Rabbi L. Scheinbaum

“A gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate on the hem of the robe all around.” (28:34)

Peninim Yekarim suggests that the golden bells were symbolic of wealth, while the pomegranates represented mitzvos and good deeds. Indeed, Chazal in the Talmud Berachos 57 state that every Jew is as full of mitzvos as a pomegranate has seeds. The bells were alternated with the pomegranates all around the hem of the Kohen Gadol’s tunic. We derive from this pasuk that only when wealth is integrated with mitzvos and good deeds does it serve a purpose and benefit the world. In Shir Ha’Shirim 6:7, Shlomo Ha’Melech says, “As many as a pomegranate’s seeds are the merits of your unworthiest.”…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tetzaveh, 5757

“And the Choshen shall not be loosened from the Eiphod. ” (28:28)

Every one of Hashem’s mitzvos is eternal in nature. They are applicable forever. If so, how do we reconcile the mitzvah of not loosening/separating the Choshen from the Eiphod? After all, we have neither a Bais Ha’Mikdash nor Kohanim who serve with their priestly vestments. Degel Machne Efraim responds that the mitzvah serves as an analogy for the middah of emes, attribute of truth. The Torah adjures everyone to speak the truth. At no time shall the Choshen, which alludes to the heart, since it is placed directly over it, be separated from the Eiphod, which signifies the mouth, as…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tetzaveh, 5757

“And these are the garments they shall make.” (28:4)

Horav A. Henach Leibowitz, Shlita, cites a story from the Talmud Shabbos 31a from which we can glean a significant lesson regarding the impact of Torah study on one’s life. A gentile was once passing by a classroom where a rebbe was teaching Parashas Tetzaveh to a group of young students. The rebbe was describing the beauty and splendor manifested by the vestments of the Kohen Gadol. The students and the eavesdropper were totally captivated with the detailed descriptions of the impressive garments. The gentile thought to himself, “I will convert to Judaism, so that I can become a Kohen…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tetzaveh, 5757

“And you will command Bnei Yisrael and they shall take for you pure olive oil, beaten for light, to fuel the eternal light.” (27:20)

Upon reading the text, one understands this pasuk to be commanding Moshe to instruct Bnei Yisrael in the preparation of oil for the Menorah. The word vum, however, has a different grammatical connotation. It means that Moshe will command Bnei Yisrael concerning the oil at some future point. In order to convey to Moshe that a command would be issued immediately, the Torah should have said, um, command, which, indeed, it does in Sefer Vayikra. In Vayikra 24:1, Hashem instructs Moshe to command Bnei Yisrael to prepare olive oil. The advanced notice of a command is unusual. Why does Hashem…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5757

The Kohen shall look at the affliction on the skin of his flesh….and declare him contaminated. (13:3)

The Kohen is the only individual which the Torah authorizes to render a decision regarding a person’s tzaraas. This is consistent with the pasuk in Devarim 21:5, “And according to his word, shall be every grievance and every plague.” Indeed, if for some reason the Kohen is not proficient in the area of negaim, plagues, Chazal state in Toras Kohanim, that a talmid chacham, Torah scholar, should be asked to observe the plague and instruct the Kohen “shoteh” in the decision to be rendered. The Kesef Mishneh notes the use of the word “shoteh,” fool, to describe a Kohen who…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5757

He shall dwell in isolation; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. (13:46)

The metzora receives retribution commensurate with his nefarious deeds. He has spread rumors, slandered people, broken up friendships, and caused the destruction of families. It is, therefore, appropriate that he have the “opportunity” to feel some of the pain of solitude himself. Let him see how it feels to be alone, away from friends and family, a pariah whose seclusion is self-inflicted. He is being compensated for what he has done to others. Sometimes it is necessary for an individual to experience the hurt that he has caused others before he is motivated to expiate his sin. We can infer…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5757

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

The Midrash comments concerning this pasuk. Chazal cite the pasuk in Tehillim 139:5, “hb,rmh oseu rujt” “Back and front, You fashioned me.” Resh Lakish says “back and front” refers to the first day of Creation. If a person maintains his commitment to Torah and mitzvos, he is told, “You came before the entire work of Creation.” If, in contrast, he lives a life alienated from Torah, he is told, “Even a gnat preceded you; even an earthworm preceded you.” While man was created chronologically last, he is first in importance–if he has earned this honor. If, however, he falls from…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5757

When a woman who conceives and gives birth to a male…on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (12:2,3)

The commentators, each in his own unique manner, offer various reasons that one is required to perform the bris milah on the eighth day. One of the fundamental reasons is to make sure that the child has lived through a Shabbos. The kedushah, sanctity, of the seventh day/Shabbos infuses a holiness into the child which prepares him for entrance into Klal Yisrael. Horav Mordechai Gifter, Shlita, notes that while on the one hand we infer the remarkable kedushah of Shabbos, we also note that milah bizmanah, a circumcision performed at the designated time, the eighth day, overrides Shabbos. One may…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5757

Our hands did not shed this blood and our eyes did not see. ( 21:7)

Obviously, we would never imagine the elders of the city being guilty of shedding innocent blood. Rashi explains that this means that they did not see him, permitting him to leave without food and accompaniment. The elders are not referring only to themselves. They speak as representatives of the entire community when they say: We did not ignore this Jew. Horav Avraham Yoffen, zl, notes the gravity of this statement. They are saying that every member- bar none – of this community, from the most distinguished and noble to the most common citizen, fulfilled his obligation to care and give…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5757, Shemos

Who is the man who has built a new house and has not inaugurated it? Let him go and return to his house. (20:5)

The Kohen proclaimed that certain individuals who were not suited to fight should leave the field, lest their fear shake them up so that it would affect the entire army. Three men are singled out by the Torah: he who has a newly built house that has not been inaugurated; he who has planted a vineyard and has not redeemed its fruit of the fourth year; and he who has betrothed a woman and not yet married her. The Torah posits that these individuals fear that they will not complete the job they had begun. A number of lessons can…

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Back to Home -> Tetzaveh ->

“A gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate on the hem of the robe all around.” (28:34)

“And the Choshen shall not be loosened from the Eiphod. ” (28:28)

“And these are the garments they shall make.” (28:4)

“And you will command Bnei Yisrael and they shall take for you pure olive oil, beaten for light, to fuel the eternal light.” (27:20)

The Kohen shall look at the affliction on the skin of his flesh….and declare him contaminated. (13:3)

He shall dwell in isolation; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. (13:46)

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

When a woman who conceives and gives birth to a male…on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (12:2,3)

Our hands did not shed this blood and our eyes did not see. ( 21:7)

Who is the man who has built a new house and has not inaugurated it? Let him go and return to his house. (20:5)

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