Re’eh – Page 11 – Peninim on the Torah

Safeguard and hearken to all these words… In order that it will be well with you and your children… When you do what is good and right in the eyes of Hashem, your G-d. (12:28)

Gemillas chesed, performing acts of loving kindness, is unquestionably the most rewarding type of deed one can perform. They are rewarding in both a material and spiritual sense. Classic Rabbinic material is replete with references to the merit one engenders for himself when he helps others. Each different category of chesed is demanding in its own unique manner. Visiting the sick and infirm means more than getting into a car or sending flowers. It means empathizing with the sick person, feeling his pain and easing his burden. Probably the most important message we can convey to a sick individual that…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Re'eh, 5759

Therefore, I am commanding you, saying, open your hand to the needy and poor breathren in your land. (15:11)

Generally, the word “leimor,” saying, is used when the speaker wishes to have his words conveyed to others. This approach creates a problem in regard to this pasuk’s translation. It would seem that Hashem is saying, “I command you to say – you shall open your hand to the needy and poor.” This does not translate smoothly. Why would Hashem instruct us to say, “You should open your hand to the needy and poor”? To whom should we say this? The Vorker Rebbe, zl, explains that the mitzvah of tzedakah consists of two aspects. First and foremost is the actual…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Re'eh, 5759

Three times a year all your males should appear before Hashem, your G-d, in the place that He will choose. (16:16)

The Shalosh Regalim are spiritually uplifting times, when we celebrate with Hashem. The Torah enjoins us to come to the Bais Hamikdosh during each of the festivals to experience the holiness and joy of the moment, in the city and edifice where the Shechinah reposes. The Torah mentions the mitzvah of Aliyah l’Regel, going up to Yerushalayim on Yom Tov, three times. There is an inconsistency in the text concerning the manner in which the Torah refers to Hashem in each of these three presentations. In our parsha, He is referred to as “Hashem, your G-d”. In Parshas Mishpatim (Shemos,…

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Moshe Marcovich In Re'eh, 5758

See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse. (11:26)

The Torah’s use of the word “re’eh“, see, is significant. It is important that we clearly understand the relative effects of mitzvah and aveirah. We should actually see this distinction. We should be able to comprehend blessing as the direct result of a life of mitzvah-performance and curse as the product of a sinful lifestyle. All too often we attribute our good fortune to just that – good fortune. On the other hand, we perceive external factors to be the cause of our misfortune. We should open our eyes to perceive the accurate distinction between blessing and curse. Regretably, the…

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Moshe Marcovich In Re'eh, 5758

You shall not do this to Hashem your G-d. Rather, only at the place that Hashem, your G-d chose…to place His Name shall you seek out His Presence and come there. And there shall you bring your elevation offerings. (12:4,5,6)

The commentators, each in his own initimable style, explain what it is that we “shall not do” to Hashem. Horav Itzile M’Volozhin, zl, offers a practical interpretation of this pasuk. We find that in order to facilitate the unintentional murderer’s “escape” to the Arei Miklat, Cities of Refuge, the people erected signs at various crossroads to indicate the most efficient way to reach his destination. They did this in order to ensure that the rotzeach b’shogeg, unintentional murderer, would not have to ask people for directions as he sought his destination. We may wonder why this helpful idea was…

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Moshe Marcovich In Re'eh, 5758

You are children to Hashem…you shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes for a dead person. (14:1)

Being Hashem’s Chosen People, His treasure in this world, carries with it immense responsibilities. Being banim la’Makom, children to the Almighty, is not an attribute one can ignore. We are, therefore, adjured to exert constraint when we are confronted with the passing of a loved one. The pagans mutilated their bodies in an expression of grief. Such manifestations of the depraved behavior that reigned in antiquity are strictly forbidden. In the Talmud Sanhedrin, Chazal relate that when Rabbi Akiva came upon the coffin of Rabbi Eliezer, he beat his flesh until he broke the skin and began to bleed profusely. …

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Moshe Marcovich In Re'eh, 5758

You shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes for a dead person. (14:1)

Our relationship with Hashem demands that we adhere to a strict code of discipline, as expressed in the Torah and interpreted and expounded by our Torah leadership. The discipline of Torah governs our entire life. The Torah addresses every aspect of life’s endeavor. We are called banim la’Makom, children of the Almighty. Can there be a greater appelation, a more honored relationship? Such closeness, however, also carries with it an inherent responsibility. When one mourns a loved one, thus confronting his own mortality, a Jew manifests great discipline. Halachah desginates time limits during which one may and should express his…

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Moshe Marcovich In Re'eh, 5758

For in the month of the springtime, Hashem your G-d , took you out of Egypt at night…for you departed from the land of Egypt in haste – so that you will remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt. (16:1,3)

The Torah states clearly that the Egyptian exodus took place in the evening. This is reiterated in pasuk 6, when the Torah says to slaughter the Korban Pesach after the sun descends, “the appointed time of your departure from Egypt.” If this is the case, why does the Torah in pasuk 3 declare that we should “remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt“? There seems to be an apparent contradiction between the pesukim concerning exactly when Klal Yisrael left Egypt. The Talmud in Berachos 9A identifies the “shaas chipazon” of Klal Yisrael, which occurred the following…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Re'eh, 5757

Behold, I set before you today, a blessing and a curse. (11:26)

Why did Moshe wait forty years to notify Bnei Yisrael that they stood at the threshold of receiving a blessing? Why was this blessing not offered during their entire stay in the wilderness? In a departure from the standard pshat, interpretation of the pasuk, Horav Nissan Alpert, zl, says that Moshe was not informing the people that they would receive blessing. Rather, he was telling them that the moment had arrived when they, themselves, were able to effect blessing. They could now serve as a vehicle for generating blessing. They were now a m’kor of brachah, source of blessing. Accompanying …

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Re'eh, 5757

Behold, I set before you today, a blessing and a curse. (11:26)

We seem to expect the individual to defer his needs to the needs of the community. Is this the way it should be? A community is composed of individuals. Are we to assume that if we reach the majority of the tzibbur, we are successful in achieving our goals, even if a segment of the community continues to be alienated? Will the individual be judged by the actions of the community or by the nature of his own deeds? The Torah appears to be telling us that the individual is more important than we think. In fact, the community depends…

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Safeguard and hearken to all these words… In order that it will be well with you and your children… When you do what is good and right in the eyes of Hashem, your G-d. (12:28)

Therefore, I am commanding you, saying, open your hand to the needy and poor breathren in your land. (15:11)

Three times a year all your males should appear before Hashem, your G-d, in the place that He will choose. (16:16)

See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse. (11:26)

You shall not do this to Hashem your G-d. Rather, only at the place that Hashem, your G-d chose…to place His Name shall you seek out His Presence and come there. And there shall you bring your elevation offerings. (12:4,5,6)

You are children to Hashem…you shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes for a dead person. (14:1)

You shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes for a dead person. (14:1)

For in the month of the springtime, Hashem your G-d , took you out of Egypt at night…for you departed from the land of Egypt in haste – so that you will remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt. (16:1,3)

Behold, I set before you today, a blessing and a curse. (11:26)

Behold, I set before you today, a blessing and a curse. (11:26)

YEARS

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