5782 – Page 7 – Peninim on the Torah

תסגר שבעת ימים מחוץ למחנה ואחר תאסף

Let her be quarantined outside the camp for seven days, and then she may be brought in. (12:14)

Miriam HaNeviyah partnered with her two illustrious brothers in leading Klal Yisrael out of Egypt and through their forty-year journey through the wilderness. The Torah relates that Miriam misspoke concerning Moshe Rabbeinu, making a comment that was considered lashon hora, slanderous speech. As a result, she was struck with tzaraas, spiritual leprosy. The metzora must be quarantined for seven days. During Miriam’s seven-day isolation, the entire Klal Yisrael waited and did not journey to their next encampment. While this was considered a punishment to her, Klal Yisrael’s remaining in place for the duration of her quarantine is a tribute to…

Home -> 5782 -> Naso

איש איש כי תשטה אשתו ומעלה בו מעל ...איש או אשה כי יפלא לנדר נדר נזיר להזיר לד'

Sruly Schnair In Naso, 5782

Any man whose wife shall go astray and commit treachery against him. (5:12)…A man or woman who shall disassociate himself by taking a Nazirite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem. (6:2)

The parsha of nazir is juxtaposed upon the laws of the sotah. These two diverse experiences, with the nazir personifying the apex of sanctity and the sotah acting in a manner that reflects the nadir of depravity, are as diverse from one another as could be. Yet, the Torah places them near one another. Chazal (Bereishis 63a) explain that one who observes a sotah in her degradation should separate himself from wine which can, under the wrong circumstances, lead to sinful behavior. Let us attempt to portray a hypothetical scenario rationally. A holy tzaddik, righteous person, walks through the street…

Home -> 5782 -> Naso

איש איש כי תשטה אשתו ומעלה בו מעל....איש או אשה כי יפלא לנדר נדר נזיר להזיר לד'

Sruly Schnair In Naso, 5782

Any man whose wife shall go astray and commit treachery against him. (5:12)….A man or woman who shall dissociate himself by taking a Nazarite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem. (6:2)

In the Pri Tzaddik (Naso 13), Horav Tzadok HaKohen, zl, m’Lublin, observes a striking disparity with regard to the laws associated with sotah and nazir in the Torah and their placement in the Mishnah and Talmud. In the Torah, the laws of sotah, the wayward wife, precede those of the nazir; in contrast, in the Talmud, Meseches Nazir, precedes Meseches Sotah. Rav Tzadok posits that an important moral lesson can be derived from the Torah’s sequence of sotah before nazir. The sotah is a woman who is suspected of acting immorally outside of her marriage. A woman whose infidelity plummets…

Home -> 5782 -> Naso

ואם לא נטמאה האשה וטהורה היא ונקתה ונזרע זרע

Sruly Schnair In Naso, 5782

But if the woman had not become defiled and she is pure, then she shall be proven innocent and she shall bear seed. (5:28)

Unquestionably, the suspected sotah had gone through a harrowing ordeal. At the end, her claims of innocence were miraculously proven correct. She had not committed adultery. As a result, she will be blessed. Chazal (Sotah 26a) teach that she will bear children more easily. If she had heretofore suffered difficult labor, she will now experience an easy birth. If her babies had been dark-skinned, they will now be fair. If she had previously been barren, Hashem will give her a child to compensate for her ordeal. A wonderful reward for what? This woman had acted in a manner that provoked…

Home -> 5782 -> Naso

כה תברכו את בני ישראל...ושמו את שמי על בני ישראל ואני אברכם

Sruly Schnair In Naso, 5782

So shall you bless Bnei Yisrael. (6:23)…Let them place My Name upon Bnei Yisrael, and I will bless them. (6:27)

In the three pesukim of Bircas Kohanim, the Priestly Blessing, the Kohanim serve as the medium through which Hashem’s blessing reaches us. Hashem is the One Who blesses us via the conduit of the Kohen. Prior to offering the blessing, the Kohanim recite a berachah, “Who commands us to bless His People, Yisrael – b’ahavah, with love.” Thus, if the blessings are to achieve efficacy, the tenor of the relationship between kohen and congregation – and vice versa – must be one of love, no animus towards any member of the congregation for any reason. This applies to the flipside….

