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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5783

וביום פקדי ופקדתי עלהם חטאתם

Sruly Schnair
In 5783, Ki Sisa

On the day I make an accounting (of sins) I will bring their sin to account against them. (32:34)

The sin of the Golden Calf is mind-boggling. Klal Yisrael is essentially a holy people. In addition, this outrage occurred shortly after the Giving of the Torah. How could they have fallen to such a nadir, so fast? While a number of expositions focus on the nation’s spiritual/emotional level, the simple explanation for their actions is that they really did not perpetrate the sin. It was actually the eirev rav, mixed multitude of Egyptians, who joined our people as we were leaving, claiming allegiance to Hashem. They were the ones responsible for making the Golden Calf; they were the ones…

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5783

ויאמר אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך ד' ילך נא ד' בקרבינו כי עם קשה עורף הוא

Sruly Schnair
In 5783, Ki Sisa

If I have favor in Your eyes, My Lord, let my Lord go among us – for it is a stuff-necked people. (34:9)

A superficial reading of the pasuk will cause the reader to pause and question Moshe Rabbeinu’s comment concerning the stiff-necked nature of Klal Yisrael. On the surface, stiff-necked does not appear to be a positive attribute. It denotes one who is imperious, overly-assertive, and pretentious. These traits may have positive sides to them, but Moshe was seeking to ameliorate their side – not to present it as an act of chutzpah by a people who seem to have audacity as part of their DNA. When seeking forgiveness for the nation, it would seem best to downplay their brashness. Horav Moshe…

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Home -> 5783 -> Tetzaveh

ואתה תצוה את בני ישראל... ואתה הקרב אליך את אהרן אחיך... ונשא אהרן את משפט בני ישראל על לבו

Sruly Schnair
In Tetzaveh, 5783

Now you shall command Bnei Yisrael… bring near to yourself Aharon your brother… and Aharon shall bear the judgment of Bnei Yisrael on his heart. (27:20; 28:1,30)

In his commentary to the beginning of this parshah, the Baal HaTurim notes that this parshah is the only one since Moshe Rabbeinu’s birth in which his name is not mentioned. He attributes this to Moshe’s declaration (following the sin of the Golden Calf) to Hashem, “If You will not forgive the people in their indiscretion, then Micheini na miSifrecha, “Erase me (my name) from Your Book.” The power of Moshe’s demand that his name be removed from the Torah was so strong that, regardless of the stipulation, his words had an indelible impact: his name was omitted from one…

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Home -> 5783 -> Tetzaveh

ואתה תצוה את בני ישראל ויקחו אליך שמן זית זך כתית למאור להעלת נר תמיד

Sruly Schnair
In Tetzaveh, 5783

Now you shall command Bnei Yisrael that they shall take for you pure olive oil, pressed, for illumination, to kindle a lamp continually. (27:20)

Two people of similar backgrounds attended the same schools and were mentored by the same rebbeim. Nonetheless, the level of fear of Heaven of one is far stronger and more committed than the other. One is more meticulous concerning his mitzvah observance than the other. How did this happen? In a powerful and enlightening essay, Horav Shlomo Wolbe, zl, sheds light on this disparity. He begins with a simple analogy to a clothing purchase. While most of us purchase our suits off the rack, those who can afford it – and who are fastidious about fit and appearance –custom-tailor their…

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Home -> 5783 -> Tetzaveh

ואתה הקרב אליך את אהרן אחיך

Sruly Schnair
In Tetzaveh, 5783

Now you bring near to yourself Aharon your brother. (28:1)

Chazal (Shemos Rabbah, Tetzaveh 37:4) teach that Moshe Rabbeinu was not overjoyed that Hashem endowed the Kehunah, priesthood, to Aharon and his descendants. It is not that Moshe begrudged Aharon. On the contrary, he was happy that his older brother was granted such an exalted mission. He just wanted to serve Hashem in every possible manner. Hashem assuaged Moshe’s feelings. He said, “I had the Torah, which I gave to you (to give to Klal Yisrael). If not for the Torah, I would have lost My world.” Hashem told Moshe that the Torah was His most precious possession, because of…

