Sruly Schnair – Page 3 – Peninim on the Torah

ועשית בגדי קדש לאהרן אחיך לכבוד ולתפארת

You shall fill it with stone mounting, four rows of stone … and the fourth row, tarshish, shoham and yashfeh. (28:17, 20)

You shall make bigdei kodesh, vestments of sanctity. Were they used for sanctity or did they become holy when Aharon wore them to perform the Priestly service, or did the artisans craft them with the intention of making them holy? Perhaps it was their designation for the Kohen Gadol who would perform the Divine Service in the Sanctuary that lent holiness to these vestments. Clothing on its own is not intrinsically holy. When it is worn by a saintly person in the course of his performing a holy function, however, it transforms from garment to holy vestment. Once the garments…

Home -> 5786 -> Tetzaveh

ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל ... ושכנתי בתוך בני ישראל

Sruly Schnair In Tetzaveh, 5786

I shall set My meeting there with Bnei Yisrael … I shall rest My Presence among Bnei Yisrael. (29:43,45)

Midrash Rabbah (Shemos 33) “quotes” Hashem as saying, “I sold/gave you My Torah – I sold Myself with it.” This may be compared to a king who had one single daughter whom he loved very much. Another king betrothed her and now asked permission to take his new wife to his country. The father replied, “She is my only daughter. On the one hand, I cannot divest myself of her. On the other hand, she is your wife and must follow her husband. I ask only that, wherever you set up your home, you construct a small room for me,…

Home -> 5786 -> Terumah

ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם

Sruly Schnair In Terumah, 5786

Let them take for Me a portion from every man whose heart motivates him… They shall make a Sanctuary for Me – so that I may dwell among them. (25:2,9)

Parashas Terumah focuses on the construction of the Mishkan, the Sanctuary in which the Shechinah, Divine Presence, would repose among Klal Yisrael. One question requires elucidation. The parshah is unquestionably all about the construction of a holy place for the Shechinah – the Mishkan. Why, then, is the parshah called Terumah, contribution, and not Mishkan, Sanctuary? Perhaps the Torah seeks to convey a profound message: Holiness is not merely found in the structure itself, but in the willingness and predisposition of the people to give of themselves to create it. While the MIshkan was designated as the place where the…

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ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו

Sruly Schnair In Terumah, 5786

Let them take for Me a portion from every man whose heart motivates him. (25:2)

The opening command of our Parshah represents the first appeal for funds. Moshe Rabbeinu made the appeal, but he was doing so at the behest of Hashem. Perhaps, this is something we should consider when someone asks us to open our wallets to support a worthy cause: Whoever is making the request is acting on behalf of an institution or a chesed that has Hashem’s henpeck, seal of approval. Otherwise, he should not be soliciting our funds. Parashas Terumah may begin with the first fund-raising campaign, but it is far more than a construction appeal. It represents the Torah’s foundational…

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ועשית את הקרשים למשכן עצי שטים עמדים

Sruly Schnair In Terumah, 5786

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

The Mishkan’s walls were comprised of huge planks of acacia wood. Rashi wonders why the Torah refers to the kerashim, planks, as ha’kerashim, the planks, with the hay ha’yediah, definite article, as though these were planks with which we were familiar (at the time). He quotes Midrash Tanchuma (91) that, indeed, these were no ordinary planks. They were the product of trees that Avraham Avinu originally planted. Yaakov Avinu was fully aware that he was descending into the Egyptian galus, exile. He also knew that one day his descendants would be liberated, receive the Torah, followed by Hashem’s command that…

Home -> 5786 -> Mishpatim

ורצע אדניו את אזנו במרצע ועבדו לעלם

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5786

And the master shall bore through his ear with the awl, and he shall serve him forever. (21:6)

Chazal (Kiddushin 22b) explain why the ear is the organ of the body that is pierced: “It is the ear that heard on Har Sinai that Bnei Yisrael should be servants (only) to Me, and this man went and acquired a (new) master for himself.” The obvious question is: if the purpose of the piercing is to reprimand the eved, bondsman, for continuing his servitude, why was it not pierced when he originally sold himself to pay for his ill-begotten debts? Why wait until the end of his tenure? Furthermore, why is the master the one who bores the ear?…