Home -> Bamidbar -> 5782

וידבר ד' אל משה במדבר סיני

Sruly Schnair In 5782, Bamidbar

Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai. (1:1)

The Torah was given to us in the wilderness. Obviously, this was by design, because Hashem could have arranged the Revelation anywhere. Apparently, He chose the wilderness for a reason. Horav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zl, posits that Hashem was delivering a message to us concerning the nature of the Torah and the attitude which should prevail when we study it. The wilderness is not a place designated for human habitation. Deadly serpents and scorpions inhabit it. The climate is certainly not conducive to human settlement. Nonetheless, all the powers of Briah, Creation – through the media of water, fire and…

Home -> Bamidbar -> 5782

וידבר ד' אל משה במדבר סיני

Sruly Schnair In 5782, Bamidbar

Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai. (1:1)

The well-known Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 1:7) states that the Torah was given to us through the vehicle of three media: fire, water and wilderness. Fire: “All of Har Sinai was smoking when Hashem descended upon it in the fire” (Shemos 19:18). Water: “The Heavens trickled; even the clouds dripped water” (Shoftim 5:4). Midbar, wilderness: “Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai” (Bamidbar 1:1). Chazal spell out the lesson derived from those three: They are all free; so, too, is the Torah available for free. The commentators, each in his own inimitable manner, offer their own explanations of these…

Home -> Bamidbar -> 5782

שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל למשפחתם לבית אבותם

Sruly Schnair In 5782, Bamidbar

Take a census of the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael according to their families, according to their father’s household. (1:2)

The census of Klal Yisrael which was carried out individually for each shevet, tribe, in accordance to their pedigree i.e. their father’s yichus, lineage, carries a powerful connotation for the Jew. Knowing and acknowledging our past is critical. Understanding, appreciating, or, at times, coming to terms with our roots is part of our Jewish responsibility. Whether one hails from an illustrious lineage or from less-than-ordinary pedigree, he is part of Klal Yisrael. Thus, he is charged with the mission of spreading and glorifying Hashem’s Name in the world. A fascinating Chazal (Yalkut Shemoni 684) addresses Klal Yisrael’s lineage and its…

Home -> Bamidbar -> 5782

שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל למשפחתם לבית אבתם

Sruly Schnair In 5782, Bamidbar

Take a census of the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael according to their families, according to their father’s household. (1:2)

The Torah relates the command that all Jews be counted in the census. It is in the following pasuk that the Torah states the criterion of twenty years and older. Is it “all” or a select group? The Ben Ish Chai explains this with an incident in which he had been personally involved. He heard someone slandering the Jewish community, claiming that in their home in Europe, they had desecrated Shabbos and flagrantly had eaten unkosher food. He asserted that this was the tip of the iceberg, as he continued his denigration of a large segment of the Jewish community….

Home -> Bechukosai -> 5782

אם בחוקתי תלכו ואת מצותי תשמרו

Sruly Schnair In 5782, Bechukosai

If you will go in My statutes and observe My commandments. (26:3)

Rashi comments: One might be able to think that this (teilechu, you will go) refers to the fulfillment of mitzvos. Then, when it follows with “And (you will) observe My commandments,” that the fulfillment of mitzvos has been stated. (There is no reason to reiterate the enjoinment of mitzvah observance). There is no interpretation for Im b’chukosai teilechu, other than shetiheyu ameilim baTorah, that you should be laboring in Torah. Much has been written concerning Rashi’s well-known commentary; if one values Torah study, then he is more than happy to exert himself to master it. Torah achievement is granted by…

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תסגר שבעת ימים מחוץ למחנה ואחר תאסף

Let her be quarantined outside the camp for seven days, and then she may be brought in. (12:14)

איש איש כי תשטה אשתו ומעלה בו מעל ...איש או אשה כי יפלא לנדר נדר נזיר להזיר לד'

Any man whose wife shall go astray and commit treachery against him. (5:12)…A man or woman who shall disassociate himself by taking a Nazirite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem. (6:2)

איש איש כי תשטה אשתו ומעלה בו מעל....איש או אשה כי יפלא לנדר נדר נזיר להזיר לד'

Any man whose wife shall go astray and commit treachery against him. (5:12)….A man or woman who shall dissociate himself by taking a Nazarite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem. (6:2)

ואם לא נטמאה האשה וטהורה היא ונקתה ונזרע זרע

But if the woman had not become defiled and she is pure, then she shall be proven innocent and she shall bear seed. (5:28)

כה תברכו את בני ישראל...ושמו את שמי על בני ישראל ואני אברכם

So shall you bless Bnei Yisrael. (6:23)…Let them place My Name upon Bnei Yisrael, and I will bless them. (6:27)

וידבר ד' אל משה במדבר סיני

Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai. (1:1)

וידבר ד' אל משה במדבר סיני

Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai. (1:1)

שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל למשפחתם לבית אבותם

Take a census of the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael according to their families, according to their father’s household. (1:2)

שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל למשפחתם לבית אבתם

Take a census of the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael according to their families, according to their father’s household. (1:2)

אם בחוקתי תלכו ואת מצותי תשמרו

If you will go in My statutes and observe My commandments. (26:3)

YEARS

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