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Home -> 5783 -> Tetzaveh

ואתה תדבר אל כל חכמי לב אשר מלאתיו רוח חכמה ועשו את בגדי אהרן לקדשו לכהנו לי

Sruly Schnair
In Tetzaveh, 5783

And you shall speak to every wise-hearted person whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, and they shall make the vestments of Aharon, to sanctify him to minister to Me. (28:3)

The Torah refers to the craftsmen who fashioned the various vessels used in the Mishkan and the priestly vestments which the Kohanim were enjoined to wear when performing the avodah, service, as chachmei lev, wise-hearted people. The pasuk states that Hashem filled these men with chochmah, wisdom. Why was it necessary for these men to be invested with Heavenly wisdom? Ramban explains that the Bigdei Kehunah, priestly vestments, require that its manufacture be lishmah, for its purpose, and it is possible that it even required kavanah, intent, as well. In order that they understand what they are doing, Hashem infused…

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Home -> 5783 -> Tetzaveh

ונתת אל חשן המשפט את האורים ואת התמים והיו על לב אהרן

Sruly Schnair
In Tetzaveh, 5783

You shall place the Urim and the Tumim into the Choshen HaMishpat, so that they will be over Aharon’s heart. (28:30)

When Hashem revealed Himself to Moshe Rabbeinu in the burning bush, instructing him to go to Egypt and serve as the medium for redeeming the Jewish People – Moshe did not respond with an outright “no.” Rather, he said, “Send whom You are accustomed to send” – Aharon HaKohen. Moshe feared overshadowing Aharon, his older brother, who had until now been the preeminent leader of the Jewish People. He refused to dethrone him out of his overwhelming sensitivity for his brother’s feelings. It was only after Hashem told Moshe that Aharon was on his way to greet him and V’ra’acha…

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Home -> 5783 -> Terumah

וצפית אותו זהב טהור מבית ומבחוץ תצפנו

Sruly Schnair
In Terumah, 5783

You shall cover it with pure gold, from within and from without shall you cover it. (25:11)

Chazal (Yoma 72b) derive from here that a talmid chacham, Torah scholar, should be consistent; in other words, his inner character must correspond with his public demeanor: Tocho k’baro; his internal rectitude should coincide with his outward conduct. The Torah does not brook hypocrisy. The Aron HaKodesh, which is the repository of the Torah scroll, symbolizes the crown of Torah. As it is covered with gold both within and without, it alludes to the requisite character of a Torah scholar. Horav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Shlita, relates a shailah, halachic query, that was posed to him by an individual who thought that…

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Home -> 5783 -> Terumah

ונתת את הכפרת על הארן מלמעלה ואל הארן תתן את העדת

Sruly Schnair
In Terumah, 5783

You shall place the lid on the Aron from above, and into the Aron you shall put the Testimony. (25:21)

Rashi notes that the Torah previously mentioned (Ibid. 25:16), “And you shall put into the Aron the Testimony.” He explains that it is teaching us that, while it is an Aron alone without the Kapores, lid, on it, he shall place the Eidus, Testimony (Torah) into it, and afterwards he should place the lid on it. Ramban argues, claiming that the pasuk indicates the sequence to be Kapores – then Eidus. Rashi clearly is of the opinion that when the Aron was brought into the Mishkan, the Eidus was already inside of it, and the Kapores was above. Once it…

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Home -> 5783 -> Terumah

ועשית את הקרשים למשכן עצי שטים

Sruly Schnair
In Terumah, 5783

You shall make the planks of the Mishkan of shittim (acacia) wood. (26:15)

Rashi comments that Yaakov Avinu anticipated the need for lumber for the building of the Mishkan. Aware that wood was not a commodity one found in the barren wilderness, he planted these trees in Egypt upon his arrival. He instructed his children that when they would eventually leave Egypt – at the end of their exile – they should take the wood with them. Horav Doniel Alter, Shlita (son of the Pinchas Menachem), adds that immediately upon his arrival in what was to be galus Mitzrayim, the Egyptian exile, Yaakov sought to imbue his children and all his future descendants…

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