Yisro – Page 3 – Peninim on the Torah

וישמע יתרו ... את כל אשר עשה אלקים למשה ולישראל עמו

Sruly Schnair In Yisro, 5780

Yisro heard… everything that G-D did to Moshe and Yisrael, his people. (18:1)

Was Yisro the only one who heard about Hashem’s wondrous miracles on behalf of the Jews? Shamu amim yirgazun… “Nations heard, they were anguished” (Shemos 15:14). The entire world heard, but only Yisro responded actively to the message. He came to join the Jews, realizing that the deities he had worshipped until now were a sham. We all hear, but we do not all listen. The sound enters our ears, but not our brain. Hearing without cognitive processing does not relay the message, leaving the person as if he had never even heard. Horav Chaim Vital, zl, writes that the…

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לא תחמד בית רעך... וכל אשר לרעך

Sruly Schnair In Yisro, 5779

Do not covet your friend’s house… and everything that belongs to your friend. (20:14)

The question is obvious. Why delineate various items that belong (so to speak) to your friend (which you covet) and then conclude the pasuk with, V’chol asher l’reiecha, “And everything that belongs to your friend”? The aforementioned items also belong to your friend. Why not simply write: “Do not covet anything that belongs to your friend”? The simple answer to this question is that a person covets because he sees something that his neighbor has, and this drives him into a frenzy. Why not me? I also want that. Envy is the driving force behind chemdah, coveting, what belongs to someone…

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אנכי ד' אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים

Sruly Schnair In Yisro, 5779

I am Hashem, Your G-d, Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt. (20:2)

So begin the Aseres HaDibros, Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, the basis upon which our Torah stands. Indeed, when we depict the Torah, it is through the medium of the Two Tablets upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed. Chazal (Shabbos 88b) relate the dialogue that ensued between Moshe Rabbeinu and the Ministering Angels concerning the Torah. The Ministering Angels said to Hashem, “The Torah is a hidden treasure that had been concealed for 974 generations prior to the creation of the world. Yet, You want to give it to a mortal of flesh and blood.” Hashem asked Moshe to respond…

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והר סיני עשן כלו מפני אשר ירד עליו ד' באש

Sruly Schnair In Yisro, 5779

All of Har Sinai was smoking, because Hashem had descended upon it in the fire. (19:18)

The most awesome, momentous moment in the history of mankind was the Revelation, during which Hashem descended upon Har Sinai amid an unprecedented display of thunder, smoke, lightning and fire. The background “music” was the accompaniment of shofar blasts. In Derech Eitz Chaim, the Ramchal addresses the idea that the essence of Torah is eish, fire: “Behold! With great precision, it (the Torah) was compared to fire. When one uses an ember which does not flame (not noticeable), but the energy of the flame is concealed inside, until that moment when one blows (stokes) on it. Then the flame will…

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אשר שם האחד גרשם... ושם האחד אליעזר

Sruly Schnair In Yisro, 5779

And the name of one was Gershom… and the name of one (the other) was Eliezer. (18:3,4)

The Baalei Mussar, Ethicists, exhort us to live on the bare minimum in terms of material needs. The Tanna in Pirkei Avos teaches us the recipe for Torah living: Pas ba’melech tochal, u’mayim ba’meshureh tishte, “Bread dipped in salt, and measured water”; v’al haaretz tishan, “and sleep on the floor.” We can do without luxuries. When it comes to spiritual benefits, Torah achievements, one should not be mistapek b’muat, suffice with a little. We should be filled with a passion to achieve greater and even greater levels of erudition in Torah. Horav Reuven Karlinstein, zl, applies this rule to explain…

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וישמע יתרו

Roberto Szerer In Yisro, 5778

Yisro heard. (18:1)

The name of a Parsha is not arbitrary. It has been chosen by design, for a reason, for a purpose, to teach a lesson. This brings us to the name of our parsha: Yisro. Unquestionably, Yisro was an extraordinary human being: father-in-law of both Moshe Rabbeinu and Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen Gadol and the grandfather of Pinchas, who is Eliyahu HaNavi, but do their relationships warrant that a parsha be named after him? It is not as if we have a parsha named for the Patriarchs, Yosef HaTzaddik or Aharon HaKohen. Veritably, our parsha is about Mattan Torah, the Giving…

