu’s statement concerning Yosef’s children who were born prior to the arrival of the Patriarch in Egypt. Li heim, “They are mine!” has meaning only if they had been born and raised in the moral filth of Egyptian society without Yaakov Avinu to serve as a positive influence, as the…

Home -> 5775 -> Va'eschanan

ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5775

You shall teach them thoroughly to your children and you shall speak of them. (6:7)

Rashi teaches that banecha, your sons, eilu ha’talmidim, applies equally to one’s talmidim, students. In Nitzotzos, Rav Yitzchak Herskowitz, Shlita, relates a story he heard from a Rosh Yeshivah, who is one of today’s more successful marbitzei Torah, disseminators of Torah, in Eretz Yisrael. Apparently, Torah was not always this individual’s primary interest. As a young, teenage student attending Yeshivas Ohr Yisrael in Petach Tikvah, he was involved in a lot of things, most of which were not Torah-related. Running with a group of like-minded students, he presented a constant challenge for the patience of the yeshivah’s Mashgiach, ethical supervisor….

Home -> 5775 -> Toldos

ויתרוצצו הבנים בקרבה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Toldos, 5775

The children agitated within her. (25:22)

Rashi cites Chazal who explain that the word Vayisrotzetzu, “And they (the children) agitated” is derived from the word rotz, to run. When Rivkah Imeinu passed the Yeshivah of Shem and Eivar, Yaakov “ran” and struggled to go forth; and when she passed a house of idol worship, Eisav “ran” to go out. Each child had a certain proclivity representative of the cosmic forces within Creation – forces that are not connected to normal personality development, but transcend it. Yaakov Avinu gravitated towards the bais hamedrash, while Eisav was more comfortable in the house of idol worship. As they grew…

Home -> Shemos -> 5775

ותראהו את הילד והנה נער בוכה... ותאמר מילדי העברים זה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Shemos

She saw him, the boy, and behold! A youth was crying… and (she) said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.” (2:6)

Pharaoh’s daughter looked at the infant in the basket and noticed something unusual about the manner in which the infant wept. This made her assume that it was a Jewish infant. What about the infant’s weeping spurred her to think that it was Jewish? The Slonimer Rebbe, zl, explains that, indeed, a marked difference exits between the cry of a Jew and the cry of one who is not. Rather than go right to the distinction, I would like to approach it from the vantage point of Tishah B’Av, our national day of mourning. Every Festival has its cheftzah d’mitzvah,…

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“May He make you so many more like you a thousand times, and may He bless you as He has promised you.” (1:11)

“(Pinchas) has turned away My wrath from the Bnei Yisrael in that he was jealous for My sake among them (so) that I did not consume the Bnei Yisrael in My jealousy.” (25:11)

“I have set up the seven altars.” (23:4)

“And Hashem said to Moshe. Behold I am about to cause to rain for you bread from the Heaven, and the people will go out daily to collect (their daily portion) so that I can test them if they will follow in My Torah or not.” (16:4)

וישג לבן את יעקב

Lavan overtook Yaakov. (31:25)

ויתפלל אברהם אל האלקים וירפא אלקים את אבימלך... וד' פקד את שרה

Avraham prayed to G-d, and G-d healed Avimelech… Hashem remembered Sarah. (20:17) (21:1)

ועתה שני בניך הנולדים לך בארץ מצרים עד באי אליך מצרימה לי הם

And now, your two sons who were born to you in Egypt before my coming to you in Egypt shall be mine. (48:5)

ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם

You shall teach them thoroughly to your children and you shall speak of them. (6:7)

ויתרוצצו הבנים בקרבה

The children agitated within her. (25:22)

ותראהו את הילד והנה נער בוכה... ותאמר מילדי העברים זה

She saw him, the boy, and behold! A youth was crying… and (she) said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.” (2:6)

YEARS

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