5787 – Page 2 – Peninim on the Torah

ומשה בן מאה ועשרים שנה במתו

Moshe was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. (34:2)

In Parashah Vayeilech, on the last day of his life, Moshe Rabbeinu says, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today.” It was Moshe’s birthday – Adar 7; he died on his birthday. Chazal (Sotah 13b) teach, “Hashem completes the years of the righteous from day to day and from month to month.” The righteous will live out their years fully. Hashem sees to it that the righteous live complete lives, even if their birth and death dates do not coincide. Amalei, “I will fulfill,” means that the tzadik will not die before his time; only once his goal…

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שאל אביך ויגדך זקניך ויאמרו לך

Sruly Schnair In 5787, Ha'azinu

Ask your father, and he will relate to you, your elders and they will tell you. (32:7)

The pasuk implies the verity that, if you consult with the elders/the past traditions, you will not err in your logical conclusions. Why is this? Why is questioning our elders so much a part of present decision making? Horav Yissachar Ber, zl, m’Ritava quotes Horav Avraham Ragoler, zl (his grandfather), author of Maalos HaTorah and brother of the Gaon, zl, m’Vilna: How does one know whether the chiddush, novel Torah insight which he innovated, is true? How can one determine that what he is saying is consistent with Hashem and the Torah? The Gaon answered that everything depends upon the…

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ד' בדד ינחנו

Sruly Schnair In 5787, Ha'azinu

Hashem alone guided them. (32:12)

The simple explanation is that Hashem alone leads us. We are not relegated to the stewardship of an angel. In his Haamek Davar, the Netziv, zl, explains that Hashem led us through the wilderness in order to establish and define for us the tzurah, image, of what a Jew should be. He does not want us to intermingle in the gentile world more than necessary. Thus, Klal Yisrael’s Heavenly mandate is to be an Am levadad yishkon, to be alone, to be distinct, to stand out among the nations as children/representatives of Hashem should be. Hashem badad yanchenu, the Almighty…

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אמרתי אפיהם אשביתם מאנוש זכרם

Sruly Schnair In 5787, Ha'azinu

I had said, “I will scatter them; I will cause the memory to cease from man.” (32:26)

In an alternative exposition, Rashi defines afeihem as, “I will make them Pe’ah.” This refers to the corner of the field which the owner may not harvest; he must set it aside for the poor. The pasuk is, thus, implying that, as pe’ah is hefker, ownerless, property available for others (who fit the criteria of ani, poor man) so, too, will the Jewish people become vulnerable, exposed to the nations, as though they are ownerless. In his Shabbos Shuva derasha (5733), Horav Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss,zl, Minchas Yitchak, Raavad of Yerushalayim, wondered why Hashem chose pe’ah as the symbol of hefker,…

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ומשה בן מאה ועשרים שנה במתו

Moshe was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. (34:2)

שאל אביך ויגדך זקניך ויאמרו לך

Ask your father, and he will relate to you, your elders and they will tell you. (32:7)

ד' בדד ינחנו

Hashem alone guided them. (32:12)

אמרתי אפיהם אשביתם מאנוש זכרם

I had said, “I will scatter them; I will cause the memory to cease from man.” (32:26)

YEARS

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