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Home -> 5785 -> Balak

ויגר מואב מפני העם מאד

Sruly Schnair
In Balak, 5785

Moav became very frightened of the people. (22:3)

Were the Moavites really afraid that the Jews would overrun them? Does the Torah not exhort us, “You shall not distress Moav, and you shall not provoke war with them” (Devarim 2:9). Certainly, explains the Chasam Sofer, Moav was acutely aware that the Jews on their own would not harass them and surely not contend militarily with them. What did they fear? It was the Am, “the People” – the eirev rav, mixed multitude, who tagged along with the nation, claiming they wanted to join. It was this same eirev rav that catalyzed the Golden Calf, and it has been…

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Home -> 5785 -> Balak

ויען בלעם... אם יתן לי בלק מלא ביתו כסף וזהב לא אוכל לעבר את פי ד'

Sruly Schnair
In Balak, 5785

And Bilaam answered… “If Balak will give me his household of silver and gold, I cannot transgress the word of Hashem.” (22:18)

Bilaam’s true character came to the fore as he demonstrated his implacable greed. It was all about money and honor. Chazal (Pirkei Avos 5:19) draw the distinction between the disciples of the wicked Bilaam and the disciples of Avraham Avinu. Students invariably attempt to emulate their mentor. Bilaam possessed three base qualities which represented his character; these were the distorted principles upon which he built his flawed life: ayin raah, evil eye, jealousy, begrudging the prosperity which others achieved and personal gain at the  expense of others; Ruach gevohah, haughty spirit, displaying arrogance as self-importance, pride and an ability to…

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Home -> 5785 -> Balak

וירא את הקיני... ויאמר איתן מישבך

Sruly Schnair
In Balak, 5785

He saw the Keini… and said, “Strong is your dwelling.” (24:21)

Rashi explains that Bilaam saw the future sons of Yisro (one of Yisro’s seven names was Keini) and was surprised at the distinction they had earned. He intimated (Midrash Tanchuma), “I wonder from where you (Yisro) became worthy of this (extraordinary honor and spiritual nachas). Were you not with me at the time we (Bilaam, Yisro, Iyov) gave advice to Pharaoh (on how to address the ‘Jewish problem’)? Yet, you have settled in the stronghold and citadel of Yisrael.” Apparently, Bilaam conveniently forgot that when he advised Pharaoh to kill the Jews, Yisro picked himself up and fled Egypt. Later…

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Home -> 5785 -> Balak

וירא פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן ויקם מתוך העדה ויקח רומח בידו

Sruly Schnair
In Balak, 5785

And Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen saw, and he stood up amid the assembly and took a spear in his hand. (25:7)

Chazal (Sanhedrin 82a) teach that Pinchas saw the moral outrage which Zimri had committed. He immediately remembered the halachah (which applies to this act). He first asked his Rebbe, Moshe Rabbeinu, “Did you not teach that one who cohabits with an aramis/pagan, zealots may strike/kill him?” If someone comes to ask a shailah concerning how he should act, however, we do not rule as such (Kanaim pogin bo, zealots may strike him.) “This concept of halachah, “this is the law, v’ein morin kein, but we do not rule in this manner,” is novel. After all, if it is the halachah,…

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Home -> 5785 -> Chukas

זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5785

This is the teaching regarding a man who would die in a tent. (19:14)

Chazal famously derive a deeper, homiletic l miskayeim esson from this pasuk. The Gemorah (Berachos 63b), states: Ein divrei Torah ela b’mi she’meimis atzmo aleha, “The words of Torah are upheld only by one who ‘kills’ himself over it.” This metaphor refers to the self-sacrifice one must be willing to expend for the sake of Torah study. Meimis atzmo aleha means dedication, diligence, abnegating comforts and worldly pleasures, all for the purpose of Torah study, its understanding and internalization. True growth requires a form of self-sacrifice, whereby one “kills” his personal desires in pursuit of spiritual achievement. Famous Torah scholars…

