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ועלה אלי ההרה ועשית לך ארון עץ

Sruly Schnair
In Eikev, 5786

And ascend to Me to the mountain and make a wooden ark for yourself. (10:1)

When Moshe Rabbeinu descended Har Sinai and confronted the sin of the Golden Calf in all its indecorous ignominy, he shattered the Luchos.  Chazal teach that this was not an act of impulsivity, but a deliberate and well thought out response.  A nation that reveled around a molten idol was not worthy of the Luchos.  There is, however, one caveat.  Prior to shattering the tablets, the sacred letters ascended Heavenward.  Without the letters, the Luchos were no longer worthy of preservation. Yet, those letters did not vanish. The Tzlach suggests that Hashem gathered and secured them until Moshe fashioned the…

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כי כאשר ייסר איש את בנו ד' אלקיך מיסרך

Sruly Schnair
In Eikev, 5786

That just as a father/man will chastise his son, so Hashem, your G-d, chastises you. (8:5)

Ish is a man, a distinguished man, a gavra, as translated by Targum Onkeles.  The translation rendered by the popular translator transforms the word ish into av.  For our purposes, I will use the word ish as a springboard for understanding the profundity of the pasuk.  Fathers are human beings and, as such, influenced by their emotions.  Many spend their time, money and health to provide their children with the finest material and spiritual advantages.  Thus, it is not unreasonable for a parent to be entitled to some return in the way of Yiddishe nachas.  Understandably, when this does not…

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Home -> 5786 -> Eikev

כי כאשר ייסר איש את בנו ד' אלקיך מיסרך

Sruly Schnair
In Eikev, 5786

That just as a father will chastise his son, so Hashem, your G-d, chastises you. (8:5)

Discipline, reward and punishment is a critical part of the educational process.  An astute and caring parent knows when and how much to discipline and how to be certain that it is an act of love.  When a child senses his parent’s love, the discipline takes on a different image.  If the parent metes out the punishment with anger or worse, the child will harbor a sense of fear, or an unpleasant attitude toward that parent.  The first mechanech, Torah educator, was Avraham Avinu.  Indeed, the paradigmatic pasuk describing Hashem’s love for Avraham is based upon Avraham’s devotion toward transmitting…

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Home -> 5785 -> Eikev

ואשר עשה לדתן ולאבירם בני אליאב

Sruly Schnair
In Eikev, 5785

And what he did to Dasan and Aviram sons of Eliav. (11:6)

Noticeably, the Torah mentions only Dasan and Aviram concerning the Korach rebellion against Moshe Rabbeinu’s leadership.  It seems to gloss over Korach, the leader of the rebellion.  He was the scoundrel who attempted to usurp Moshe’s authority.  In Parashas Pinchas (Bamidbar 26:9-11), the Torah does, likewise, mention Dasan and Aviram who were part of Korach’s congregation, but falls short of mentioning Korach.  The Ramban (commentary to Devarim 11:6) asks this question.  The Ohr HaChaim (commentary to Parashas Pinchas) explains that while Korach was the leader and the one whose name is identified most with the controversy, it was Dasan and…

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והוא תהילתך והוא אלקיך

Sruly Schnair
In Eikev, 5785

He is your praise, and He is your G-d. (10:21)

Hashem should be the sole recipient of our praise.  The Mezritcher Maggid, zl, was wont to say concerning this pasuk: If you want to determine the level of yiraas Shomayim, fear of Heaven, that you have achieved, you must authenticate your level of emunah, faith in Hashem.  Analyze your davening, benching and other forms of tehillah, praise, to Hashem.  Is it passionate, warm, with deveikus, desire to cling to the Almighty?  The manner in which one expresses his praise of Hashem attests to his belief in Him – and vice versa.” The Maggid, zl, m’Warsaw would often use the following…

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והסיר ד' ממך כל חלי וכל מדוי מצרים הרעים אשר לא ידעת ישימם בך

Sruly Schnair
In Eikev, 5785

Hashem will remove from you every illness and all the bad maladies of Egypt that you knew – He will not put them upon you. (7:15)

Lo yesimam bach; “He will not put them upon you.”  If Hashem will not put the illness on us; if we will not be affected by maladies, what reason is there for V’heisir Hashem mimcha kol choli, “Hashem will remove from you every illness”? If no illness is affecting them, what exactly will He remove?  Horav Yehoshua, zl, m’Kutna explains, citing the Yerushalmi (Shabbos 75B): “Kol choli, every illness, this applies to worry and anxiety.  When a person worries that he might be ill with a specific illness, the worry alone will fester and germinate in his mind until he…

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והיה עקב תשמעון

Sruly Schnair
In Eikev, 5785

When you listen to these ordinances. (7:12)

Rashi explains that the Torah uses the word, eikav, which also means heel, to allude to the sort of mitzvos that people regard as relatively unimportant.  Thus, they tend to “tread upon them with their heels” figuratively. The Torah assures the nation that rewards will be in store for making an effort to observe mitzvos – especially those which, on the surface, appear insignificant.  Do we have a concept of a mitzvah that is on the lower rung of significance?  I think if we view the mitzvos from their Source – they are all from Hashem.  This alone renders each…

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ושמתם את דברי אלה על לבבכם

Sruly Schnair
In Eikev, 5784

You should place these words of Mine upon your heart. (11:18)

Rashi comments that, even after Klal Yisrael has been exiled, they should distinguish themselves through the performance of mitzvos. For example: put on Tefillin; make mezuzos, so that, when we ultimately return from exile, these mitzvos (and others) should not be new to us. Throughout our tumultuous journey in exile, we have confronted oppression and degradation with pride in the practice of mitzvos. Our perseverance and fidelity to Hashem have provided continuity, identity and a connection to the traditions that prevailed in various Jewish communities. We distinguished ourselves through our religious values which we maintained regardless of the challenging circumstances…

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לאהבה את ד' אלקיכם ולעבדו בכל לבבכם

Sruly Schnair
In Eikev, 5784

To love Hashem, your G-d, and to serve Him with all your heart. (11:13)

The mitzvah of ahavas Hashem, loving the Almighty, is recorded in the Torah thirteen times. (Interestingly, the gematria, numerical equivalent, of ahavah, love, is 13. Another word that has such a gematria is echad, one. True love transforms two people into one. When we love Hashem, we abrogate ourselves, thus becoming completely attached to Him.) In the previous parashah, the Torah teaches that this love must extend to: b’chol levavcha, with all your heart; b’chol nafshecha, with all your soul (life); and b’chol me’odecha, with all your material assets. Chazal add their own interpretation to these three expressions of love….

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פסל לך שני לוחות אבנים כראשונים

Sruly Schnair
In Eikev, 5784

Carve for yourself two stone Tablets like the first ones. (10:1)

Hashem instructs Moshe Rabbeinu to replace the two Tablets which he shattered. These Tablets contained the Aseres HaDibros, Ten Commandments. Apparently, the replacement Tablets represented a pivotal moment for the Jewish People, since, when Moshe shattered the first Tablets, Hashem concurred with his decision. This is evinced in the closing pasuk of the Torah, U’l’chol ha’yad ha’chazakah… asher asah Moshe l’einei kol Yisrael, “And by all the strong hand… that Moshe performed before the eyes of all Yisrael” (Devarim 34:12). The yad chazakah, strong hand, is in reference to Moshe’s shattering of the Luchos, to which Hashem responded, Yiyasher kochacha…

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