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Home -> 5771 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5771

All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you hearken to the voice of Hashem, your G-d. (28:2)

The word v’he’sigucha, “will overtake you,” is enigmatic. Are we running from blessing, that it must overtake us? If that is the case, let us stop running! The answer is simple. At times, a person thinks he is chasing blessing, when, in truth, what he is pursuing is far from a blessing. What he thinks is beneficial and fortuitous could actually catalyze his downfall. Thus, the Torah tells us that the blessing, the real blessing – the one which we mistakenly thought was not a blessing – will overtake us, even though we have done everything to prevent it from…

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Home -> 5771 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5771

Hashem will strike you with madness…You will go mad from the sight of your eyes. (28:28, 34)

Twice we are cursed with the dreadful affliction of she’gaon, insanity. Is once not enough? If we peruse the Tochachah, Rebuke, we note that with each successive curse of the ninety-eight curses, the misfortune that has to befall us gets greater and greater. Since each curse is associated with a harsher punishment, it is strange that the Torah repeats the curse of insanity. Insane is insane! Does making a person “more” insane add to the curse? The Ketzos HaChoshen explains that there are truly variant levels of insanity. When a person loses his mind, when he no longer thinks rationally,…

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Home -> 5771 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5771

You will grope at noontime as a blind man gropes in darkness. (28:29)

The Talmud Megillah 24b quotes Rabbi Yosi who asks: What difference does it make to the blind man whether he is groping around in the afternoon or in the evening? Regardless of the external light, the blind man’s world remains dark. Rabbi Yosi says that he was troubled by this question for some time, until once he was walking through the streets on a very dark night. As he walked, he noticed a blind man groping his way down the street. What was unusual about the blind man was that he was carrying a torch in his hands. “Why carry…

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Home -> 5771 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5771

If you will not be careful to perform all the words of this Torah… to fear this honored and awesome Name: Hashem your G-d. (28:58)

The Torah is admonishing us to guard the Torah by observing its tenets, the mitzvos which  Hashem  has given  us.   A lack  of observance  is indicative  of a lack  of fear concerning the awesome Name of Hashem. The Torah intimates that Torah observance is intrinsically connected to a Jew’s reverence and fear of Hashem. One who understands and reflects on the awe-inspiring, exalted nature of Hashem simply must respond with total observance and complete devotion to His Torah. There just cannot be any other way. To acknowledge the awesome nature of Hashem is to fear Him. To fear Hashem is to…

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Home -> 5771 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5771

“Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Torah, Hashem will bring them upon you.” (28:61)

One would think that ninety-eight curses should be sufficient warning to impact the nation. One has only to read the curses specifically, and his hair would stand on end from fright. Yet,  it appears that Hashem seems  to “throw in” one more curse  for “good measure.” In case there might be something that was missed, any sickness or plague that was not specifically mentioned, it too will be included. Horav Shimshon Pincus, zl, explains that the Tochachah is more than an admonition. It is referred to as Divrei HaBris, Words of the Covenant. Indeed, the tragedies, the misfortunes that are…

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Home -> 5770 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5770

“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 -> 5770 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5770

“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 -> 5770 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5770

“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 -> 5770 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5770

“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 -> 5769 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5769

“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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