Rabbi L. Scheinbaum

ויקברו אתו יצחק וישמעאל בניו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chayei Sarah, 5773

His sons Yitzchak and Yishmael buried him. (25:9)

Rashi quotes Chazal in the Talmud Bava Basra 16b, who derive from the above pasuk which places Yitzchak before Yishmael that Yishmael repented his ways. The errant son told Yitzchak to precede him. This display of respect is an indicator of Yishmael’s spiritual well-being, resulting from his repentance. Apparently, the fact that Yishmael had come from a distance to attend the funeral was not a strong enough indication that he had changed. It was the fact that he allowed his younger brother, the one who “replaced” him as Avraham Avinu’s “son,” to precede him that serves as a proof of…

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ואברהם זקן בא בימים וה' ברך את אברהם בכל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chayei Sarah, 5773

Now Avraham was old, well on in his years, and Hashem had blessed him with everything. (24:1)

Avraham Avinu was the mechanech, educator, par-excellence. He taught a pagan world the truth of monotheism. He inspired as he taught, thus serving as the vehicle for promulgating belief in the Creator. As the first educator, he set the standard for excellence in education. His goal was not simply to teach his generation, but to set the parameters and lay down the rules for the most appropriate manner in which to inculcate one’s beliefs in his students. When we study the educational approach of the first Patriarch, we are confronted with two questions which are pointed out by Horav Arye…

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וישקל אברהם לעפרן את הכסף... ארבע מאות שקל כסף

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chayei Sarah, 5773

And Avraham weighed out to Efron the silver… four hundred Shekalim of silver. (23:16)

Avraham Avinu is confronted with one of the greatest challenges of his life. Perhaps it was not a spiritual challenge as much as it was emotional in nature. His wife- his partner in life- the mother of Yitzchak Avinu, had just died. The Patriarch had to deal with the funeral arrangements. It was not easy. He wanted a specific burial site, one which had already been used by Adam HaRishon and Chavah. He was determined to obtain this specific site. Efron owned it, and he was asking an exorbitant sum of money for its purchase. Avraham paid. No problem. It…

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ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chayei Sarah, 5773

Sarah’s life was one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years. (23:1)

The Torah informs us that Sarah Imeinu lived to be one hundred twenty seven years old. We are now aware of the Matriarch’s longevity, but what about her life? Very little is recorded concerning her actual life, what happened, what she did, what type of person she was: simple questions whose answers would characterize the first Matriarch. We have some idea concerning her outreach activities. Chazal teach that Sarah converted the women, while Avraham Avinu converted the men. They derive this from the pasuk, V’es ha’nefesh asher asu b’Charan, “And the souls which they made in Charan” (Bereishis 12:5). Sarah…

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ויהי בעצם היום הזה יצאו כל צבאות ד' מארץ מצרים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Bo, 5773

It was on this very day that all the legions of Hashem left the land of Egypt. (12:41)

Yetzias Mitzrayim, the exodus from Egypt, was the seminal event that commenced our journey toward nationhood, with its conclusion at Har Sinai, where we accepted the Torah and became Hashem’s People. The Torah is the contract that binds us to the Almighty, but it all started with yetzias Mitzrayim. Had we not been liberated, then we could never have achieved nationhood. Indeed, zechiras Yetzias Mitzrayim, remembering the Exodus, is part and parcel of Jewish tradition. Our national motif is included within the heritage of every Jewish Festival, as a constant reminder that the event we are presently celebrating would not…

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ואמרתם זבח פסח הוא לד'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Bo, 5773

It is a Pesach feast-offering to Hashem. (12:27)

The above pasuk is used as the response to the wise son in the Haggadah. The highlight of the Seder for many people is the recitation of the section addressing the arba banim, four sons. It allows us to reflect upon the individual natures and proclivities of different people and to analyze “what went wrong.” Why does one boy become a chacham, wise man, while another boy in the same class, from a similar family, becomes a rasha? It is in the genes, or is there more to it? I do not think that anyone has a definitive answer to…

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וישאלו איש מאת רעהו ואשה מאת רעותה כלי כסף וכלי זהב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Bo, 5773

Let each man request of his fellow and each woman from her fellow silver vessels and gold vessels. (11:2)

