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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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Home -> 5771 -> Kedoshim

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5771

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). (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 of a parent’s death – 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 a parent’s death. It is a time when one is able to…

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Home -> 5770 -> Kedoshim

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5770

“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…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5770 -> Kedoshim

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5770

“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…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5770 -> Kedoshim

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5770

“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…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5769 -> Kedoshim

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5769

“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…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5769 -> Kedoshim

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Kedoshim, 5769

“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…

Continue Reading

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