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Home -> 5779 -> Emor

וספרתם לכם ממחחרת שבת

Sruly Schnair
In Emor, 5779

You shall count for yourselves – from the morrow. (23:15)

The halachah, as recorded in Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 493:1, states that the prevalent custom is not to make weddings between Pesach and Shavuos (during a specific thirty-three day period), because it was during this time that the students of Rabbi Akiva (twenty-four thousand) died. The Talmud (Menachos 29b) states: “Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav, when Moshe Rabbeinu ascended Har Sinai to receive the Torah, he found Hashem attaching crowns to some of the letters of the Torah. Moshe asked, ‘Hashem, who is holding You back (preventing you from making the Torah larger)?’ Hashem replied, ‘One day, there…

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Home -> 5779 -> Emor

ויציאו אתו כל העדה אל מחוץ למחנה וירגמו אתו באבנים ...ויוציאו את המקלל מחוץ למחנה וירגמו אתו אבן

Sruly Schnair
In Emor, 5779

And they took the blasphemer to the outside of the camp, and stoned him to death. (24:23) The entire assembly removed him to the outside of the camp, they pelted him with stones and he died. (Bamidbar 15:36)

The Torah is teaching us about the punishment meted out to the mekallel, blasphemer. In Sefer Bamidbar, the Torah relates the punishment which the mechallel Shabbos, desecrator of Shabbos, received. The mekoshesh eitzim, the individual who gathered twigs on Shabbos, was stoned, as was the blasphemer. While their punishments were similar, the Torah’s description of the actual execution is textually different. With regard to the mekallel, the Torah writes, Vayirgemu oso even, “They stoned him with even,” which means one stone. Concerning the meksohesh, however, the Torah writes, Vayirgemu oso b’avanim, “They stoned him with stones.” Why is the blasphemer stoned…

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Home -> 5779 -> Kedoshim

קדשים תהיו כי קדוש אני

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5779

You shall be holy, for holy am I. (19:2)

For a Jew, being “good” is insufficient. We are to be a holy people, holy to Hashem, because He is the Source of holiness.  It would make sense that His nation is expected to strive to be G-d-like. The choice of words, ki kadosh Ani, “For holy am I,” begs elucidation. No human being, regardless of his spiritual stature, can aspire to achieve such holiness. In the sefer Sifsei Tzaddikim, the author offers an insightful exposition based on an incident that he heard from Horav Aharon Klivaner, zl (a maggid). When Rav Aharon was a youth studying in the yeshivah…

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Home -> 5779 -> Kedoshim

איש אמו ואביו תיראו

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5779

Every man: Your mother and father shall you revere. (19:3)

Reverence and fear (which is the literal translation of tirah) are closely related. I think fear born of reverence is unlike fear which is the result of retribution. Thus, one is to fear his/her parents through the lens of reverence and esteem in which he holds them. This mitzvah prohibits anything negative, such as sitting in a parents’ seat, contradicting or interrupting them. One should act toward a parent in much the same manner in which he respects a monarch. The Torah should have simply written: Your father and mother shall you revere. Why does the Torah add ish, every…

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Home -> 5779 -> Kedoshim

ולא תשבען בשמי לשקר

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5779

Do not swear falsely by My Name. (19:12)

Swearing falsely occurs in one of four formats: two referencing the past; either falsely confirming that something occurred, or denying its occurrence; or two referencing the future, either by promising that he will carry out a specific activity, or affirming that he will not. In any event, swearing falsely, using Hashem’s Name to validate the oath is a grievous sin from which any decent, G-d-fearing Jew should be repulsed. Having said this, a story which Horav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Shlita, heard from Horav Chaim Kanievsky, Shlita, which occurred concerning the holy Maharsha, comes to mind. A widow came before the Maharsha,…

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Home -> 5779 -> Kedoshim

והייתם לי קדשים כי קדוש אני ה' ואבדיל אתכם מן העמים להיות לי

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5779

You shall be holy for Me, for I Hashem am holy; and I have separated you from the peoples to be Mine. (20:26)

There has to be a separation between the Jew and the gentile. This does not mean that we should not act properly. On the contrary, by acting with dignity and mentchlichkeit, we earn their respect and admiration. This also does not suggest adopting their culture and lifestyle. We are distinct, and our distinctiveness is an inherent part of our essence. Rabbeinu Bachya writes that we are separated as a result of the chochmas haTorah, wisdom acquired through the Torah, which impels us to distinguish ourselves in what we eat, the manner that we eat, our mode of dress (and our…

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Home -> 5779 -> Acharei Mos

ונתן אהרן על שני השעירים גרלות גורל אחד לד' וגורל אחד לעזאזל

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5779

Aharon shall place lots upon the two he-goats: one lot “for Hashem”; and one lot “for Azazel.” (16:8)

The two goats are identical in every way; yet, one becomes a korban, sacrifice, to Hashem, while the other is sent to Azazel. Apparently, the goats had no say in the matter. We assume that this also happens to people. Two people both do all of the right things (or at least they thought so), but one makes it, while the other does not fare as well. What happened? What about bechirah chafshis, freedom of choice? It almost seems that regardless of past choices, one’s future is determined for him. Clearly, this is not true. If we are taught that…

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Home -> 5779 -> Acharei Mos

ושפך את דמו וכסהו בעפר

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5779

He shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. (17:13)

The Torah commands us to cover part of the blood of the kosher birds or non-domesticated kosher animals that he slaughters. The Sefer HaChinuch explains that the shoresh, root, of this mitzvah is in the relationship between the soul of the slaughtered animal or fowl and its blood. Blood is the life source of the living animal, thus, it is fitting for us to cover the soul and hide it from the eye prior to consuming its meat. When we eat the meat with the blood exposed, we acquire a tinge of cruelty in our souls. In other words, to…

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Home -> 5779 -> Acharei Mos

כמעשה ארץ מצרים אשר ישבתם בה לא תעשו

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5779

Do not perform the practice of the land of Egypt in which you dwelled. (18:3)

The holy Peshischa, Horav Bunim, zl, renders this pasuk homiletically, deriving from the ensuing exegesis an important lesson for Jewish living. On an almost constant basis we are confronted with challenges to our spiritual well-being. These challenges come in the context of our base desires. We must exert extreme effort to overcome these physical passions, which scream out to us: “Why not be like everybody else?” Obviously, the optimum defense to triumph over the yetzer hora, evil inclination, and its wiles is to circumvent a confrontation between the provocation of physical desire and spiritual ascendancy. By providing ourselves with a…

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Home -> 5779 -> Acharei Mos

אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5779

Which man shall carry out and by which he shall live. (18:5)

The mitzvos were given to us for the sake of life and living. Therefore, if the performance of a mitzvah may endanger life – the need to maintain one’s life supersedes his observance of the mitzvah. The exceptions to this rule are the three cardinal sins: murder; idol worship; and adultery. A life in which these mitzvos are not observed is no life at all. The Chassidic Masters derive from this pasuk the requirement to observe mitzvos with “life” – not apathetically. One should throw all of himself into his mitzvah observance. Indeed, it should be the source, the raison…

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