Rabbi L. Scheinbaum

כי דור תהפכת המה בנים לא אמן בם

For they are a generation of reversals, children whose upbringing is not in them. (32:20)

It hurts much more when the troublemaker is “ours.” We read about someone who has committed an act of dishonesty; we are angered. “What kind of person is that? Who could act in such a reprehensible manner?” When the culprit is someone young, we wonder what kind of parents he had; what kind of home he came from; what type of upbringing he had. When the culprit is one of our own – when it is one’s own child, there is anger, hurt, humiliation, and then all of the questions that we would have asked of others we ask ourselves:…

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וישמן ישרון ויבעט

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5774, Ha'azinu

Yeshurun waxed fat, and rebelled. (32:15)

The pasuk implies that wealth is the source of Klal Yisrael’s rebellion, indicating that prosperity may not contribute to a strong spiritual balance. It is almost as if wealth is a curse, not a blessing. Yet, two pesukim earlier the Torah tells us that we will be blessed with material abundance: Yarkiveihu al bamesei aretz, va’yochal tenuvos sadai, “He shall cause them to ride the high places of the Land and eat the produce of its fields” (ibid. 32:13). Klal Yisrael will enter the land and be greeted with incredible prosperity. Apparently, here prosperity comes across as a blessing. On…

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הצור תמים פעלו כי כל דרכיו משפט קל אמונה ואין עול צדיק וישר הוא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5774, Ha'azinu

The Rock! – Perfect is His work, for all His paths are justice; A G-d of faith without iniquity, righteous and fair is He. (32:4)

The term tamim, perfect, is a reference to the totality of Hashem’s work – the big picture. Individual life is part of a large puzzle with countless pieces of all shapes and sizes, representing good fortune, failure, joy and sadness, tragedy and celebration. When these are all factored together by Hashem, everything fits in perfectly. Human cognition is limited; thus, we are able to grasp very little. If it makes sense to the human mind, it is good. If it does not make sense, it is not good. This is the human way of understanding a situation. It sees the…

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האזינו השמים ואדברה... זכור ימות עולם... כי ידין ד' עמו ועל עבדיו יתנחם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5774, Ha'azinu

Give ears, O’ Heavens, and I will speak… Remember the days of yore… when Hashem will have judged His People, He shall relent regarding His servants. (32:1,7,36)

Two themes seem to stand out throughout Shiras Ha’azinu, The Song of Ha’azinu. First, Chazal refer to this sketch of history as a song. Horav Gedalyah Schorr, zl, explains the concept of song with regard to Jewish history. A song implies the concept of harmony. This means that all elements of an orchestra, a musical score with its high and low notes, all the voices of a choir work together in total harmony, creating a perfect and pleasant sound. Likewise, we recognize that all of the elements of the universe fuse together in carrying out G-d’s Will. From a historical…

Home -> 5774 -> Emor

ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון פרי עץ הדר

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Emor, 5774

You shall take for yourself on the first day the fruit of a citron tree. (23:40)

Pri eitz hadar, “the fruit of a beautiful tree,” is commonly accepted as referring to the esrog tree. In Sefer Likutim, the Arizal says that the letters of the word esrog: aleph, taf, reish, gimmel form an acronym for the pasuk in Tehillim 36:12, Al tevoeini regel gaavah, “Let not the foot of arrogance come to me.” Horav Yaakov Galinsky, zl, explains this pragmatically. The pasuk in which David Hamelech deplores arrogance and prays that it not affect him in any way, is truly a pasuk fitting for the esrog. This could be termed the “esrog’s prayer,” for the esrog…

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שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Emor, 5774

You shall eat matzos for a seven-day period. (23:6)

Every once in a while, I come across a story which is more dvar Torah than story. The episode is merely the medium for imparting an important Torah principle. The following story fits into this category. The surplus of matzah, which has become a way of life for us, is a modern-day wonder. One hundred years ago, when Europe was in midst of a world war, whole communities went without matzah for Pesach. Food was at a premium, and the Jewish community was always at the bottom of the totem pole for receiving aid. As a result, ehrliche Yidden, observant…

