Eikev – Page 12 – Peninim on the Torah

And Hashem loves the ger/convert to give him bread and garment…you shall love the ger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (10:18,19)

The Torah repeats the mitzvah of Ahavas Ha’Ger, loving the convert, no less than thirty-six times! One would assume that the Torah would reiterate mitzvos such as Shabbos, the prohibitions against idol worship and murder, emphasizing their obvious importance. Indeed, the Torah does not repeat these critical mitzvos. The Torah is very careful with its words; every word has its own specific message. Yet, the Torah has no qualms about reminding us numerous times of our obligation to the ger. Why? We can derive a profound lesson from this pasuk regarding human nature. Man’s natural instinct is to denigrate those…

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Moshe Marcovich In Eikev, 5758

And you shall teach them to your sons. (11:19)

Regarding the word “v’nitzaltem” “and you will empty out (Egypt)“, in Sefer Shemos (3:22), Rashi comments that the word “v’limadtem,” “and you will teach them“, which appears in our pasuk, is the piel form, intensive conjugation, of the word “lilmod,” to learn. Actually, the word that should be used to describe “teaching” should be the ‘hiphil,” causative form, of the verb. Hence, the Torah should have said, le’halmid, to make someone learn. This would be similar to the word, l’halbish, to dress someone. What is the reason for this change in the conjugation of the word? Horav Yosef Berl, zl,…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5757

Now, O Yisrael, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you? Only to fear Hashem, your G-d. (10:12)

Fear of G-d is essential. A person is able to acknowledge Hashem and freely submit to His will only when he truly fears Him. One naturally succumbs to the yetzer hora, evil inclination. Through our yiraas Shomayim, fear of Heaven, however, we are able to overcome the blandishments of the yetzer hora. The Chofetz Chaim placed emphasis on the word “viata” “now”. A person should go through life inquiring, “What does Hashem ask of me – now? Not tomorrow, not yesterday, but right now! When we keep the idea of current obligation in our mind, Judaism becomes alive. Our whole…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5757

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

Rashi comments that “serving with the heart” is a reference to tefillah, prayer. Yet, there is a dispute among the Rishonim if daily prayer is min ha’Torah, a Biblical command, or m’dRabbanan, a Rabbinnical decree. While granting that the number of prayers, their text and content reflect Rabbinic input, the Rambam asserts that the origin of prayer is Biblical. Ramban contends the concept of prayer, excluding prayers of distress, is Rabbinic in origin. Indeed, since prayer is avodah she’blev, service of the heart, the expression of human feelings and emotions should be man’s creation. Hence, Chazal composed the various…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5757

You shall teach them to your children to discuss them. (11:19)

Rashi comments that Chazal have inferred from this pasuk that when a child begins to talk, his father should converse with him in lashon hakodesh, Hebrew, and should begin to teach him Torah. If he does not teach him Torah, it is viewed as if he had ______ buried him. This is implied by the juxtaposition to the next pasuk, in which the Torah states, “In order to prolong your days and the days of your children.” The mitzvah of limud haTorah takes on a new perspective when it applies to a father’s obligation to educate his children. A father…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5756

“This shall be your reward when you listen to these ordinances.” (7:12)

Rashi explains that according to the Midrash, the word ceg also means “heel.” The Torah, therefore, alludes to those mitzvos which people may regard as unimportant. This disregard for the body of mitzvos that people determine to be relatively unimportant, extends to the point that they tend to tread upon the discarded mitzvos with their heels. The Torah promises Klal Yisrael that if they maintain their devotion to all of the mitzvos, even those which have been neglected due to their apparent insignificance, Hashem will reward them. What is the meaning of “treading upon mitzvos“? Horav Moshe Swift, zl, remarks…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5756

“It is not by bread alone that man can make a life for himself, but that man can live by everything that comes from the mouth of Hashem.” (8:3)

This pasuk underscores the significance of acknowledging the source of man’s sustenance. The word ojk actually has a dual meaning. It can mean “bread” or to “wage war”. Horav S.R. Hirsch, zl, declares that “bread” is the nourishment that man wrests from nature, competing with his fellow man for the “piece of bread.” “Bread” represents the joint product of nature and man’s intelligence, indicating man’s mastery over the mundane world. Consequently, “bread” is the physical manifestation of the intelligence with which man creates his own sustenance as he interacts with his fellow man to “harness” nature. The tragedy of man…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5756

“I grasped the two Luchos…. and I smashed them before your eyes… at that time Hashem said to me, ‘Carve out for yourself two Luchos like the first ones.’ The Bnei Yisrael travelled…. there did Aharon die.” (8:17)

Moshe’s recounting of his days in Heaven are interrupted so that we should recognize and mourn the loss of a tzaddik to the same extent that we mourn the breaking of the Luchos. The loss of a righteous person should generate within us a sense of loss and despair which is commensurate to the tragedy of losing the Luchos. Chazal offer a number of interpretations for this parallel. The Kesav Sofer explains that despite the loss of the Luchos, albeit intense, they still had the new Luchos. These second Luchos, however, although sublime, paled in comparison to its predecessors. Likewise,…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5756

“And I remained upon the mountain for forty days and forty nights – I neither ate bread nor drank water.” (9:9)

The Midrash Tanchuma remarks that Moshe’s mesiras nefesh, self-sacrifice, for the Torah earned him the zchus that the Torah is called by his name, Toras Moshe. This means that Hashem Yisborach gave His Torah, Toras Hashem, to Moshe. What was Moshe’s kinyan, act of acquisition? His mesiras nefesh was the medium which catalyzed his proprietorship over the Torah. What, indeed, was Moshe’s act of mesiras nefesh? What remarkable act of self-sacrifice did he exhibit that was so sublime to cause Hashem to “transfer” ownership to Moshe? He did not eat or drink for forty days and nights when he went…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5756

“But take heed to yourselves that your heart does not open itself to enticement and you turn aside and you serve other gods.” (11:16)

Rashi comments that once one “turns away” from Torah, the natural sequence of events is “you will worship strange gods.” Once one leaves the Torah path, he will eventually turn to idols. This is perplexing! We know that the yetzer hora, evil inclination, works in a specific manner. First, it lures one to turning away slightly by performing a simple act of indiscretion. This goes on for awhile as the yetzer hora slowly increases its hold upon the person until it ultimately brings him down completely. Worshiping idols is the last step, the final act of iniquity which is the…

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And Hashem loves the ger/convert to give him bread and garment…you shall love the ger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (10:18,19)

And you shall teach them to your sons. (11:19)

Now, O Yisrael, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you? Only to fear Hashem, your G-d. (10:12)

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

You shall teach them to your children to discuss them. (11:19)

“This shall be your reward when you listen to these ordinances.” (7:12)

“It is not by bread alone that man can make a life for himself, but that man can live by everything that comes from the mouth of Hashem.” (8:3)

“I grasped the two Luchos…. and I smashed them before your eyes… at that time Hashem said to me, ‘Carve out for yourself two Luchos like the first ones.’ The Bnei Yisrael travelled…. there did Aharon die.” (8:17)

“And I remained upon the mountain for forty days and forty nights – I neither ate bread nor drank water.” (9:9)

“But take heed to yourselves that your heart does not open itself to enticement and you turn aside and you serve other gods.” (11:16)

YEARS

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