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Home -> 5786 -> Emor

ובת איש כהן כי תחל לזנות את אביה היא מחללת באש תשרף

Sruly Schnair
In Emor, 5786

The daughter of a Kohen who prepares herself through immorality desecrates her father; she is punished by fire. (21:9)

The above pasuk is chilling –describing tragedy upon tragedy.  A young woman ostensibly raised in a refined, hallowed Torah home goes off the derech, acting out her rebellion with acts of moral turpitude.  How does such a moral collapse occur – especially in such a family?  If I may use my writer’s license, I suggest a homiletic rendering of this pasuk/incident.  Several questions surface upon reading the text.  First, why does the Torah state that she desecrates her father?  It is the sacred institution of Kehunah that she profanes.  She is dragging the Priesthood through the mud – not her…

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Home -> 5786 -> Emor

ולא תחללו את שם קדשי ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל

Sruly Schnair
In Emor, 5786

You shall not desecrate My Holy Name, rather I should be sanctified among Bnei Yisrael. (22:32)

A passage in the Talmud (Yoma 86A) illuminates the concept of Kiddush Hashem, but also insinuates that we can view dereliction as a chillul Hashem, desecration of Hashem’s Name.  “What do people say about an individual who reads, learns and serves talmidei chachamim, Torah scholars, and handles all his relations (business, etc.) with his fellow man with emunah, faith, and makes sure his manner of speech is b’nachas, soft and pleasant? Fortunate is his father who taught him Torah/Fortunate is his Rebbe who taught him Torah. Look at so and so who studied Torah, and (as a result) his demeanor…

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Home -> 5786 -> Emor

בחדש הראשון בארבעה עשר לחדש בין הערבים פסח לד'

Sruly Schnair
In Emor, 5786

In the first month, on the fourteenth of the month in the afternoon, is the time of the Pesach offering to Hashem. (23:5)

We have no shortage of enjoinments concerning the Yom Tov of Pesach.  We are often reminded to remember the Exodus from Egypt.  Indeed, it is a daily part of our Shema Yisrael and a component of our Tefillah.  On the night of Pesach, things change when we engage in an exclusive and intensified zeicher l’yetzias Mitzrayim, remembrance of the Exodus.  The commentators distinguish between the sippur, relating, the story of yetzias Mitzrayim. On Pesach night, in a family setting, we relate and explain the story, allowing for everyone at the seder table to listen, add and be a part of…

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Home -> 5786 -> Acharei Mos

אחרי מות שני בני אהרן בקרבתם לפני ד' וימותו

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5786

After the deaths of two of Aharon’s sons, when they drew near before Hashem and died. (16:1)

The tragic deaths of Nadav and Avihu, Aharon HaKohen’s eldest sons, on the day which would have been the most auspicious of their lives, leaves the reader with serious questions. The answers to these   questions are elusive. Chazal detail a list of “sins” attributed to these two tzaddikim – infractions which are endemic to the exalted spiritual level which they had achieved.  Nonetheless, we seek some kind of explanation.  We will focus on one such sin and apply its explanation to their behavior, which will result in enlightening us concerning the rest of the “shortcomings” attributed to them.  Chazal…

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Home -> 5786 -> Acharei Mos

ושמרתם את חקתי ואת משפטי אשר יעשה אתם האדם וחי בהם

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5786

You shall observe My decrees and My laws, which man shall carry out and by which man shall live. (18:5)

The mitzvos were given for the sake of life – not death.  Thus, if fulfilling a mitzvah entails danger to one’s life, such as pikuach nefesh— life-threatening issues which must be carried out on Shabbos – we act accordingly to prolong the individual’s life.  Chiddushei HaRim has a notable homiletic twist on the exhortation of V’chai ba’hem, as reference to our attitude toward mitzvah observance (and life in general). We are commanded to perform mitzvos with zest, vigor and enthusiasm, as if they are our source of life.  Perhaps, we can extrapolate and say that the area of life which…

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Home -> 5786 -> Kedoshim

ואהבת לרעך כמך

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5786

Love your fellow as (you love) yourself. (19:19)

To love one’s fellow as if he were loving oneself is much more than a guideline/criterion for governing interpersonal relationships. It is, in fact, the Torah’s definition of true love.  Conditional love, selective love, self-serving love, is not love.  It may resemble affection, but it is a far cry from satisfying the Torah’s criteria.  It is only when one achieves love that is kamocha mamish, truly as oneself, with the same sensitivity, concern and respect that one accords his own needs, does the term ahavah have true meaning.  Anything less, simply misses the target, as it is a pale imitation…

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Home -> 5786 -> Tazria

אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר

Sruly Schnair
In Tazria, 5786

When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male. (12:2)

Parshios Tazria/Metzora deal almost exclusively with the laws pertaining to negaim, spiritual plagues, of which tzaraas is most prominent.  These are physical manifestations which represent spiritual flaws in the character of the afflicted person.  Thus, it begs elucidation that Parshas Tazria begins with the laws of tumas yoledes, the spiritual contamination of a woman who gives birth, followed by the exhortation to perform the bris milah on the eighth day of the infant’s life.  How do bris milah and the laws of tzaraas align?  Perhaps the laws surrounding bris milah and its underlying hashkafah, outlook, give us a glimpse into…

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Home -> 5786 -> Metzora

זאת תהיה תורת המצורע

Sruly Schnair
In Metzora, 5786

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

Since Parshios Tazria/Metzora address physical manifestations of spiritual maladies, it was suggested that it would be an opportune time to address both the Torah’s and Chazal’s exhortations concerning taking care of one’s health.  The immediate reaction will probably be, “What do health issues have to do with a commentary on the parshah?”  This is probably a good question.   Due to the importance of reminding everyone that we were placed on the world to serve Hashem, and sick people find it challenging to properly serve Him. It would be prudent for an individual to address his known and even unknown health…

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Home -> 5786 -> Shemini

וידם אהרן

Sruly Schnair
In Shemini, 5786

And Aharon was silent. (10:3)

On what should have been the most exalted and auspicious day of Aharon HaKohen’s life – the inauguration of the Mishkan with Aharon as the Kohen Gadol, alongside his sons who would serve as Kohanim –he was stunned by the sudden (what appeared to be) inexplicable and devastating loss of his two sons.  They did not just die.  They were struck by a Heavenly conflagration which burned from within, leaving their bodies intact.  The Torah describes Aharon’s heroic response: no response, Va’yidom Aharon; “And Aharon was silent (actually mute).” Prior to attempting to explain Aharon’s response and from where he…

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Home -> 5786 -> Shemini

וידם אהרן

Sruly Schnair
In Shemini, 5786

And Aharon was silent. (10:3)

The Torah praises Aharon HaKohen’s silence in the face of tragedy.  What distinguishes silence from speech?  Should Aharon not have eulogized his two sons for all the exemplary qualities they possessed?  Should he not have wept copious tears over the terrible personal and communal loss of two such shining stars?  Horav Aviezer Piltz, shlita (Rosh Yeshivas Tifrach), explains that, when Moshe Rabbeinu said, B’keruvai Ekadesh v’al pnei kol ha’am Eichabed; “I will be sanctified through those who are nearest to Me, thus, I will be honored before the entire people” (ibid 10:3), Moshe responded, “I knew that the Mishkan would…

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