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וישמע יתרו...כי הוציא ד' את ישראל ממצרים

Roberto Szerer In Yisro, 5778

And Yisro heard…that Hashem had taken Yisrael out of Egypt. (18:1)

Originally, Moshe Rabbeinu had taken his entire family with him to Egypt. Aharon HaKohen urged him to send them back to Midyan. His contention was very practical: The Jews in Egypt were already suffering; why should Moshe add to their number? Now, after hearing about all of the miracles, Yisro realized that the time had come for the family to be reunited. Chazal (Midrash Rabbah, Shemos 4:4) relate Moshe’s response to his brother’s admonishment. He said, “Tomorrow (in the near future), they (Klal Yisrael) will leave Egypt and stand at the foot of Har Sinai, where they will hear Hashem…

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זכור את יום השבת לקדשו ... לא תענה ברעך עד שקר

Roberto Szerer In Yisro, 5778

Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it … You shall not bear false witness against your fellow.

The Midrash Rabbah (47:6) teaches that the Aseres HaDibros, Ten Commandments, were written side by side, five on each tablet. Thus, the injunction to observe Shabbos Kodesh stands opposite/next to the prohibition against false testimony. A Jew who observes Shabbos attests that the world was created by Hashem’s utterance. When one bears false testimony, he corrupts his speech, which leaves him unable to testify that Hashem created the world. (He created it, then He rested on the Seventh Day. Shabbos attests to this verity.) Truth is the force that keeps the world alive, while falsehood is destructive. One who prevaricates…

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כבד את אביך ואת אמך למען יאריכון ימיך

Roberto Szerer In Yisro, 5778

Honor your father and mother, so that your days will be lengthened.

The Aseres HaDibros, Ten Commandments, were inscribed on two tablets. Hence, the name: Luchos. The Ten Commandments are divided equally with: five devoted to mitzvos bein adam laMakom, between man and G-d; and five devoted to mitzvos bein adam lachaveiro, between man and his fellow man. Interestingly, the mitzvah of kibud av v’eim, honoring one’s father and mother, is listed on the tablet dedicated to bein adam laMakom. Chazal (Kiddushin 30b) teach that, when one properly honors his parents, it is considered as if he has honored Hashem. This is probably due to the fact that they “partner” with Hashem…

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תקע בשופר... ושא נס לקבץ ...וקבצנו יחד

Roberto Szerer In Yisro, 5778

Teka b’shofar…v’sa neis l’kabeitz… v’kabtzeinu yachad

Sound the shofar…and raise a banner to gather…and gather us together. This prayer includes three expressions that imply ingathering: sound the shofar for our freedom; raise a banner to gather in our exiles; gather us together from the four corners of the earth. Ten tribes were exiled prior to the tribes of Yehudah and Binyamin. We refer to them as the Ten Lost Tribes. These Ten Tribes were split in their exile, with some exiled somewhere in “the dark mountains,” and the rest going even further to a place that was “beyond the Sambatyon River.” The Gaon, zl, m’Vilna explains…

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וישמע יתרו ... את כל אשר עשה אלקים למשה ולישראל עמו

Yisro heard… everything that G-D did to Moshe and Yisrael, his people. (18:1)

לא תחמד בית רעך... וכל אשר לרעך

Do not covet your friend’s house… and everything that belongs to your friend. (20:14)

אנכי ד' אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים

I am Hashem, Your G-d, Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt. (20:2)

והר סיני עשן כלו מפני אשר ירד עליו ד' באש

All of Har Sinai was smoking, because Hashem had descended upon it in the fire. (19:18)

אשר שם האחד גרשם... ושם האחד אליעזר

And the name of one was Gershom… and the name of one (the other) was Eliezer. (18:3,4)

וישמע יתרו

Yisro heard. (18:1)

וישמע יתרו...כי הוציא ד' את ישראל ממצרים

And Yisro heard…that Hashem had taken Yisrael out of Egypt. (18:1)

זכור את יום השבת לקדשו ... לא תענה ברעך עד שקר

Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it … You shall not bear false witness against your fellow.

כבד את אביך ואת אמך למען יאריכון ימיך

Honor your father and mother, so that your days will be lengthened.

תקע בשופר... ושא נס לקבץ ...וקבצנו יחד

Teka b’shofar…v’sa neis l’kabeitz… v’kabtzeinu yachad

YEARS

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