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Home -> 5785 -> Acharei Mos

כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם מכל חטאתיכם

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5785

For on this day he shall provide atonement for you; to cleanse you from all your sins. (16:30)

While the following well-known story takes place on Yom Kippur, it is not a Yom Kippur story – but, rather, a story of teshuvah, repentance and redemption. Hashem’s mercy is infinite. Regardless of how far one has distanced himself from Hashem; regardless of the gravity of his transgressions, the shaarei teshuvah, gates of repentance, are never locked. Indeed, even the most sinful individual can ascend to great heights following sincere repentance. A single moment of sincere teshuvah can transform a life of egregious error. Chazal (Avodah Zarah 17a) relate the story of Elazar ben Dordaya, who lived a life of…

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Home -> 5785 -> Acharei Mos

כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם מכל חטאתיכם לפני ד' תטהרו

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5785

For on this day He shall provide atonement for you to cleanse yourself; from all your sins before Hashem shall you be cleansed. (16:30)

In Pachad Yitzchak, Yom Kippur 1, Horav Yitzchak Hutner, zl, cites Rabbeinu Yonah (Shaar 2:14) who writes: “It is a positive mitzvah of the Torah for a person to awaken his spirit to return/perform teshuvah on Yom Kippur.” He quotes the above pasuk which intimates that it is a specific mitzvah to perform teshuvah on Yom Kippur (exclusive of the mitzvah to repent from one’s sins at all times). The Rosh Yeshivah wonders wherein lies the difference between teshuvah all year and teshuvah on Yom Kippur. He explains that the mitzvah to repent all year/all of the time, whenever one…

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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 -> 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

ופשט את בגדי הבד אשר לבש בבאו אל הקדש והניחם שם

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5784

He shall remove the linen vestments that he had worn when he entered the Sanctuary, and he shall leave them there. (16:23)

After the Kohen Gadol completed the Yom Kippur service, he removed the white linen vestments that he had worn upon entering the Holy of Holies. We wonder why he should discard such expensive garments. Why can he not wear them the following year? Horav Zalman Sorotzkin, zl, explains that the white linen vestments leave a powerful impact upon the Kohen Gadol. He realizes that the white linen is essentially the same material used to sew shrouds. The priestly vestments accompany him into the Holy of Holies, while the shrouds are the garments he wears when he meets his Maker. He…

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Home -> 5784 -> Acharei Mos

ולקח מלא המחתה גחלי אש מעל המזבח... ומלא חפניו קטרת סמים דקה... ונתן את הקטרת על האש לפני ה'

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5784

He shall take a shovelful of fiery coals from atop the Altar and his cupped handful of finely ground incense spices… He shall place the incense upon the fire before Hashem. (16:12,13)

The incense service performed on Yom Kippur was unique in that it could only be performed by the Kohen Gadol, who performed this service only once a year in the Kodesh HaKodoshim, Holy of Holies. The Kohen Gadol would scoop a shovelful of burning coals from the outer Altar, then fill his hands with the incense, which he then placed into a ladle. With the shovel in his right hand and the ladle in his left hand, the Kohen Gadol would proceed into the Holy of Holies where he would pour the incense onto the fire, after which the smoke…

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Home -> 5783 -> Acharei Mos

את משפטי תעשו ואת חקתי תשמרו ללכת בהם ... ושמרתם את חקתי ואת משפטי... וחי בהם

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5783

Carry out My laws and safeguard My decrees to follow/go (in) them… You shall observe My decrees and My laws … and by which he shall live. (18:4,5)

The Ksav Sofer writes that a Jew’s primary function is to go forward, not to remain stagnant, relegated to living a life of spiritual status quo. This means, Laleches bahem, to go in them, to grow in them, with Torah and mitzvos serving as the vehicle for spiritual expansion. Horav Aharon Leib Shteinman, zl, was examined by a well-known eye doctor. As part of the examination, the doctor placed drops in Rav Shteinman’s eyes. As the doctor was putting the drops in, Rav Shteinman mused, “Doctor, do you not become bored doing this day in and day out?” The doctor…

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Home -> 5783 -> Acharei Mos

וידבר ד' אל משה אחרי מות שני בני אהרן בקרבתם לפני ד' וימתו

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5783

Hashem spoke to Moshe after the death of Aharon’s two sons, when they approached before Hashem, and they died. (16:1)

The text of this pasuk is redundant, since it mentions the deaths of Nadav and Avihu twice in the same pasuk. Daas Zekeinim m’Baalei Tosfos explain that the Torah mentions death twice, since they left no offspring to continue their legacy. For reasons of their own, they did not marry. Thus, it is considered as if they died twice: once when they left this world; and again because they left no one to carry on the memory of their lives and achievements. Horav Zev Weinberger, zl, cites the Talmud Moed Kattan (24a), “When they told Rabbi Yochanan that Rabbi Chaninah…

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Home -> 5782 -> Acharei Mos

וחי בהם

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5782

By which he shall live. (18:5)

If one cannot/does not live bahem, in them (Torah and mitzvos), he has no life; he is not living in the true sense of the word. A life without purpose is not living. Torah gives purpose to life. The Chiddushei HaRim interprets the enjoinment of V’chai bahem as an exhortation to live through mitzvah performance; mitzvos should be alive, our primary sense of joy, through which we enthusiastically live life to the fullest by observing mitzvos to perfection. Anyone who has ever davened well, studied through a difficult blatt, page, of Gemorah will attest to such an ecstatic, rapt feeling….

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Home -> 5782 -> Acharei Mos

ומאת עדת בני ישראל יקח שני שעירי עזים לחטאת

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5782

From the assembly of Bnei Yisrael, he shall take two he-goats for a sin-offering. (16:5)

Actually, only one of the he-goats was used as a sin-offering. The other one was sent into the wilderness to Azazel. Why does the Torah refer to them both as a chatas? Horav Zev Weinberger, zl (Shemen HaTov), explains that both he-goats were selected (almost) simultaneously, with a requirement that their appearances resemble one another. At first, they were both potentially a sin-offering. Ultimately, only one “makes it,” because the other one was selected to be a Korban l’Azazel. A powerful lesson to be derived herein. We see that it is not one’s direct personal achievements that carry weight, but…

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