Ki Savo – Page 4 – Peninim on the Torah

בניך ובנותיך נחנים לעם אחר... בנים ובנות תוליד ולא יהיו לך כי ילכו בשבי

Your sons and daughters will be given to another people… you will bear sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. (28:32,41)

At first glance, these two separate curses appear redundant. Upon closer perusal, however, one sees a striking difference. In the first pasuk, the Torah refers to the children as your sons and daughters. In the second pasuk, it is simply sons and daughters to whom you will give birth. Furthermore, in the first pasuk, your sons and daughters are “given” over to another nation. In the second pasuk, the children are taken away from you, captive of another nation. These are two curses which I think are progressive. At first, the children still belong to us. They are at home…

Home -> 5776 -> Ki Savo

והיו חייך תלואים לך מנגד ופחדת לילה ויומם ולא תאמין בחייך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5776

Your life will hang in the balance, and you will be frightened night and day, and you will not be sure of your livelihood. (28:66)

Blessing and curse are a matter of perspective. Two people can view the same situation through different prisms, allowing them to derive separate conclusions. The Torah writes that, as a result of the nation’s break with Hashem, they will be subject to various curses: “Your life will hang in the balance… you will not be sure of your livelihood.” Rashi explains that Jews will not be sure of their safety. Concerning their livelihoods, they will be forced to subsist on what they can purchase daily. They will never be sure that the markets will not be shut down – in…

Home -> 5775 -> Ki Savo

ובאת אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם ואמרת אליו הגדתי היום לד' אלקיך כי באתי אל הארץ

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5775

You shall come to whoever will be the Kohen in those days, and you shall say to him, “I declare today to Hashem, your G-d, that I have come to the land.” (26:3)

Once Eretz Yisrael was conquered and allocated among the tribes, the farmers were able to take their first ripened fruit to the Sanctuary and present them to the Kohen in a ritual which included a moving declaration of gratitude to Hashem. Hakoras hatov, gratitude, is one of the most basic middos tovos, positive character traits, without which one is not a mentch, decent human being. Only a person who is a makir tov, one who recognizes and appreciates the good which he receives from others, has a chance of achieving shleimus, perfection, in his relationship with Hashem. One who does…

Home -> 5775 -> Ki Savo

וענית ואמרת... ארמי אבד אבי... וירעו אותנו המצרים ויענונו... ושמחת בכל הטוב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5775

Then you shall call out and say… “An Aramean tried to destroy my forefather… the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us…” You shall rejoice with all the goodness. (26:5,6,11)

I met someone the other day who a number of years ago had been at the brink of bankruptcy. His financial profile was in such serious straits that, at one point, he could not afford food on the table. Hashem blessed him, and he flowered exponentially; today, he is a very successful, wealthy man. We began talking about “old times,” and the topic of his not so recent past came up. When I alluded to how far he had come, he practically became indignant and said, “We do not talk about those times. What was – was, and it is…

Home -> 5775 -> Ki Savo

ארור מכה רעהו בסתר

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5775

Accursed is one who strikes his fellow stealthily. (27:24)

Rashi interprets this prohibition as reference to speaking lashon hora, slanderous speech. We do not realize the serious consequences which result from lashon hora. While it is true that refraining from speaking what comes to mind can be difficult, when we realize that the Torah considers it a hakaah, tantamount to striking someone – which most of us would never do – it might serve as a deterrent. We might say or even allude to something ethically or morally negative about someone. This statement might be overheard by someone who conveys the comment to others who embellish it. By the…

Home -> 5775 -> Ki Savo

ונשארתם במתי מעט

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5775

You will be left few in number. (28: 62)

What a terrible curse. Our numbers will diminish as a result of the troubles of the exile to which we will be subjected. What makes it worse is the loneliness that results from depleted numbers. When one is the member of a large group, he will always find a partner, someone to whom he can gravitate and develop a friendship. When the numbers are greatly diminished, however, allowing for one person in one place and another distant from him, the feeling of loneliness begins to set in. The curse of b’m’sei me’at, being left few in number, has a dual…

Home -> 5775 -> Ki Savo

והשיבך ד' מצרים באניות בדרך אשר אמרתי לך לא תוסיף עוד לראותה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5775

Hashem will return you to Egypt in ships, on the way of which I said to you, “You shall never again see it.” (28:68)

