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Home -> Vayikra -> 5780

ואם נפש אחת תחטא בשגגה מעם הארץ

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Vayikra

If an individual person from among the people of the land shall sin unintentionally. (4:27)

The sin-offering of a yachid, individual, which is brought for an inadvertent sin (for a mitzvah whose intentional prohibition carries the punishment of Heavenly excision, kares), is always a beast (female goat or sheep) and does not vary up and down (oleh v’yoreid) according to the wealth or poverty of the one who sinned.  The Sefer HaChinuch explains the shoresh ha’mitzvah, root of the commandment, as in all korbanos, to abase and bring the sinner to humility over the sin which he committed.  As Shlomo HaMelech says in Mishlei (16:18), “Pride precedes destruction, and arrogance comes before failure.”  Humility is…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5780

ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קדש שבת שבתון לד'

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Vayakhel, Pekudei

On six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem. (35:2)

Shabbos occurs on the seventh day of the week. Why does the Torah assert that working during the six days of the week that precede Shabbos is appropriate? The Torah is addressing the prohibition of laboring on Shabbos. What do the six workdays have to do with Shabbos? The Chafetz Chaim, zl, asked this question when he addressed the chillul, desecration, of Shabbos manifest by a certain gvir, wealthy man, in one of the communities he visited when he was selling his sefarim. The Chafetz Chaim met privately with the man in the hope that he could present a passionate…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5780

ויעש בצלאל את הארן עצי שטים אמתים וחצי ארכו ואמה וחצי רחבו

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Vayakhel, Pekudei

Betzalel made the Aron of Shittim wood, two and a half amos its length, an amah and a half its width. (37:1)

One of the miracles that occurred both in the Mishkan and in the Bais Hamikdash was: Makom ha’Aron eino min ha’middah; “The place occupied by the Aron HaKodesh was not included in its measurement.” This means that the Aron did not take up any space. The Kodesh HaKedoshim, Holy of Holies, was ten amos, cubits, by ten amos. The Aron was two and a half amos by one and a half amah by one and a half amah. When the Aron was brought into the Kodesh HaKedoshim and the space from its width and length was measured, every side of…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5780

אלה פקודי המשכן משכן העדות

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Vayakhel, Pekudei

These are the mountings of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of Testimony. (38:21)

The word Mishkan is repeated (Rashi, citing the Midrash), alluding to the two Batei Mikdash (replacing the Mishkan) which were taken from us. The word Mishkan has the same letters as the word mashkon, which means collateral. This intimates (say Chazal) that the two Batei Mikdash are collateral for Klal Yisrael’s sins. When we sinned, we lost them, and they are being held in lieu of our repentance, after which the Bais Hamikdash will be restored to its previous glory. Veritably, in Jewish society, the most important place of worship is one’s own heart. The purpose of the Mishkan’s services…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5780

ויערך עליו ערך לחם לפני ד' כאשר צוה ד' את משה

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Vayakhel, Pekudei

He prepared on it the setting of bread before Hashem, as Hashem commanded Moshe. (40:23)

Everything in the Mishkan was carried out precisely as Hashem had commanded Moshe Rabbeinu – no more – no less – no infusion of self. Their personal zeal and enthusiasm in every aspect of their work were completely subordinated to the commands of Hashem. None of the craftsmen made any attempt to inject their own ideas or their own individuality to the construction of the Mishkan. They executed their mission obediently, with scrupulous care and precision, with unabashed joy at having been able to serve Hashem. By doing this, they achieved the sublime moral perfection which characterizes an eved, servant,…

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5780

זה יתנו כל העובר על הפקודים

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Ki Sisa

This shall they give – everyone who passes through the census. (30:13)

The mitzvah of giving machatzis ha’shekel, a half-shekel, each year applies equally to all Jews (men, twenty years old and up), regardless of their financial circumstances. All Jews are the same with regard to the donation that supports the daily korbanos, communal offerings, and other communal rituals in the Bais HaMikdash. As the Sefer HaChinuch explains the shoresh, root, of this mitzvah, Hashem wanted – for the good and merit of Klal Yisrael – that all Jews be equal with regard to the sacrifices (equal representation) that they brought regularly before Him. Shavim b’mitzvah, equal in the mitzvah, because all…

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5780

ויאמר משה אל אהרן מה עשה לך העם הזה כי הבאת עליו חטאה גדולה

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Ki Sisa

Moshe said to Aharon, “What did these people do to you that you brought a grievous sin upon it?” (32:21)

Rashi interprets Moshe Rabbeinu’s question as, “How much trouble did they put you through before you felt compelled to make the Golden Calf for them?” Ramban disagrees, because such a sin is considered avodah zarah, idol worship, which is one of the three cardinal sins for which the law of yehoreg v’al yaavor, one should be killed rather than transgress, applies. In other words, regardless of the yissurim, painful troubles, to which Aharon might have been subjected, he still did not have license to make the Golden Calf. While it is beyond the scope of this dvar Torah to distinguish…

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5780

הראני נא את כבודך

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Ki Sisa

Show me please Your glory. (Shemos 33:18)

The cheit ha’eigel, sin of the Golden Calf, was committed forty days after Hashem gave Moshe Rabbeinu the Aseres HaDibros, Ten Commandments, on Har Sinai. It was a sin for which Hashem wanted to destroy the Nation. While only a small group of people actually sinned, the rest of the nation stood by in apathy, either indifferent or unable to do anything to prevent the sin from occurring. As a result, Hashem held all of them in contempt, and He punished them. Hashem revoked His decree to destroy the nation due to Moshe Rabbeinu’s supplication on their behalf. Following Hashem’s…

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5780

ומשה לא ידע כי קרן עור פניו בדברו אתו

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Ki Sisa

Moshe did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant when Hashem had spoken to him. (34:29)

Rashi observes that, until this point, Moshe Rabbeinu’s face had not become radiant – even after having achieved the spiritual heights necessary to receive the Torah. It was only after he received the second Luchos that he earned the merit of koran ohr panav, radiant face. What about the second set of Luchos made such a difference? Horav Mordechai Gifter, zl, explains that the second set of Luchos were obtained in a manner that distinguished them from their predecessor. Following Klal Yisrael’s sin with the Golden Calf, Hashem was prepared to sever His relationship with the nation and rebuild Klal…

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Home -> 5780 -> Tetzaveh

ויקחו אליך שמן זית זך כתית למאור

Sruly Schnair
In Tetzaveh, 5780

And they shall take for you pure, pressed olive for illumination. (27:20)

The oil used for the Menorah had to be absolutely pure from the very beginning (not filtered). Therefore, the oil was made by pressing each olive gently, until only one drop of pure oil emerged. The remaining oil in the olive came out through crushing and was used for the Meal-offering. The Alter, zl, m’Kelm applies the word kassis, pressed, as a metaphor to describe the talmid chacham, Torah scholar, who “pounds” the ground, walking from place to place to study Torah wherever it is available. He quotes Chazal (Bava Basra 8a), “These are the talmidei chachamim who pound their…

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