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Home -> 5785 -> Chukas

קח את אהרן ואת אלעזר בנו והעל אתם הר ההר

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5785

Take Aharon and Elazar, his son, and bring the up to Har HaHor. (20:25)

How is Moshe to “take” Aharon on his last journey? True, his time to return his lofty soul to its Heavenly Source had come. Aharon was not a person who lived in this world. He was a Himmel mentch, one who lived in the Heavens Above, one who was very comfortable in his ruchniyos, spirituality. To him, death was truly traversing the gesher ha’chaim, bridge of life, from this world to life in the Heavenly sphere. Yet, Moshe had to convince/comfort him with words. Rashi says b’divrei nichumim, comforting words. What were these words? What could Moshe convey to Aharon…

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Home -> 5785 -> Chukas

ויראו כל העדה כי גווע אהרן ויבכו את אהרן שלשים יום כל בית ישראל

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5785

When the entire assembly saw that Aharon had perished, they wept for Aharon thirty days, the entire Bais Yisrael. (20:29)

Aharon HaKohen was niftar, and all of Klal Yisrael mourned his passing. Rashi underscores the fact that all of Klal Yisrael mourned, because he touched the lives of all Jews. As the paragon of peaceful coexistence, as the ohaiv shalom v’rodef shalom, one who loved peace and pursued peace, he made it his goal to encourage people to get along. At the slightest whiff of discord between friends, between husband and wife, Aharon was present to patch things up and convince the two parties to move one with life and live together in peace. Thus, when he died, everyone sorely…

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Home -> 5785 -> Korach

כי כל העדה כלם קדושים ובתוכם ד' ומדוע תתנשאו על קהל ד'

Sruly Schnair
In Korach, 5785

For the entire assembly – all of them – are holy and Hashem is among them. Why do you exalt yourselves over the congregation of Hashem? (16:3)

Korach had all the answers. After all, he stipulated that he was acting l’shem Shomayim, for the sake of Heaven. He had no envy. He cared about the people, and they required a change in leadership. Chazal (Pirkei Avos 5:11) distinguish between: a machlokes, controversy, whose goal is to seek the truth and raise the banner of Hashem, a machlokes l’shem Shomayim; and one which is for personal benefit, she’lo l’shem Shomayim. Rambam writes that the words of he whose goal is the truth, unembellished and unvarnished, will have a kiyum, endure. Horav Chaim Shmuelevitz, zl, explains that the Rambam…

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Home -> 5785 -> Korach

ואם בריאה וברא ד' ופצתה האדמה את פיה ובלע אותם

Sruly Schnair
In Korach, 5785

But if Hashem will create a phenomenon, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them. (16:30)

Moshe Rabbeinu’s reaction to the sinful rebellion of Korach and his followers is atypical of our quintessential leader. This was the not first time the Jewish People had rebelled. First, it was the sin of the Golden Calf, which consisted of idol worship accompanied by licentious revelry. Nonetheless, Moshe asked Hashem to forgive them. Then came the meraglim, the princes who left as spies and returned as rebellious usurpers. We observe Tishah B’Av, our national day of mourning, thanks to their scurrilous report and the people’s inexcusable reaction. Once again, Moshe asked Hashem to accept their sincere repentance. Concerning Korach,…

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Home -> 5785 -> Korach

וילונו כל עדת בני ישראל ממחרת על משה ועל אהרן לאמר אתם המתים את עם ד'

Sruly Schnair
In Korach, 5785

The entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael complained on the morrow against Moshe and Aharon, saying, “You have killed the People of Hashem!” (17:6)

Leveling the complaint at Moshe and Aharon is ludicrous. The people saw how miraculously the ground had opened up beneath the usurpers, swallowing them before returning to its normal state. Moshe and Aharon were probably just as surprised as the people. They all saw the fire that burned the 250 men who had prepared and offered the incense. Clearly, Moshe and Aharon played no role in their deaths. Furthermore, why are these men referred to as Am Hashem, the people of G-d? They certainly were not acting very much like members of the Jewish People. Horav Meir Tzvi Bergman, Shlita,…

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