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Home -> 5785 -> Lech Lecha

לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך

Sruly Schnair
In Lech Lecha, 5785

Go for yourself, from your land, from your relatives, and from your father’s house. (12:1)

Chazal (Pirkei Avos 5:4) teach that Avraham Avinu earned his distinction by successfully passing ten trials.  The first trial which the Torah elaborates, tested his ability to pick himself up, bid farewell to family and friends, and journey to a new land. Hashem was requiring him to start over and set up a new infrastructure for his outreach work.  No one will suggest that moving is not difficult, especially if one has spent his entire life in a particular place.  Leaving family and friends is equally challenging – for some more than others.  Nonetheless, why does the Torah make such…

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Home -> 5785 -> Lech Lecha

ואעשך לגוי גדול ואברכך ואגדלה שמך והיה ברכה

Sruly Schnair
In Lech Lecha, 5785

And I will make you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. (12:2)

In an alternative explanation of these three terms, Rashi writes: “I will make you into a great nation.” This is a reference to what we say (in the Shemoneh Esrai), Elokei Avraham; ‘and I will bless you,’ this is a reference to that which we say, Elokai Yitzchak; ‘and I will make your name great.’ This is a reference to that which we say, Elokai Yaakov.  Since all three Avos, Patriarchs, are mentioned in the first b’racha of Shemoneh Esrai, one might think that the chasimas ha’brachah, conclusion of the blessing, should include all of them. Ve’heyei b’rachah, ‘and you…

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Home -> 5785 -> Lech Lecha

ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן

Sruly Schnair
In Lech Lecha, 5785

And the souls they made in Charan. (12:5)

Rashi explains that the word “souls” refers to those whom they converted to faith in Hashem.  Noticeably, the Hebrew word, nefesh, which is singular, is used to describe the souls, rather than nefashos, which is plural. In his commentary to Bereishis 46:27, where the Torah details the sixty-six souls that accompanied Yaakov Avinu as he descended to Egypt, Rashi quotes Vayikra Rabbah 4:6 where Chazal distinguish between plural nefashos used to describe Eisav’s family (ibid. 36:6) and Yaakov who ultimately entered Egypt with seventy nefesh.  They explain that Eisav’s sons are considered separate souls because they worshipped many gods.  Yaakov’s…

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Home -> 5785 -> Lech Lecha

ויגד לאברם העברי ויבא הפליט

Sruly Schnair
In Lech Lecha, 5785

Then there came the fugitive and told Avram, the Ivri. (14:13)

Avraham Avinu is given the appellation Ivri, which Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 42:8) explain that because the entire world was mei’ever echad, on one side, and he (stood his ground) on the other side.  Ivri is derived from ever, side.  Our Patriarch’s essence and greatness are based upon his readiness to stand apart from the rest of the world.  The entire world population served idols.  He refused to fall in line with popular thinking.  He did not care what the surrounding culture viewed as vogue.  He was prepared to suffer isolation, if necessary, in order to adhere to his beliefs.  The…

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Home -> 5785 -> Noach

בחדש השני בשבעה עשר יום לחדש ... נבקעו כל מעינות תהום רבה וארבות השמים נפתחו

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5785

In the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month… all the fountains of the great deep burst forth; and the windows of the heavens were opened. (7:11)

Someone who does not know (or refuses to know) the truth could read about the commencement of the Flood as if it were a natural phenomenon that went awry and destroyed the world’s population.  Nowhere does the Torah mention that Hashem choreographed everything that occurred.  Indeed, during the destruction of Sodom and Amorah, the Torah writes that Hashem rained fire on the city.  Why is Hashem’s Name not mentioned in connection with the Flood? It was the greatest and most devastating punishment in the history of mankind; everything was obliterated.  Yet, we do not see Hashem’s hand. The Nesivos Shalom…

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Home -> 5785 -> Noach

וידבר אלקים אל נח לאמר צא מן התיבה

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5785

Hashem spoke to Noach, saying: Go forth from the Ark. (8:16)

The Flood had subsided.  The ground was dry.  Noach removed the Ark’s covering and saw a different world.  The sun was shining and welcoming.  What was he waiting for?  Noach refused to leave the Ark until Hashem commanded him to leave.  Hashem had instructed him to enter, he would wait for His instructions to leave.  Why?  What made Noach remain on the Ark?  The only reason he was on the teivah was in order to be spared from the Flood.  Clearly, one who is in the Ark for protection purposes should leave once the threat has subsided. Horav Naftali Nebentzhal,…

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Home -> 5785 -> Noach

ויחל נח איש האדמה ויטע כרם

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5785

Noach, the man of the earth, debased himself and planted a vineyard. (9:20)

It seems that the Torah is censuring Noach for planting the grape vine, drinking the wine which he made from its grapes, and then becoming inebriated.  While becoming drunk and losing cognitive control is reason for rebuke, what did he do wrong by planting the grape vine?  Rashi defines vayachel as debasing himself by craving wine so much that he planted a vineyard.  In any event, his craving got the better of him.  Is this activity so odious that Noach is considered to have debased himself?  Furthermore, should we not take Noach’s emotional well-being into account?  He had just witnessed…

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Home -> 5785 -> Bereishis

ויאמר אלקים נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו

Sruly Schnair
In Bereishis, 5785

And Hashem said, “Let us make man in our Image in our likeness. (1:26)

Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 8:5) teach that, when Hashem set out to create man, the angels organized themselves into groups – pro and con.  Chesed, Kindness, “advised” Hashem to create man, because he would behave kindly and benevolently to others.  Emes, Truth, disagreed, claiming that man would be filled with lies; thus, his presence in this world would be harmful.  Hashem listened to their positions and then proceeded to fling Truth to the ground.  This is alluded to in Daniel (8:12), V’sashleich emes artzah, “He threw Truth earthward” (and created Man). This Midrash begs elucidation. If, in fact, man is full…

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Home -> 5785 -> Bereishis

ומעץ הדעת טוב ורע לא תאכל ממנו

Sruly Schnair
In Bereishis, 5785

But of the Tree of Knowledge, of Good and Bad, you must not eat thereof. (2:17)

Adam Ha’Rishon was the yetzir kapav shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu, formed and created by Hashem.  Yet, he sinned.  He had one single mitzvah – not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. He could not withstand the temptation, however, and he sinned.  We have 613 mitzvos and are commanded to observe them all.  Obviously, a disparity exists between us and Adam.  Adam did not have a yetzer hora, evil inclination – nothing to provoke him to commit anything negative; yet, he sinned. In his Moreh Nevuchim, Rambam posits that by sinning, Adam gained his greatest glory: the faculty of bechirah…

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Home -> 5785 -> Bereishis

ועפר תאכל כל ימי חייך

Sruly Schnair
In Bereishis, 5785

And dust shall you eat all the days of your life. (3:14)

Rebbeinu Bachya derives from the words kol yemei chayecha, “all the days of your life,” that the serpent’s punishment will not be mitigated l’asid lavo, after the advent of Moshiach Tzidkeinu.  With the arrival of Moshiach, a new world culture will prevail.  Harmony and peace will reign, and even the enmity between the serpent and human beings will come to an end.  The punishment, “And dust shall you eat all the days of your life,” however, will continue unabated throughout time.  In other words, despite the fact that, when Moshiach arrives the world will revert to pre-sin (of eating of…

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