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Home -> 5774 -> Kedoshim

לא תשנא אחיך בלבבך הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך ולא תשא עליו חטא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5774

You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall reprove your fellow and do not bear a sin because of him. (19:17)

Maase avos siman labanim, “The actions of the fathers are a sign/portent for their sons.” Chazal teach that, when the Patriarchs acted, the manner in which they acted, the consequences of their actions, the situations which they encountered, the challenges which they experienced, are all simanim, signs, for us, their children, to follow, to emulate, to study and remember. We must derive a lesson from their responses, so that we are prepared when a similar situation confronts us. Yaakov Avinu had issues with three of his sons, whom he rebuked shortly before his death: Reuven, Shimon and Levi. Likewise, Moshe…

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Home -> 5774 -> Kedoshim

ואהבת לרעך כמוך אני ד'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5774

You shall love your fellow as yourself – I am Hashem. (19:18)

The principal middah, character trait, on which one must work the most is loving our fellowman. If one truly manifests love, care and sensitivity, he has no place for any of the other character deficiencies. If we always think first of our fellow Jew, we cannot harbor anger, arrogance, lack of sensitivity. If we care for all Jews, then we have resolved our bein adam l’chaveiro, relationship between man and his fellowman; this will also resolve our bein adam laMakom, relationship with Hashem. Horav Yaakov Moshe Charlop, zl, derives this from the above pasuk and the manner in which it…

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Home -> 5773 -> Kedoshim

הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5773

You shall reprove your fellow. (19:17)

The redundancy of the words, ho’cheach tochiach, gives us something to ponder.  Clearly, the Torah is placing emphasis on the mitzvah of tochachah, rebuke, but is it necessary to repeat the words to prove a point – or, is the Torah conveying another message? In his Drushim, the Ben Ish Chai explains this idea with an incident that occurred concerning a clever thief. A fellow was caught stealing in a country in which there was a zero tolerance law regarding theft. Anyone who was caught stealing was sentenced to death. There was no reprieve, no commutation. The form of punishment…

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Home -> 5773 -> Kedoshim

לא תקום ולא תטר את בני עמך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5773

You shall not take revenge, and you shall not bear a grudge against members of Your people. (19:18)

The Torah forbids us from taking revenge in any shape or form. Is revenge really that bad? For one individual, it might give him closure to an ordeal which he wants to forget. Another just might desire the fellow who harmed him to feel some of the emotional and physical pain which he had experienced. Some might even consider revenge to be sweet. What they do not realize is that revenge is obsessive and destructive, taking its toll on both parties. The old proverb which states, “He who seeks revenge should prepare two graves,” is very true. Yet, should revenge…

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Home -> 5772 -> Kedoshim

דבר אל כל עדת בני ישראל ואמרת אליהם קדשים תהיו כי קדוש אני

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5772

Speak to the entire congregation of Bnei Yisrael, and you shall say to them, “You shall be holy for I am holy.” (19:2)

A while ago I received a call from a Peninim reader, concerned about the fact that I had distinguished between the focus of punishment meted out to a Jew and that meted out to a gentile. Hashem’s punishment of the Jewish nation is therapeutic, to elevate and better the individual Jews. The punishment that Hashem metes out to the gentile world is punitive. Apparently, more is demanded of us. The caller took issue with the notion that I was differentiating between people. I apologized, but reality is what it is. At times, it might make us uncomfortable. In Parashas Kedoshim,…

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Home -> 5772 -> Kedoshim

ושרט לנפש לא תתנו בבשרכם...את שבתתי תשמרו ומקדשי תיראו אני ד'. אל תפנו אל האבת

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5772

You shall not make a cut in your flesh for the dead…My Shabbosos you shall observe and My Sanctuary shall you revere. I am Hashem. Do not turn to (the sorcery of) the Ovos and Yidonim (those who claim to speak with the dead). (Vayikra 19:28, 30, 31)

There is no way of getting around it: the death of a loved one is one of life’s most crippling experiences. This is especially true for the death of a parent – regardless of his or her age. Respect for parents and the deceased has long been one of the hallmarks of Judaism. When a parent passes on to the World of Truth, the surviving family reacts with grief, followed by public displays of reverence. The family observes shivah, the seven-day mourning period. Sons recite Kaddish for eleven months following the death of a parent. It is a time when…

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Home -> 5772 -> Kedoshim

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5772

“Do not turn to the idols, and molten gods shall you not make for yourselves.” (19:4)

  Rashi’s explanation of the pasuk conveys a profound message. The elil, idol, is nothing. It is man-made and has no powers. Yet, explains Rashi, if someone is foolish enough to turn to this elil, he will slowly begin to respect it and, before he realizes it, it will have become a god to him. Rashi is teaching us, says Horav Yerucham Levovitz, z.l., that idols are gods made by man. At first they are nothing, and man knows that they are nothing. Regrettably, however, it does not remain that way. He transforms them into a god! Idolatry is a…

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Home -> 5772 -> Kedoshim

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5772

“You shall not lie to one another.” (19:11)

One day, a number of the prominent householders of Brisk came to their rav, Horav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, z.l., the Bais HaLevi, complaining that the kefirah, heresy, spouted by members of the Haskalah, enlightenment movement, was rampant. These people were being eminently successful and making serious incursions into the observant community. Regrettably, this was the scenario in many Jewish communities. Why were they succeeding? After all, everything they were expounding was founded in falsehood. Rav Yosha Ber turned to them and queried, “Why are you surprised? Truth always prevails.” “Rebbe, how can you say that? How can you refer to…

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Home -> 5772 -> Kedoshim

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5772

“You shall love your fellow as yourself.” (19:18)

  This pasuk has become the global standard-bearer for defining human inter-relationships. Love your fellowman as yourself. What does it mean to care about someone else as well as we care about ourselves? Horav Yosef Zundel Salant, z.l., explains that the word kamocha, like yourself, applies to an individual who has the same vocation or position as you. It once happened that a Jew opened a grocery store on the same block as another Jew. One can imagine that the resulting competition brought about ill will. When the man who had been there first complained to Rav Yosef Zundel, the…

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Home -> 5771 -> Kedoshim

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5771

Speak to the entire congregation of Bnei Yisrael and say to them, “You shall be holy for I am holy.” (19:2)

A while ago I received a call from a Peninim reader, concerned about the fact that I had distinguished between the focus of punishment meted out to a Jew and that meted out to a gentile. Hashem’s punishment of the Jewish nation is therapeutic, to elevate and improve the individual Jews. The punishment that Hashem metes out to the gentile world is punitive. Apparently, more is demanded of us. The caller took issue with the notion that I was differentiating between people. I apologized, but reality is what it is. At times, it might make us uncomfortable. In Parashas Kedoshim,…

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