Va’eschanan – Page 4 – Peninim on the Torah

אנכי עמד בין ד' וביניכם בעת ההיא להגיד לכם את דבר ד' כי יראתם מפני האש ולא עליתם בהר

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5776

I was standing between Hashem and you at that time, to relate the word of Hashem to you – for you were afraid of the fire and you did not ascend the mountain. (5:5)

Moshe Rabbeinu served as an intermediary between Hashem and the people in the days leading up to the Revelation. During the Giving of the Torah, Moshe’s services were even more necessary, since the people drew back in fear of the awesomeness of the experience. According to the commentators, the pasuk is informing us that Klal Yisrael did not ascend the mountain because they were afraid of the fire. In Shemos 19:12, the Torah teaches that the people were commanded to set boundaries around the mountain. They were enjoined, “Beware of ascending the mountain or touching its edge.” The question is…

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שמור את יום השבת לקדשו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5776

Safeguard the day of Shabbos to sanctify it. (5:12)

The vernacular of this pasuk is ambiguous. If Shabbos is holy, why do we have to sanctify it? It is already holy. If it is a mitzvah like all mitzvos, one that imbues us with its kedushah, holiness, what role does remembering play in the scheme of shemiras Shabbos, Shabbos observance? Perhaps we may suggest the following: secular society recognizes that Shabbos is designated for the Jewish People as a day of rest. This does not necessarily mean that they view it as a day replete with unusual holiness. The kedushah is something that we infuse into the Shabbos. Otherwise,…

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כבד את אביך ואת אמך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5776

Honor your father and mother. (5:16)

To render honor to one’s parents is an awesome task. Honor means much more than respect. It means: to value; to cherish; to appreciate; to understand that one’s presence in this world is attributed to his parents. The Sefer HaChinuch writes: Heim sibas heyoso b’olam, “They are the cause of his being in this world.” When one realizes that his basic “being” is due to them, he should be filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Honor should be the result of this emotion. Sadly, this emotion, or lack thereof, can backfire, when one has determined for himself that he…

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לא תספו על הדבר אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם ולא תגרעו ממנו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5775

You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor shall you subtract from it. (4:2)

The Torah is Divinely authored and, as such, it is perfect. To add or subtract from the written word of G-d is to imply that it lacks perfection and is somehow not applicable in all venues or under all circumstances. When Hashem commands that Tefillin have four parshios, He does not mean that four is a minimum, allowing for us to add a fifth parsha at will. Every number that Hashem gives us is the requisite for this mitzvah. To add or subtract is to distort and demean the pristine nature of the Torah. To do so is to deny…

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אנכי ד' אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים מבית עבדים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5775

I am Hashem, your G-d, Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt from the house of slavery. (5:6)

A well-known question was posed by Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi (Kuzari 1:25): Since the first mitzvah of the Aseres HaDibros, Ten Commandments, is the enjoinment to believe in Hashem, why not mention that Hashem created Heaven and earth? Why does our liberation from Egypt play such a critical role in our hashkafah, philosophy/outlook. He explains that, while the creation of the world is the penultimate experience, no one was around to see it. Yetzias Mitzrayim, the Exodus, was witnessed by millions. There is no question that something witnessed is something remembered. Yetzias Mitzrayim left a lasting influence on the psyche of…

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ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5775

You shall teach them thoroughly to your children and you shall speak of them. (6:7)

Rashi teaches that banecha, your sons, eilu ha’talmidim, applies equally to one’s talmidim, students. In Nitzotzos, Rav Yitzchak Herskowitz, Shlita, relates a story he heard from a Rosh Yeshivah, who is one of today’s more successful marbitzei Torah, disseminators of Torah, in Eretz Yisrael. Apparently, Torah was not always this individual’s primary interest. As a young, teenage student attending Yeshivas Ohr Yisrael in Petach Tikvah, he was involved in a lot of things, most of which were not Torah-related. Running with a group of like-minded students, he presented a constant challenge for the patience of the yeshivah’s Mashgiach, ethical supervisor….