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מועדי ד' אשר תקראו אתם מקראי קדש אלה הם מועדי

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Emor, 5774

Hashem’s appointed Festivals that you are to designate as holy convocations – these are My appointed festivals. (23:2)

The term moed is commonly translated as “festival.” When we peruse halachah, we come across a law which seems to contradict this translation. The Tur (Orach Chaim 559) rules that, on Tishah B’Av, we do not recite the Tachanun prayer. This is a prayer of supplication, and, since the Navi (Yirmiyahu in Megillas Eichah 1:15) refers to Tishah B’Av as a moed, kara alai moed lishbor bachurai, “He proclaimed a set time against me to crush my young men,” we do not recite Tachanun on a moed. We wonder why the saddest day of the Jewish calendar year, the day…

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ולא תחללו את שם קדשי ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Emor, 5774

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

What is the most egregious sin that one can transgress? Perhaps we should step back a little in order to clarify the meaning of “egregious.” Sin might be relative, but every sin is an infraction against Hashem. So, they are all bad! In the Talmud Yoma 86a, Chazal address this question. They posit that the nefariousness of a sin is based on the contingency of performing teshuvah, repentance. When one transgresses a prohibitive commandment and later repents, his teshuvah is in limbo until Yom Kippur, when the sanctity of the day atones for his sin. When one transgresses a sin…

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ובת איש כהן כי תחל לזנות

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Emor, 5774

If the daughter of a Kohen desecrates herself through adultery. (21:9)

Ki seichal liznos can also be translated as, “when she will begin to stray immorally.” One must realize, and it should be emphasized, that once one has begun to fall – even slightly – the descent to the depths of evil is quick. Indeed, it is a rapid deterioration, with limited space to stop in the middle. Once the plunge has started, one can do little to prevent the sad ending. Horav Shabsai Yudelevitz, zl, relates that he once met a policeman. The two men struck up a conversation concerning the sad plight of Israeli youth. The policeman bemoaned the…

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לאהבה את ד' אלקיכם ללכת בכל דרכיו ולדבקה בו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5774

To love Hashem your G-d, to walk in all His ways and to cleave to Him. (11:22)

To follow in Hashem’s ways, to walk in His path, means to display the same loving compassion for all Jews, regardless of background, personality and religious attitude. Hashem is our Father, and, as such, turns away no one. On the contrary, it is we who turn away from Him. Horav Shlomo Levinstein, Shlita, relates the following episode. Horav Mordechai Rabinowitz is the Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivas Oheiv Yisrael in Petach Tikvah. It is a school that caters to a high caliber of highly motivated students. Like so many good schools, it is very difficult to gain entrance to this yeshivah….

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כי דור תהפכת המה בנים לא אמן בם

For they are a generation of reversals, children whose upbringing is not in them. (32:20)

וישמן ישרון ויבעט

Yeshurun waxed fat, and rebelled. (32:15)

הצור תמים פעלו כי כל דרכיו משפט קל אמונה ואין עול צדיק וישר הוא

The Rock! – Perfect is His work, for all His paths are justice; A G-d of faith without iniquity, righteous and fair is He. (32:4)

האזינו השמים ואדברה... זכור ימות עולם... כי ידין ד' עמו ועל עבדיו יתנחם

Give ears, O’ Heavens, and I will speak… Remember the days of yore… when Hashem will have judged His People, He shall relent regarding His servants. (32:1,7,36)

ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון פרי עץ הדר

You shall take for yourself on the first day the fruit of a citron tree. (23:40)

שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו

You shall eat matzos for a seven-day period. (23:6)

מועדי ד' אשר תקראו אתם מקראי קדש אלה הם מועדי

Hashem’s appointed Festivals that you are to designate as holy convocations – these are My appointed festivals. (23:2)

ולא תחללו את שם קדשי ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל

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

ובת איש כהן כי תחל לזנות

If the daughter of a Kohen desecrates herself through adultery. (21:9)

לאהבה את ד' אלקיכם ללכת בכל דרכיו ולדבקה בו

To love Hashem your G-d, to walk in all His ways and to cleave to Him. (11:22)

YEARS

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