Klal Yisrael left Egypt with enormous material wealth. Hashem promised Avraham Avinu that his descendants would be subjugated to difficult toil and slavery. When they would be finally liberated, however, they would leave as kings, triumphant in their victory over tyranny and laden with material bounty. On Pesach night, we celebrate the Egyptian exodus by remembering that night of triumph. During the Seder, we recall the slavery, celebrate the liberation and praise the Almighty, Who orchestrated the entire experience. The Korban Pesach, Pascal-offering, was offered together with the Korban Chagigah, Festival-offering. We no longer have the Bais Hamikdash as a…

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ובני ישראל אכלו את המן ארבעים שנה...את המן אכלו עד באם אל קצה ארץ כנען

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Beshalach, 5773

Bnei Yisrael ate the manna for forty years…They ate the manna until their arrival at the border of the land of Canaan. (16:35)

In the Mechilta, Chazal teach that, Lo nitnah Torah lidrosh ela l’ochlei man, “The Torah was given to be expounded only by mann-eaters.” This means that there were positive reasons for the Torah to have been given to Klal Yisrael while they were in the midst of their forty-year sojourn to the Promised Land. The wilderness was an integral part of this experience. The Torah had to be given in the desolate wilderness. It is not just because Egypt’s prevailing environment was filled with spiritual bankruptcy and defilement. It was because to live in the desert is to defy the…

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איש לפי אכלו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Beshalach, 5773

For every man according to what he eats. (16:16)

Horav Moshe Kramer, zl, became rav in Vilna. Prior to his ascent to the rabbinate he was a grocer. Hence, the name Kramer, which in Yiddish is a grocer. His illustrious grandson, Horav Eliyahu Kramer, was none other than the Gaon, m’Vilna. The great sage, who has continued to illuminate the minds of thousands of Torah students throughout the last two centuries, was the product of a home built upon middos tovos, good character traits, and incredible trust in the Almighty. When Rav Moshe was asked to accept the position of rav, he accepted the position on the condition that…

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ויבאו בני ישראל בתוך הים ביבשה והמים להם חומה מימינם ומשמאלם...ובני ישראל הלכו ביבשה בתוך הים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Beshalach, 5773

Bnei Yisrael came within the sea on dry land and the water was a wall for them, on their right side and on their left. (14:22) Bnei Yisrael went on dry land in the midst of the sea. (14:29)

The commentators question the altering of the text in the sequence of the pesukim. First, why does the Torah repeat itself? Prior to the drowning of the Egyptians, the Torah writes that Bnei Yisrael “came within the sea on dry land.” Afterwards, when the Egyptians were no longer a threat, the Torah reiterates that the people “went on dry land in the midst of the sea.” Is this second pasuk necessary, once the Torah had already stated the same thing earlier? Furthermore, previously the Torah wrote that they went b’soch ha’yam ba’yabashah; “within the sea on dry land.” Following the…

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ויקברו אתו יצחק וישמעאל בניו

His sons Yitzchak and Yishmael buried him. (25:9)

ואברהם זקן בא בימים וה' ברך את אברהם בכל

Now Avraham was old, well on in his years, and Hashem had blessed him with everything. (24:1)

וישקל אברהם לעפרן את הכסף... ארבע מאות שקל כסף

And Avraham weighed out to Efron the silver… four hundred Shekalim of silver. (23:16)

ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים

Sarah’s life was one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years. (23:1)

ויהי בעצם היום הזה יצאו כל צבאות ד' מארץ מצרים

It was on this very day that all the legions of Hashem left the land of Egypt. (12:41)

ואמרתם זבח פסח הוא לד'

It is a Pesach feast-offering to Hashem. (12:27)

וישאלו איש מאת רעהו ואשה מאת רעותה כלי כסף וכלי זהב

Let each man request of his fellow and each woman from her fellow silver vessels and gold vessels. (11:2)

ובני ישראל אכלו את המן ארבעים שנה...את המן אכלו עד באם אל קצה ארץ כנען

Bnei Yisrael ate the manna for forty years…They ate the manna until their arrival at the border of the land of Canaan. (16:35)

איש לפי אכלו

For every man according to what he eats. (16:16)

ויבאו בני ישראל בתוך הים ביבשה והמים להם חומה מימינם ומשמאלם...ובני ישראל הלכו ביבשה בתוך הים

Bnei Yisrael came within the sea on dry land and the water was a wall for them, on their right side and on their left. (14:22) Bnei Yisrael went on dry land in the midst of the sea. (14:29)

YEARS

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