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Home -> 5784 -> Acharei Mos

כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5784

For on this day, he shall provide atonement for you. (16:30)

The Yom Kippur service revolves around the Kohen Gadol, in the sense that he has the leading role in performing the service, the culmination of which is his entrance into the Kodesh HaKodoshim, Holy of Holies. The Kohen Gadol had been accorded extraordinary honor when he left his home one week prior to Yom Kippur, enroute to the Bais HaMikdash. Tens of thousands of Kohanim and Leviim, along with the rest of Klal Yisrael, accompanied him on this “journey.” This display of kavod haTorah, honor accorded to a person who represents Torah, was unusual. What did the Kohen Gadol do…

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Home -> 5784 -> Acharei Mos

אשר ישחט מחוץ למחנה. ואל פתח אהל מועד לא הביאו... דם יחשב לאיש ההוא דם שפך

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5784

Who will slaughter it outside the camp. And he has not brought it to the entrance of the Ohel Moed… it shall be considered as bloodshed for that man, he has shed blood. (17:3,4)

At one time, murder was an egregious sin, while hunting animals, taking the life of an animal for no other reason other than it suits one’s fancy, was not considered sinful. The Torah teaches us otherwise. Horav Simchah Wasserman, zl, observes the text of the pasuk concerning shechutei chutz, slaughtering consecrated animals outside of the environs of the Ohel Moed: Dam yeichashev…dam shafach, “It shall be considered bloodshed… he has shed blood:” When a person kills an animal in a manner upon which the Torah frowns or prohibits, it is considered shefichas damim, bloodshed. The Rosh Yeshivah explains how the…

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Home -> 5784 -> Metzora

זאת תהיה תורת המצרע ביום טהרתו

Sruly Schnair
In Metzora, 5784

This shall be the law of the metzora on the day of his purification. (14:2)

One sins – he is punished. It is as simple as that. Lashon hora, the sin of slanderous speech, is apparently different. Shortly after he commits the act of defaming his fellow, he is visited by various negaim, plagues, which first appear on the walls of his house. Then, if his scurrilous activity does not cease, he will see the plague make an appearance on his clothes. If he still does not get the message, he becomes a metzora, spiritual leper, which requires him to be removed from the community and take up residence in isolation. It seems that the…

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Home -> 5784 -> Metzora

זאת תהיה תורת המצרע ביום טהרתו

Sruly Schnair
In Metzora, 5784

This shall be the law of the metzora on the day of his purification. (14:2)

Probably more has been written concerning the sin of lashon hora than any other aveirah. Its common occurrence is due to human failing. Veritably, the only way to protect oneself from falling prey to the abyss of lashon hora is not to speak. Two powerful vignettes inspires one to think twice before he speaks ill of others. A young man came to the saintly Horav Shloimke, zl, m’Zevhill, and petitioned the Rebbe for a blessing. He and his wife had been married for a considerable amount of time and had yet to be blessed with a child. They were broken-hearted….

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Home -> 5784 -> Metzora

זאת תהיה תורת המצורע ביום טהרתו

Sruly Schnair
In Metzora, 5784

This shall be the law of the metzora on the day of his purification. (14:2)

Taharah, purity from sin, can only be achieved once the sinner has repented. While repentance addresses the sin between man and Hashem, the hurt that he has caused his fellow can only be ameliorated once he sincerely asks for mechilah, forgiveness. Otherwise, he has achieved nothing. What about the sin of lashon hora, whereby one has slandered his fellow, but the fellow is unaware of this incursion? Does the baal lashon hora need to meet with his victim and inform him, “I spoke lashon hora about you, and I would like to beg your forgiveness”? Why not let “sleeping dogs…

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Home -> 5784 -> Metzora

וזאת תהיה תורה המצורע ביום טהרתו

Sruly Schnair
In Metzora, 5784

This shall be the law of the metzora on the day of his purification. (14:2)

No purification process is more extensive than the one for the metzora. As soon as the plague surfaces, the metzora is to go to the Kohen. He is then isolated for seven days to see if it will disappear. If it is clearly tamei, a nega, plague, for which one becomes ritually impure, he is sent out of the three machanos, camps. He must be completely isolated with no one nearby and sit, wearing torn clothes, to ponder how he has ended up in this miserable place. Once the signs of impurity have disappeared and the metzora is declared healed,…

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Home -> 5784 -> Metzora

להורות ביום הטמא וביום הטהור זאת תורת הצרעת

Sruly Schnair
In Metzora, 5784

To rule on which day it is contaminated and on which day it is purified; this is the law of tzaraas. (14:57)

Horav Eliezer Waldenberg (Tzitz Eliezer) was asked to issue a halachic ruling concerning doctors in a teaching hospital, who, when making daily rounds, would be accompanied by any number of students. Is it permissible to teach the students under such circumstances in which the students having the information provides no benefit to the patient? In teaching, the doctor must reveal the patient’s illness and prognosis, when, in fact, it does nothing more than offer information to the students at the expense of the patient’s privacy. Is this a violation of the oath of confidentiality, doctor/patient privilege? Rav Waldenberg rules that…

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Home -> 5784 -> Tazria

וביום השמיני ימול בשר ערלתו

Sruly Schnair
In Tazria, 5784

On the eighth day, his foreskin shall be circumcised. (12:3)

Chazal (Midrash Tanchuma) teach that Bris Milah is so beloved to Hashem that the Almighty promised Avraham Avinu that anyone who is mahul, circumcised, will not descend to Gehinom, Purgatory. While this idea in and of itself is incredible, it becomes more compelling when we take into consideration that it grants a free pass to even the most profligate sinner. Horav Shalom Schwadron, zl, explains this based on the conclusion of the Midrash, “Come and see how much Klal Yisrael love the mitzvos. They spend (large amounts of) money to celebrate and fulfill the mitzvos with great joy – even…

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Home -> 5784 -> Tazria

ובמלאות ימי טהרה ... תביא כבש בן שנתו לעולה ובן יונה או תור לחטאת

Sruly Schnair
In Tazria, 5784

Upon the completion of the days of her purity… she shall bring a sheep within its first year for an elevation/burnt offering, and a young dove or a turtledove for a sin-offering. (12:6)

The Baal HaTurim notes that, throughout the Torah, turim, young doves, are mentioned before bnei yonah, turtledoves, except for the korban of the yoledes, postpartum sacrifice, when bnei yonah precede turim. He explains that the korban which the woman brings at the end of her yemei taharah, days of purification, consists of a single bird – either a tor or a ben yonah. The nature of the turtledove (which also goes by the name mourning dove) is that, when it is separated from its mate, it mourns it and refuses to mate with another. Therefore, it is more appropriate to…

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Home -> 5784 -> Tazria

בדד ישב מחוץ למחנה מושבו

Sruly Schnair
In Tazria, 5784

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

Alone means completely alone – not simply as the result of his impure state. If that would have been the case, he would have been able to congregate in a “metzora colony” where everyone like him was tamei, ritually impure. Indeed, Rashi says that he should be secluded from other metzoraim as well. The reason for this is quite simple. The slanderer is supposed to spend quality time introspecting his own faults, rather than focusing on those of others. When a group of negative people get together, they only see the faults of others, never of themselves. They create an…

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