Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

Category

Back to Home -> Lech Lecha ->


זאת בריתי אשר תשמרו ביני וביניכם ובין זרעך אחריך המול לכם כל זכר

This is My Covenant which you shall keep between Me and you and your descendants after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. (17:10)

In addressing the mitzvah of Bris Milah, the Sefer HaChinuch writes: “One root reason for this precept is that Hashem wished to affix in the people that He set apart to be called by His Name a permanent sign on their bodies to distinguish them physically from the other nations. Just as they are differentiated in their spiritual form, their purpose and way in the world not being the same, their physical differentiation sets them apart as it constitutes the perfection of their physical form. Hashem Yisborach desired to refine the physical character of His chosen people, and He wanted…

Continue Reading

ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן

And the souls they made in Charan. (12:5)

Avraham Avinu made souls – so did Sarah Imeinu – each focusing on members of his or her own specific gender. Developing the spiritual qualities of their students and leading them to belief in the Almighty was much more than spiritual refinement. It was a process by which Avraham and Sarah transformed their students, actually made them anew. They developed the potential of each student, bringing it to the surface. They accomplished this through the medium of mitzvah performance, which teaches us that every act of mitzvah performance is transformative, capable of altering a Jew’s overall essence. In Pirkei Avos…

Continue Reading

אלה תולדות נח נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו

These are the offspring of Noach – Noach was a righteous person, perfect in his generations. (6:9)

The term toldos, offspring, can also refer to spiritual offspring, the progeny one creates via mentoring them. One’s horizon is not limited to his personal circle. True, one’s greatest impact is on those within his environs, within his grasp, but, through the medium of teaching Torah, one’s reach far extends his grasp. This lesson is taught by Rashi in his commentary to Bamidbar 3:1, “These are the offspring of Aharon and Moshe.” The Torah, however, goes on to list only the sons of Aharon. What happened to the sons of Moshe Rabbeinu? Rashi quotes the Talmud Sanhedrin 19b, from which…

Continue Reading

נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו

Noach was a righteous person, perfect in his generations. (6:9)

One of the more well-known debates among Chazal concerns the nature of Noach’s righteousness: Was it the real thing, or was it relative to the evildoers of his generation? Some sages maintain that it is in his praise: Noach was righteous even in his generation, which was corrupt. How much more so would he have been righteous in the generation of Avraham Avinu, which did not suffer from such an ignominious population? Others feel that b’dorosav, in his generations, is a critique of Noach, suggesting that only in his generation, which was extremely wicked, could he have earned such a…

Continue Reading

נח איש צדיק

Noach was a righteous person. (6:9)

Noach’s reputation as a tzaddik, righteous person, appears solid. He stood alone against a generation that had transformed corruption into a culture, a society that embraced and embodied decadence. One man against a world. This was Noach. He was compelled to live alone because, otherwise, the evil influence would have overpowered him. An individual who possesses such strength of character was worthy of being spared during the great Flood that engulfed the world. Eventually, it was Noach who was charged with rebuilding the world. Despite Noach’s personal distinction, the waters of the Flood are called mei Noach, waters of Noach,…

Continue Reading

קנים תעשה את התבה

Make the Ark with compartments. (6:14)

The simple explanation of this pasuk is that the Ark was built with various compartments to house its many “travelers.” Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 31:9) interpret kinnim as being derived from ken, a nest, referring to the birds which are offered by the metzora, spiritual leper, as penance for the sins that catalyzed the contraction of his disease. They comment, “As the ken metzora purifies the leper, so, too, does the Teivah, Ark, purify its passengers.” This is a reference to its human cargo, Noach and his family. Horav Reuven Karlinstein, zl, explains that the purification of the Teivah refers to…

Continue Reading

ויאמר אלקים נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו

And G-d said, “Let us make Man in Our image, in our likeness. (1:26)

We have the ability to perceive and study the most difficult subjects, to plumb the depths of the most intricate areas of science. When it comes to self-knowledge, however, some individuals still believe in the heresy of Darwinism. Horav Nissim Yagen, zl, explains it practically: “Because man thinks that he is himself a form of animal, therefore he believes that he descends from a monkey. If he would only recognize his actual inner essence, his extraordinary potential, he would be incapable of ever believing that he has descended from apes!” One who does not know or understand the value and…

Continue Reading

לא טוב היות האדם לבדו

It is not good that man be alone. (2:18)

This most telling pasuk defines the role of a wife in one’s life, ie, tov, good. When one is alone, he is missing that ingredient that transforms his life to “good.” The commentators, each in his own inimitable manner, offer their understanding of the word tov and how it affects – and is realized in – marriage. Years ago, I was privy to a conversation between a gadol, Torah giant, and a distinguished lay leader. The lay leader was sitting shivah, mourning the untimely passing of his wife, and the Rosh Yeshivah, who had sadly undergone a similar tragedy a…

Continue Reading

ויקם קין אל הבל אחיו ויהרגהו

And Kayin rose against his brother Hevel and killed him. (4:8)

The world consisted of four human beings. Kayin killed his brother Hevel. They were reduced to three people. Kayin was the world’s first murderer. Hevel was the world’s first victim. Without question, Kayin deserved to be punished for wiping out one-fourth of the world population. What about Hevel? One does not become a victim just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We do not believe in coincidence or chance. If Hevel was designated to be the victim, there is a reason. Nothing occurs in this world unless it has been Heavenly-decreed. Hevel must have acted…

Continue Reading

זה ספר תולדות אדם

This is the account of the descendants of Adam. (5:1)

The Midrash (cited by Yalkut Shemoni Bereishis 5:41) relates that Hashem passed all forthcoming generations before Adam HaRishon. When Adam saw that David Hamelech had been allotted only three hours of life, he asked, “Hashem, is there no remedy for this? (Is there not some way to lengthen David’s life?)” Hashem replied, “This is, indeed, what I had in mind (accept the three hours without question). Adam then asked, “How many years of life have I been allotted?” Hashem replied, “One thousand years.” Adam asked, “May I give a gift?” Hashem said, “Yes.” Adam then bequeathed seventy years of his…

Continue Reading

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

You have Successfully Subscribed!