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Home -> 5763 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5763

“Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, amid gladness and goodness of heart.” (28:47)

Another year has gone by, and Rosh Hashanah is a few weeks away. Chazal delve into the reason that Parashas Ki Savo, with its ninety-eight curses, is read shortly before the New Year. We suggest that it is a wake-up call, a reminder that whatever has transpired during the course of the past year, whether it was good or bad, happened by design and for a reason. It did not just occur. Retribution and accountability – two concepts that we often tend to ignore – play important roles. We rarely understand the things that happen to us as being directly…

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Home -> 5762 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5762

“It will be when you enter the land…and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take of the very first fruit of the ground.” (26:1-2)

Rashi derives from the words, “and you possess it and dwell in it,” that the Jews were not obligated to bring Bikurim, the first fruits, until after Eretz Yisrael had been captured and divided according to each tribe. Why is Bikurim different from the mitzvah of Challah, which was imposed on them as soon as they entered the land? Why should they have been required to wait until the land was divided up? In his sefer Simchas HaTorah, Horav Simchah Shepps, z.l., explains that the underlying motif of the mitzvah of Bikurim is to actualize the hidden potential of hakoras ha’tov,…

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Home -> 5762 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5762

“Look down from Your holy abode, from the Heavens, and bless Your people, Yisrael.” (26:15)

The word hashkifah, look down, usually has a negative connotation, which implies a harsh scrutinizing focus on a subject. The sole exception to this rule is the hashkifah of Viddui Maaser, which is the confessional prayer that one recites upon successfully dispensing the required tithes. In this case, we ask Hashem to look down and bless us. The Midrash explains that this is the power of tzedakah. It can transform the Middas HaDin, attribute of strict Justice, into the Middas HaRachamim, attribute of Mercy. Although hashkifah generally implies something bad, when people act in accordance with Hashem’s will, dispensing their tithes to…

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Home -> 5762 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5762

“Hashem will send in your midst attrition, confusion and worry, in your every undertaking that you will do.” (28:20)

Inner peace eludes many of us. We search for it, never realizing that it  is right in front of us. The Yismach Moshe once dreamed that he was in Gan Eden. He entered a room that was very plain, completely devoid of ornamentation, and noticed a group of Torah scholars studying Torah. He was quite surprised that this was all there was to Gan Eden. Suddenly, a  voice called out to him, “If you are under the impression that the scholars are in paradise – you are wrong. It is paradise that is within the Torah scholars.” We are always searching for…

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Home -> 5762 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5762

“Your sons and daughters will be given to another people – and your eyes will see and pine in vain for them… You will bear sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.” (28:32,41)

There seems to be a redundancy in these two tragic curses. We suggest that, unfortunately, they are two distinct curses, each one focusing on a different type of loss. In the former, the children are given over to another people. They might be living under the same roof as their parents, but their values are different. They are alienated from their people and instead are enchanted by the culture of another nation. In the  latter curse, the children are no longer home; they have been taken captive by another nation. They are slaves to another people. In the first curse, the…

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Home -> 5762 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5762

“Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, amid gladness and goodness of heart.” (28:47)

Joy in mitzvah performance, aside from being an essential prerequisite to the actual fulfillment of the mitzvah, also has a very practical application.   Horav   Moshe  Feinstein,   z.l.,   explains  why  so many children of European immigrants who came to America after World War I  did not remain observant. Their parents were deeply committed  to Yiddishkeit. They slaved long hours, performing all kinds of backbreaking labor to eke out a meager living. They would never compromise their observance of Torah and mitzvos. Shabbos was paramount, and Kashrus was a standard in their homes. So, what went wrong? Why did so many Jews who…

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Home -> 5761 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5761

“I declare today to Hashem, your G-d…” (26:3)

The parsha of Bikurim teaches us the significance of hakoras ha’tov, gratitude. We must learn to recognize the good that others do for us and remember the overriding importance of showing appreciation to our benefactors. This will serve as a vehicle for understanding the overwhelming debt of gratitude that we owe to our primary Benefactor, Hashem, without whose beneficence we would be, and have, nothing. We may fail to recognize another element of hakoras ha’tov. We know we must be grateful to Hashem for the good that He has sent our way. What about the evil about which we are…

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Home -> 5761 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5761

“The Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us… Then we cried out to Hashem, the G-d of our forefathers… And (He) saw our affliction, our travail, and our oppression.” (26:6-7)

Chazal teach us that each of the above mentioned terms refers to another form of persecution. “Onyeinu,” our affliction, refers to the disruption of family life; “Amoleinu,” our travail, refers to the children being thrown into the river; and “Lachatzeinu,” our oppression, refers to the extreme pressure the Egyptians exerted upon us. If this is the case, why are the persecutions not mentioned at the beginning of the pasuk, immediately following the phrase, “The Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us”? Why are these terms mentioned only after Hashem has listened to our pleas? In a homily delivered before Rosh Hashanah…

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Home -> 5761 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5761

“You shall be only above and you shall not be below.” (28:13)

The Kotzker Rebbe, z.l., adds a new twist to the meaning of this blessing. He explains that Hashem created a ladder upon which the neshamos, souls, from the olam ha’elyon, upper/eternal world, descend to This World into the body of a human being. It is similar to the sulam mutzav artzah, v’rosho magia shomaymah, “ladder standing (with its legs) on this earth and its head/summit reaches Heavenward” (Bereishis 28:12) that Yaakov Avinu visualized in his dream. As soon as the neshamah descends, the ladder is removed. From Heaven, the call goes out to the neshamah, “Return! Return!” The neshamah, of…

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Home -> 5761 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5761

“Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, amid gladness and goodness of heart.” (28:47)

Another year has gone by, and Rosh Hashanah is a few weeks away. Chazal delve into the reason that Parashas Ki Savo, with its ninety-eight curses, is read shortly before the New Year. We suggest that it is a wake-up call, a reminder that whatever has transpired during the course of the past year, whether it was good or bad, happened by design and for a reason. It did not just occur. Retribution and accountability – two concepts that we often tend to ignore – play important roles. We rarely understand the things that happen to us as being directly…

Continue Reading

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