Re’eh – Page 11 – Peninim on the Torah

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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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Re'eh, 5757

The blessing; that you listen…and the curse; if you do not listen to the commandments of Hashem your G-d. And you stray from the path that I command you today, to follow gods of others. (11:27,28)

The Torah considers one who strays from the path of Hashem to be an idol-worshipper. He who serves idols is tantamount to one who repudiates the entire Torah. Idolatry is a rejection of the Almighty. One who does not firmly believe and accept Hashem as the Supreme Ruler and Creator of the world apparently spurns His mitzvos and Torah. In Megillas Esther 2:5, the pasuk refers to Mordechai as “Ish Yehudi.” The Talmud in Megillah 12b explains the term “Yehudi” as an appellation describing one who is “kofer b’avodah zarah,” denies idol worship. Mordechai was called a Yehudi, not because…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Re'eh, 5757

For you have not yet come unto the resting place or to the heritage. (12:9)

Rashi explains that “menuchah” refers to the Mishkan in Shiloh. Interestingly, during its tenure in Shiloh, it was forbidden for Jews to offer korbonos on bamos, private altars. The Mishkan in Shiloh was a national sanctuary. Consequently, all korbonos were to be offered there. Horav Mordechai Ilan, zl, notes the word menuchah, resting place, was applied to a place of restriction and discipline. No longer were people permitted to do as they pleased, offering korbonos when and where they desired. Now there were regulations to uphold, standards to be maintained, and rules to which they needed to adhere. We Jews…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Re'eh, 5757

You shall harden your heart or close your hand against your destitute brother…for in return for this matter, Hashem your G-d, will bless you in all your deeds and in all your undertaking. (15:7,10)

The Torah tells us clearly that one who gives tzedakah should not concern himself with his momentary financial loss, for Hashem will bless him in return. Moreover, the contribution that he gives will be the source of his blessing. The Chofetz Chaim commented on this pasuk with a story that serves as an analogy, giving greater meaning to the pasuk. Once an illiterate farmer from a small village came to the market with his usual sacks of grain. Due to the farmer’s limited scope of education, his mathematical acumen was, at best, poor. For every sack that he emptied into…

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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)

The blessing; that you listen…and the curse; if you do not listen to the commandments of Hashem your G-d. And you stray from the path that I command you today, to follow gods of others. (11:27,28)

For you have not yet come unto the resting place or to the heritage. (12:9)

You shall harden your heart or close your hand against your destitute brother…for in return for this matter, Hashem your G-d, will bless you in all your deeds and in all your undertaking. (15:7,10)

YEARS

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