5784 – Page 14 – Peninim on the Torah

כי מחה אמחה את זכר עמלק מתחת השמים

That I shall surely erase the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. (17:14)

The most powerful tool against the yetzer hora, evil-inclination, is pride. When one maintains a sense of pride, when one believes in himself, the yetzer hora will have great difficulty in undermining his self-esteem. While on the surface this may seem counterintuitive to the middah, character trait, of humility, it is anything but. A truly humble person is well aware of who he is and of what he is capable of achieving. He just does not allow it to go to his head. He has been blessed with specific talents as part of his mission on this world. He is…

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כי יד על כס קה מלחמה לד' עם בעמלק מדר דר

Sruly Schnair In Beshalach, 5784

For a hand is raised on the Throne of Hashem an eternal battle of G-d with Amalek from generation to generation. (17:16)

The last pasuk in this parshah underscores the eternal battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Hashem will not rest until Amalek is eradicated along with its physical and spiritual successors. Wherein lay the evil that Amalek wrought against us? Indeed, in the end of Parashas Ki Seitzei (Devarim 25:18), the Torah exhorts us to remember what Amalek did to us. The immediate question that glares at us upon reading this pasuk is: What did Amalek really do to us? He attacked us and was wiped out by Yehoshua and the Jewish army. For all intents…

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ולמען תספר באזני בנך

Sruly Schnair In Bo, 5784

And so that you may relate in the ears of your son. (10:2)

One of the mysteries that plague the commentators is the fact that the two sons of Moshe Rabbeinu were not in Egypt during the demonstration of the miracles and wonders associated with the Exodus. They did not see Krias Yam Suf, the Splitting of the Red Sea. All of Klal Yisrael observed the final end of 210 years of slavery, as their oppressors experienced a fitting end to their domination of the Jews. Two sons, not just ordinary sons, but the two children of the man of the hour, who became the Rabban Shel Kol Yisrael and its quintessential leader….

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ויצא מעם פרעה בחרי אף

Sruly Schnair In Bo, 5784

And he left Pharaoh’s presence in a burning anger. (11:9)

Moshe Rabbeinu finally became angry with Pharaoh, whose irrational, egotistical obstinacy was endangering his entire country. Pharaoh was playing games with Moshe. First, no; then, yes; then, who will go? Finally, when Pharaoh told Moshe not to return unless he despaired for his life, Moshe replied, “I will no longer see your face.” Despite Moshe’s justified anger, he still spoke respectfully to Pharaoh. Indeed, he told Pharaoh that, at the next plague, it will be his slaves who will be coming to him, pleading for an end to the plague. In the end, it was Pharaoh, accompanied by his slaves,…

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קדש לי כל בכור פטר כל רחם

Sruly Schnair In Bo, 5784

Sanctify for Me every first born, the first issue of every womb. (13:2)

Chazal (Kiddushin 29b) derive from here that the term b’chor, firstborn, applies only to the firstborn of the mother. A firstborn who is the first for the father, but not the mother, does not become consecrated b’kedushas bechorah, the sanctity of the firstborn. We wonder why this is so? The bechorim are sanctified due to the miracle concerning their salvation when all the heathen firstborn of Egypt were slain. The Jewish firstborn were spared. Regarding the Egyptian firstborn, no distinction was made whether it was the father’s or mother’s firstborn – they all died. Indeed, if no firstborn was in…

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והיה לך לאות על ידך

Sruly Schnair In Bo, 5784

And it should be for you a sign on your arm. (13:9)

Horav Aryeh Levin, zl, the Tzaddik of Yerushalayim, reached out to Jews of all backgrounds and religious persuasions. He made it a point to visit the prisons run by the British and also visit those with contagious diseases, such as leprosy. Indeed, he was one of the few who did this. Certainly, no one of his exalted stature carried out such exalted acts of chesed. During the British Mandate, political prisoners – such as the young, Jewish freedom fighters – were sentenced to the gallows by the British courts. The shadow of death was hardly ever overruled by a pardon….