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ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5775

You shall teach them thoroughly to your children. (6:7)

In his Taam V’Daas, Horav Moshe Shternbach, Shlita, quotes a powerful observation from Horav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, zl. Chazal teach that anyone who recites Krias Shema while not wearing Tefillin is considered as if he is offering false testimony. The parsha of Krias Shema includes the pasuk U’keshartem l’os al yadecha v’hayu l’totafos bein einecha, “Bind them as a sign upon your arm and let them be as ornaments between your eyes” (Devarim 6:8). How can one recite the mitzvah of wearing Tefillin when he himself is not wearing them? Accordingly, one who does not educate his children in the…

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ומשלם לשנאיו על פניו להאבידו לא יאחר לשנאו אל פניו ישלם לו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5775

But He repays each of His enemies to his face to make him perish; He will not delay for His enemy to his face He will repay him. (7:10)

Rashi explains that even the wicked who act appropriately and carry out good deeds will be rewarded. Hashem does not deprive anyone of his rightful reward. There is one difference, however; the wicked will be rewarded in this world. Olam Habba, the World To Come, is not their domain. They will not access their reward in the Eternal World. Their reward will be received in the here and now. The righteous, however, will enjoy the deep-rooted spiritual pleasure that is Olam Habba. Why should the rasha, wicked person, not receive his reward in Olam Habba? Is it reserved only for…

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לא תוסיפו... ולא תגרעו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5774

You shall not add… nor shall you subtract from it. (4:2)

The Torah is complete. It requires no addition and no subtraction. If Hashem has commanded us to perform a mitzvah in a specific manner, it is perfect in the manner it was given. To append or amend is to impugn the integrity of Hashem’s command. Thus, the mitzvah of Lulav is comprised of four species – not two or five; Tzitzis are fringes on the four corners of a garment – not five or three. While it is understandable that one may not diminish from Hashem’s word, but what is wrong with giving a little extra? Why place restrictions on…

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ויום השביעי שבת לד' אלקיך לא תעשה כל מלאכה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5774

But the seventh day is Shabbos to Hashem your G-d; you shall not do any work. (5:14)

Shabbos is much more than the catchword for the day of rest or the prohibition against laboring. Shabbos represents a covenant between Klal Yisrael and Hashem. It is a principle of our faith that Hashem created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day, proclaiming it holy. By not observing Shabbos, one impugns the belief in Hashem as Creator of the world. Shabbos calls to mind the exodus from Egypt, without which we would have continued as a slave people. As Ibn Ezra observed, “A slave never rests.” Hashem liberated us from the slavery of Egypt and…

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אנכי עמד בין ד' וביניכם בעת ההיא להגיד לכם את דבר ד' כי יראתם מפני האש ולא עליתם בהר

I was standing between Hashem and you at that time, to relate the word of Hashem to you – for you were afraid of the fire and you did not ascend the mountain. (5:5)

שמור את יום השבת לקדשו

Safeguard the day of Shabbos to sanctify it. (5:12)

כבד את אביך ואת אמך

Honor your father and mother. (5:16)

לא תספו על הדבר אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם ולא תגרעו ממנו

You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor shall you subtract from it. (4:2)

אנכי ד' אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים מבית עבדים

I am Hashem, your G-d, Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt from the house of slavery. (5:6)

ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם

You shall teach them thoroughly to your children and you shall speak of them. (6:7)

ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם

You shall teach them thoroughly to your children. (6:7)

ומשלם לשנאיו על פניו להאבידו לא יאחר לשנאו אל פניו ישלם לו

But He repays each of His enemies to his face to make him perish; He will not delay for His enemy to his face He will repay him. (7:10)

לא תוסיפו... ולא תגרעו

You shall not add… nor shall you subtract from it. (4:2)

ויום השביעי שבת לד' אלקיך לא תעשה כל מלאכה

But the seventh day is Shabbos to Hashem your G-d; you shall not do any work. (5:14)

YEARS

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