Sruly Schnair

ויאמר אברם אל לוט אל נא תהי מריבה ביני ובינך... כי אנשים אחים אנחנו... הפרד נא מעלי

And Avram said to Lot, “Please let there be no discord, please, between me and you… for we are kinsmen (men who are brothers)… Please separate from me.” (13:8,9)

It appears that the reason for them to separate from one another was their kinship. If they were not kinsmen, would discord have been more acceptable? Strife is strife – discord devastates – controversy destroys. Does it make a difference if the fight is between brothers or two unrelated individuals? Chazal (cited by Rashi) teach that Avraham Avinu and Lot had similar countenances. Does it make a difference whether or not they looked alike? The simple explanation is that Avraham was concerned with the fact that he and Lot looked the same. Imagine, one day Avraham is seen in the…

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ויאמר אליו אני ד' אשר הוצאתיך מאור כשדים

Sruly Schnair In Lech Lecha, 5779

And He (Hashem) said to him, “I am G-d Who brought you out of Uhr Kasdim.” (15:7)

The fact that the Torah does not mention the miracle of Avraham Avinu being spared from death in Uhr Kasdim, except in passing, begs elucidation. Hashem just says, “I am G-d Who brought you out of Uhr Kasdim” – nothing at all about saving him from certain death. Apparently, as far as our Patriarch was concerned, Uhr Kasdim was not much of a nisayon, test, for him. Why? Horav Yaakov Moshe Charlop, zl, explains that Avraham Avinu lived his life on the ultimate spiritual plateau of V’chai bahem, “By which he shall live” (Vayikra 18:5). This teaches that one’s entire…

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ויאמר אברם אל לוט אל נא תהי מריבה ביני ובינך...

Sruly Schnair In Lech Lecha, 5779

And Avram said to Lot, “Let there be no discord, please, between me and you….” (13:8)

Horav S.R. Hirsch, zl, teaches an important lesson concerning the grammatical syntax of the above pasuk. He explains that the word beineinu, between us, is used when the separation or union is not necessarily mutual. However, when the Torah repeats the bein, between, such as here, beini u’beinecha, between me and you, the union or separation is mutual. It is as if Avraham Avinu was intimating to Lot: “If we have discord, there can be no relationship between us. Our quarrel is mutual. There are things about you which do not please me, and I am certain that there are…

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

Sruly Schnair In Lech Lecha, 5779

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…

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ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן

Sruly Schnair In Lech Lecha, 5779

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…

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אלה תולדות נח נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו

Sruly Schnair In Noach, 5779

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…

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נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו

Sruly Schnair In Noach, 5779

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…

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נח איש צדיק

Sruly Schnair In Noach, 5779

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,…

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קנים תעשה את התבה

Sruly Schnair In Noach, 5779

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…

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ויאמר אלקים נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו

Sruly Schnair In Bereishis, 5779

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…

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ויאמר אברם אל לוט אל נא תהי מריבה ביני ובינך... כי אנשים אחים אנחנו... הפרד נא מעלי

And Avram said to Lot, “Please let there be no discord, please, between me and you… for we are kinsmen (men who are brothers)… Please separate from me.” (13:8,9)

ויאמר אליו אני ד' אשר הוצאתיך מאור כשדים

And He (Hashem) said to him, “I am G-d Who brought you out of Uhr Kasdim.” (15:7)

ויאמר אברם אל לוט אל נא תהי מריבה ביני ובינך...

And Avram said to Lot, “Let there be no discord, please, between me and you….” (13:8)

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)

ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן

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

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)

נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו

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

נח איש צדיק

Noach was a righteous person. (6:9)

קנים תעשה את התבה

Make the Ark with compartments. (6:14)

ויאמר אלקים נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו

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

YEARS

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