Behar – Page 5 – Peninim on the Torah

If you will say: “What will we eat in the seventh year?”… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year. (25:20,21)

Shemittah is a mitzvah which infuses emunah and bitachon, faith and trust, in a Jew. Each Shemittah (Sabbatical year), a Jew turns his back on what seems to be the source of his sustenance, and he does not work his field for an entire year. Living through a Shemittah provides one with an incredible test of his faith in Hashem. One who emerges triumphant from this test has indeed strengthened his emunah in the Almighty. Imagine an individual walking off the job that has been his source of support for the past six years, saying, “I am not working this…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5771, Behar

If your brother becomes impoverished with you and is sold to you; you shall not work him with slave labor…you shall not subjugate him through hard labor. (25:39,43)

The Torah includes topics which some members of contemporary society might feel are no longer pertinent. They are wrong. Every word of the Torah has relevance and application today, as it did then. In his volume of divrei Torah from the Rosh Yeshivah, Horav Avraham Pam, zl, Rabbi Sholom Smith illustrates how Rav Pam applied the laws concerning eved Ivri, the Jewish bondsman to contemporary issues. There are two circumstances in which a Jew would sell himself as a slave to another Jew. In Parashas Mishpatim (Shemos 22:2), the Torah addresses the eved who is nimkar b’geneivaso, “he shall be…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5771, Behar

If your brother becomes impoverished. (25:39)

Everyone wants to be charitable, to share with those who are less fortunate than he is. It is one of those mitzvos that make us feel good. After all, what could be wrong with helping another Jew? Perhaps that is the first mistake: “helping another Jew.” Tzedakah, popularly known as charity, is not just about helping someone else, but rather about feeling that person’s pain. When one “helps,” he is still separated from the beneficiary. He is fine, but the “other guy” is in need. True tzedakah does not distinguish between “me” and “him;” “us” and “them.” Tzedakah binds the…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5770, Behar

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

Rashi interprets the pasuk as an enjoinment against onoaas devarim, verbal harassment. Ridiculing someone can have an enduring effect upon his personality development. The humiliation and scorn one is subject to at the hands of others can damage his psyche, impairing his self-esteem and his ability to relate to others. Humiliation does not only result from words; it can also be the consequence of an intentional snub. There is nothing as demeaning as being ignored by others, so that one feels as if he does not exist in their eyes. While the individual should not be obsessed with his ego,…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5770, Behar

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

If one were to go to a great tzaddik and receive a blessing for success and Divine assistance in all of his endeavors, it would be incredible! Who would not do anything to receive such a guarantee? As Horav Uri Kelerman, z.l., was wont to say, the opportunity is there for all of us – all of the time. Indeed, we recite the pasuk daily: “Baruch ha’gever asher yivtach b’Hashem, v’hayah Hashem mivtacho”, “Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem and Hashem is his source of trust.” The pasuk clearly states that one who has bitachon is blessed. What…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5769, Behar

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

Rashi interprets the pasuk as an enjoinment against onoaas devarim, verbal harassment. Ridiculing someone can have an enduring effect upon his personality development. The humiliation and scorn one is subject to at the hands of others can damage his psyche, impairing his self-esteem and his ability to relate to others. Humiliation does not only result from words; it can also be the consequence of an intentional snub. There is nothing as demeaning as being ignored by others, so that one feels as if he does not exist in their eyes. While the individual should not be obsessed with his ego,…

Home -> Behar -> 5769

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5769, Behar

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

If one were to go to a great tzaddik and receive a blessing for success and Divine assistance in all of his endeavors, it would be incredible! Who would not do anything to receive such a guarantee? As Horav Uri Kelerman, z.l., was wont to say, the opportunity is there for all of us – all of the time. Indeed, we recite the pasuk daily: “Baruch ha’gever asher yivtach b’Hashem, v’hayah Hashem mivtacho”, “Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem and Hashem is his source of trust.” The pasuk clearly states that one who has bitachon is blessed. What…

Home -> Behar -> 5768

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5768, Behar

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

Rashi interprets the pasuk as an enjoinment against onoaas devarim, verbal harassment. Ridiculing someone can have an enduring effect upon his personality development. The humiliation and scorn one is subject to at the hands of others can damage his psyche, impairing his self-esteem and his ability to relate to others. Humiliation does not only result from words; it can also be the consequence of an intentional snub. There is nothing as demeaning as being ignored by others, so that one feels as if he does not exist in their eyes. While the individual should not be obsessed with his ego,…

Home -> Behar -> 5768

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5768, Behar

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

If one were to go to a great tzaddik and receive a blessing for success and Divine assistance in all of his endeavors, it would be incredible! Who would not do anything to receive such a guarantee? As Horav Uri Kelerman, z.l., was wont to say, the opportunity is there for all of us – all of the time. Indeed, we recite the pasuk daily: “Baruch ha’gever asher yivtach b’Hashem, v’hayah Hashem mivtacho”, “Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem and Hashem is his source of trust.” The pasuk clearly states that one who has bitachon is blessed. What…

Home -> Behar -> 5767

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5767, Behar

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

Rashi interprets the pasuk as an enjoinment against onoaas devarim, verbal harassment. Ridiculing someone can have an enduring effect upon his personality development. The humiliation and scorn one is subject to at the hands of others can damage his psyche, impairing his self-esteem and his ability to relate to others. Humiliation does not only result from words; it can also be the consequence of an intentional snub. There is nothing as demeaning as being ignored by others, so that one feels as if he does not exist in their eyes. While the individual should not be obsessed with his ego,…

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If you will say: “What will we eat in the seventh year?”… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year. (25:20,21)

If your brother becomes impoverished with you and is sold to you; you shall not work him with slave labor…you shall not subjugate him through hard labor. (25:39,43)

If your brother becomes impoverished. (25:39)

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

“If you will say, what will we eat in the seventh year?… I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year.”(25:20-21)

“Do not harass one another.” (25:17)

YEARS

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