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ורפא ירפא

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5786

He shall provide for healing. (21:18)

Horav Aharon Leib Shteinman, zl, asks why the closing b’rachah, Bircas Refa’einu, the blessing for healing, is Rofeh cholei Amo Yisrael; Hashem heals the Jewish people. Does He not heal everyone? If Hashem does not “agree” to the patient being healed, he will not be healed. He explains, based upon a story that occurred when the Gaon, zl, m’Vilna, refused to turn to doctors for assistance in healing. He was a firm believer (following Ramban, commentary to Vayikra 20:11) that one who fears and places his trust only in Hashem will be healed by the Divine Himself. Nonetheless, during his…

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כי תראה חמור שנאך רבץ תחת משאו וחדלת מעזב לו – עזב תעזב עמו

Sruly Schnair In Mishpatim, 5786

If you see the donkey of someone you hate crouching under its burden, would you refrain from helping him? You shall help repeatedly with him. (23:5)

“Someone you hate.” Jews are not supposed to hate. V’ahavta l’reiacha kamocha; “Love your fellow as yourself” is a cornerstone of our faith. Obviously, this is not the common hatred based on envy and other social flaws. This must be a hate that falls under the rubric of permissibility, such as a fellow Jew who persistently commits sinful behavior – despite being warned and admonished repeatedly to desist from his spiritually egregious activities. Until that time that he listens and repents, he may be the focus of our disdain and even loathing. Such a person harms not only himself, but…

Home -> 5786 -> Yisro

ויחד יתרו על כל הטובה אשר עשה ד' לישראל

Sruly Schnair In Yisro, 5786

Yisro rejoiced over all the good that Hashem had done for Yisrael. (18:9)

Rashi translates va’yichad Yisro as va’yismach Yisro, as rejoicing over the salvation of Am Yisrael. The Brisker Rav, zl (cited by Horav Eliyahu Baruch Finkel, zl) explains Yisro’s b’rachah as a blessing of gomeil, gratitude to Hashem. We would normally think that the person who recites the blessing is none other than the direct beneficiary of Hashem’s favor. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 219:4), however, rules that one can fulfill his obligation to bless through the medium of his fellow’s blessing. This means that “Reuven” can bentch gomeil for “Shimon,” and Shimon will have properly discharged his religious duty to…

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ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר

Sruly Schnair In Yisro, 5786

And Yisrael encamped there, opposite the mountain. (19:2)

Rashi notes that the verb, va’yichan, they encamped, is written in the singular, rather than in the plural, va’yachanu. This teaches us that the huge multitude of people, which comprised the nation that was about to receive the Torah, was camped k’ish echad, b’lev echad, like a single person with one heart. Klal Yisrael’s unity is critical to its survival as a Torah nation. Only when they were united in their goal of hearing and accepting the d’var Hashem, word of G-d, would they be ready to receive the Torah. A number of points concerning the concept of k’ish echad…

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ועשית בגדי קדש לאהרן אחיך לכבוד ולתפארת

You shall fill it with stone mounting, four rows of stone … and the fourth row, tarshish, shoham and yashfeh. (28:17, 20)

ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל ... ושכנתי בתוך בני ישראל

I shall set My meeting there with Bnei Yisrael … I shall rest My Presence among Bnei Yisrael. (29:43,45)

ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם

Let them take for Me a portion from every man whose heart motivates him… They shall make a Sanctuary for Me – so that I may dwell among them. (25:2,9)

ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו

Let them take for Me a portion from every man whose heart motivates him. (25:2)

ועשית את הקרשים למשכן עצי שטים עמדים

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

ורצע אדניו את אזנו במרצע ועבדו לעלם

And the master shall bore through his ear with the awl, and he shall serve him forever. (21:6)

ורפא ירפא

He shall provide for healing. (21:18)

כי תראה חמור שנאך רבץ תחת משאו וחדלת מעזב לו – עזב תעזב עמו

If you see the donkey of someone you hate crouching under its burden, would you refrain from helping him? You shall help repeatedly with him. (23:5)

ויחד יתרו על כל הטובה אשר עשה ד' לישראל

Yisro rejoiced over all the good that Hashem had done for Yisrael. (18:9)

ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר

And Yisrael encamped there, opposite the mountain. (19:2)

YEARS

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