With this curse, Moshe Rabbeinu concludes the dread Tochachah, Admonition. Ramban explains why the tragic Egyptian experience serves as the climax of the Admonition. A slave dreads the idea of being forced to return to the very land where he had originally been subjugated and humiliated, and from which he was overjoyed to be liberated. Accordingly, we derive from here that returning to one’s past, descending a notch in his spiritual journey, is devastating. Horav Chaim Zaitchik, zl, expounds on the tragedy of one who had achieved spiritual eminence and then fell backwards, descending to a point which he had…

Home -> 5774 -> Ki Savo

ושמחת בכל הטוב אשר נתן לך ד' אלקיך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5774

You shall rejoice with all of the goodness that Hashem, your G-d, has given you. (26:11)

The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh writes that b’chol hatov, “all of the goodness,” alludes to the Torah, for there is no greater “good” other than Torah. He adds that if people would sense the incredible unparalleled sweetness and pleasantness associated with the Torah, people would go out of their minds in pursuit of Torah. Money would have no value; nothing would have value, for the Torah includes within it everything – all of the goodness in the world. In his hakdamah, preface, to his Iglei Tal, the Sochatchover Rebbe, zl, writes, “Chazal’s dictum, Mitzvos lav l’henos nitnu, ‘The performance of mitzvos…

Home -> 5774 -> Ki Savo

והיה אם שמוע תשמע בקול ד' אלקיך... ונתנך... עליון על כל גוי הארץ. ובאו עליך כל הברכות האלה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5774

It shall be that if you listen to the voice of Hashem, your G-d… Then (He)… will make you supreme over the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you. (28:1,2)

The Torah enumerates a number of material blessings which are wide ranging and encompass every area of material life. What should be the primary and most significant blessing? “He will make you supreme over the nations of the earth” seems to be presented more as a hakdamah, prelude, to the rest. One would think that our supremacy in the world, the respect, admiration, and certainly the lack of animus against us would not only be an introduction to the blessing – but rather, the greatest blessing in its own right. Horav Zev Weinberger, Shlita, explains that the Torah is teaching…

Home -> 5774 -> Ki Savo

ברוך אתה בעיר וברוך אתה בשדה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5774

Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field. (28:3)

A Jew shall remain blessed whether he is in the city together with his chaburah, social group, or if he is alone in the field, away from everyone. Horav Yaakov Galinsky, zl, recalls his years as a student in the Novaradok Yeshivah, an institution which imbued its students with a sense of commitment to Torah and mitzvos that transcend time and place and even social support. Wherever a Novaradoker student found himself, he was somehow able to transcend the vicissitudes of life and the challenges they presented. For example, Rav Galinsky and a group of students were banished to a…

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Back to Home -> Ki Savo ->

בניך ובנותיך נחנים לעם אחר... בנים ובנות תוליד ולא יהיו לך כי ילכו בשבי

Your sons and daughters will be given to another people… you will bear sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. (28:32,41)

והיו חייך תלואים לך מנגד ופחדת לילה ויומם ולא תאמין בחייך

Your life will hang in the balance, and you will be frightened night and day, and you will not be sure of your livelihood. (28:66)

ובאת אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם ואמרת אליו הגדתי היום לד' אלקיך כי באתי אל הארץ

You shall come to whoever will be the Kohen in those days, and you shall say to him, “I declare today to Hashem, your G-d, that I have come to the land.” (26:3)

וענית ואמרת... ארמי אבד אבי... וירעו אותנו המצרים ויענונו... ושמחת בכל הטוב

Then you shall call out and say… “An Aramean tried to destroy my forefather… the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us…” You shall rejoice with all the goodness. (26:5,6,11)

ארור מכה רעהו בסתר

Accursed is one who strikes his fellow stealthily. (27:24)

ונשארתם במתי מעט

You will be left few in number. (28: 62)

והשיבך ד' מצרים באניות בדרך אשר אמרתי לך לא תוסיף עוד לראותה

Hashem will return you to Egypt in ships, on the way of which I said to you, “You shall never again see it.” (28:68)

ושמחת בכל הטוב אשר נתן לך ד' אלקיך

You shall rejoice with all of the goodness that Hashem, your G-d, has given you. (26:11)

והיה אם שמוע תשמע בקול ד' אלקיך... ונתנך... עליון על כל גוי הארץ. ובאו עליך כל הברכות האלה

It shall be that if you listen to the voice of Hashem, your G-d… Then (He)… will make you supreme over the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you. (28:1,2)

ברוך אתה בעיר וברוך אתה בשדה

Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field. (28:3)

YEARS

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

You have Successfully Subscribed!