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והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלת מצרים והצלתי אתכם מעבדתם

Sruly Schnair In Vaeira, 5784

And I shall take you out from under the burdens of Egypt; I shall rescue you from their service. (6:6)

V’hitzalti eschem mei’avodosam, “And I will rescue you from their service” means that the Jewish people will no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. No longer slaves? Throughout our tumultuous history, we have been subjugated to the most demeaning and brutal forms of slavery – and then murdered. Horav Chaim Keller, zl, wonders how our people, who were treated worse than animals by the Nazi murderers, were able to recite, She’lo asani eved, “That He did not make me a slave.” If that was not slavery – what is? In a shmuess, ethical discourse (Peninei Daas), Horav Eliyahu Meir Bloch,…

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ויקח עמרם את יוכבד דדתו לו לאשה

Sruly Schnair In Vaeira, 5784

And Amram took his aunt Yocheved as a wife. (6:20)

As a rule, the Torah does not mention the names of women unless they play an integral role in the narrative. It is, therefore, out of context that the Torah mentions Yocheved – despite the fact that she was the progenitress of the three great leaders of Klal Yisrael: Moshe Rabbeinu, Aharon HaKohen and Miriam HaNeviah. Horav Aryeh Leib Heyman, zl, delves into Yocheved’s background, her name, her personal achievements and her distinction vis-à-vis Klal Yisrael’s destiny. He suggests that her father, Levi, gave her the name Yocheved because he felt greater personal guilt for selling Yosef than the other…

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ויאמר ד' אל משה אמר אל אהרן נטה את מטך והך את עפר הארץ והיה לכנם

Sruly Schnair In Vaeira, 5784

Hashem said to Moshe, “Say to Aharon, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, it shall become lice.’” (8:12)

Rashi explains that, like the plague of blood and frogs, Moshe could not catalyze this plague. Just as the water had protected him as an infant, the dust of the land protected him when he used it to conceal the Egyptian that he had killed. To smite the earth would have been an act of ingratitude on his part. This begs elucidation. The water saved Moshe – end of story. His basket was placed in the water and remained there until Bisyah, Pharaoh’s daughter, discovered it. The dust of the earth’s protection was short-lived, since it did not successfully hide…

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הנני ממטיר כעת מחר ברד כבד מאד... ועתה שלח העז את מקנך ואת כל אשר לך בשדה ...הירא את דבר ד'... הנים את עבדו ואת מקנהו אל הבתים

Sruly Schnair In Vaeira, 5784

Behold, at this time tomorrow I shall rain a very heavy hail… And now send, gather in your livestock and everything that you have in the field…. Whoever among the servants of Pharaoh feared the word of Hashem chased his servants and livestock into the house. (9:18,19,20)

Egypt is a country where rain is rare and hail is virtually a climate phenomenon that does not occur. Thus, the plague of barad, hail, was unusual in that it would be a first for Egypt. Moshe’s warning was unique, in that he told Pharaoh the exact time at which the plague would commence and warned him to inform his slaves to take cover in order to protect themselves and their property. The Torah commends those Egyptians who listened, referring to them as G-d-fearing. The plague of barad and the entire format of its descent onto the land of Egypt…

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כי מחה אמחה את זכר עמלק מתחת השמים

That I shall surely erase the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. (17:14)

כי יד על כס קה מלחמה לד' עם בעמלק מדר דר

For a hand is raised on the Throne of Hashem an eternal battle of G-d with Amalek from generation to generation. (17:16)

ולמען תספר באזני בנך

And so that you may relate in the ears of your son. (10:2)

ויצא מעם פרעה בחרי אף

And he left Pharaoh’s presence in a burning anger. (11:9)

קדש לי כל בכור פטר כל רחם

Sanctify for Me every first born, the first issue of every womb. (13:2)

והיה לך לאות על ידך

And it should be for you a sign on your arm. (13:9)

והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלת מצרים והצלתי אתכם מעבדתם

And I shall take you out from under the burdens of Egypt; I shall rescue you from their service. (6:6)

ויקח עמרם את יוכבד דדתו לו לאשה

And Amram took his aunt Yocheved as a wife. (6:20)

ויאמר ד' אל משה אמר אל אהרן נטה את מטך והך את עפר הארץ והיה לכנם

Hashem said to Moshe, “Say to Aharon, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, it shall become lice.’” (8:12)

הנני ממטיר כעת מחר ברד כבד מאד... ועתה שלח העז את מקנך ואת כל אשר לך בשדה ...הירא את דבר ד'... הנים את עבדו ואת מקנהו אל הבתים

Behold, at this time tomorrow I shall rain a very heavy hail… And now send, gather in your livestock and everything that you have in the field…. Whoever among the servants of Pharaoh feared the word of Hashem chased his servants and livestock into the house. (9:18,19,20)

YEARS

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