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Home -> 5779 -> Chayei Sarah

והיה הנערה אשר אמר אליה הטי נא כדך ואשתה ואמרה שתה וגם גמליך אשקה אתה הכחת לעבדך ליצחק

Sruly Schnair
In Chayei Sarah, 5779

Let it be that the maiden to whom I shall say, “Please tip over your jug so I may drink,” and who replies, “Drink, and I will water your camels,” her will You have designated for Your servant. (24:14)

Osah hochachta, “He will You have designated”: She is fitting for Yitzchak Avinu due to her performance of acts of lovingkindness. Such a girl is worthy of entering the home of Avraham Avinu, the Patriarch who personified gemillas chesed, acts of lovingkindness. While offering to give water also for the camels was certainly an act of thoughtfulness and chesed, was that all it was? Horav Sholom Schwadron, zl, observes that there was another factor– something about the manner in which she carried out her act of kindness. The Torah states, Vatomar sh’sei adoni va’timaher va’torad kadah; “And she said, ‘Drink,…

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Home -> 5779 -> Chayei Sarah

ואמר אל אדני אלי לא תלך האשה אחרי

Sruly Schnair
In Chayei Sarah, 5779

And I said to my master, “Perhaps the woman will not follow me?” (24:39)

Life is not always a bed of roses. Disappointments are part of the Heavenly-designed world in which we live.  How one reacts and responds to disappointments is the barometer of his acknowledgement that it is Hashem – not he – who runs the world. Accepting disappointment — and, in fact, growing from it — is the mark of a great person. When Avraham Avinu sent his trusted student/servant, Eliezer, on a mission to find a suitable mate for his son, Yitzchak (Avinu), he set forth one critical criterion which was non-negotiable: Under no circumstances was Yitzchak permitted to live with…

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Home -> 5779 -> Vayeira

ואל הבקר רץ אברהם

Sruly Schnair
In Vayeira, 5779

Then Avraham ran to the cattle. (18:7)

The Baal HaTurim turns around the letters of the word, ha’bakar, so that it becomes ha’kever, the grave. The Yalkut Shemoni explains that the bakar, calf, that Avraham Avinu was prepared to slaughter ran away, and Avraham followed it into the Meoras HaMachpeilah, which then contained the graves of Adam and Chavah. When Avraham entered the cave, he saw a man and a woman lying there asleep. Next to them candles were burning, from which a pleasant odor permeated outward. This is why Avraham sought to make Meoras HaMachpeilah the place where he, too, wished to be buried. Interestingly, as…

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Home -> 5779 -> Vayeira

וישלח אברהם את ידו ויקח את המאכלת לשחט את בנו

Sruly Schnair
In Vayeira, 5779

Avraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slaughter his son. (22:10)

A dear friend who became observant late in life, after raising his children to be devoutly secular Jews with little or no Jewish identity, was told by his daughter, “What bothers me most about your commitment to Orthodoxy is that you care more about G-d than you do about me!” A powerful accusation – if one is not Orthodox. One whose life is wholly regulated by the Torah understands that it is all about G-d. He comes first. This does not in any way suggest that frum people do not have feelings for family. If anything, they place a higher…

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Home -> 5779 -> Vayeira

ויקרא אליו מלאך ד'... עתה ידעתי כי ירא אלקים אתה ולא תשכת את בנך את יחידך ממני

Sruly Schnair
In Vayeira, 5779

And an Angel of Hashem called to him… For now I know that you are a G-d-fearing man, since you have not withheld your son, your only one, from Me. (22:11,12)

The angel said to Avraham, “Since you have not withheld your son, your only one, from Me.” The Gaon, zl, m’Vilna, wonders what the angel meant with the words, “From Me”. If he meant Hashem, he should have said so. “Me” implies that he was talking about himself. Horav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Shlita, cites Maadanei Yosef, who explains that every mitzvah a person performs catalyzes the creation of an angel. The quality, perfection of this angel, depends upon the quality of the mitzvah. A strong mitzvah, ie, one performed solely for the sake of Heaven, with alacrity and the proper intentions,…

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Home -> 5779 -> Vayeira

אל תשלח ידך אל הנער... כי עתה ידעתי כי ירא אלקים אתה

Sruly Schnair
In Vayeira, 5779

Do not stretch out your hand against the lad… for now I know that you are a G-d-fearing man. (22:12)

What was so special about “now”? What did Avraham Avinu do “now” that made such a strong impression, that so underscored his fear of G-d? The Malbim explains that actually Avraham had been tested twice. The primary objective of the nisayon, test, of Akeidas Yitzchak was to see whether Avraham would carry out the mitzvah purely for the sake of Hashem: Would this mitzvah be the execution of the will of the Almighty – or would Avraham perform the Akeidah for ulterior (regardless of how minute and insignificant) motives? Would the Patriarch have a personal agenda included in his act…

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Home -> 5779 -> Lech Lecha

ויאמר אברם אל לוט אל נא תהי מריבה ביני ובינך... כי אנשים אחים אנחנו... הפרד נא מעלי

Sruly Schnair
In Lech Lecha, 5779

And Avram said to Lot, “Please let there be no discord, please, between me and you… for we are kinsmen (men who are brothers)… Please separate from me.” (13:8,9)

It appears that the reason for them to separate from one another was their kinship. If they were not kinsmen, would discord have been more acceptable? Strife is strife – discord devastates – controversy destroys. Does it make a difference if the fight is between brothers or two unrelated individuals? Chazal (cited by Rashi) teach that Avraham Avinu and Lot had similar countenances. Does it make a difference whether or not they looked alike? The simple explanation is that Avraham was concerned with the fact that he and Lot looked the same. Imagine, one day Avraham is seen in the…

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Home -> 5779 -> Lech Lecha

ויאמר אליו אני ד' אשר הוצאתיך מאור כשדים

Sruly Schnair
In Lech Lecha, 5779

And He (Hashem) said to him, “I am G-d Who brought you out of Uhr Kasdim.” (15:7)

The fact that the Torah does not mention the miracle of Avraham Avinu being spared from death in Uhr Kasdim, except in passing, begs elucidation. Hashem just says, “I am G-d Who brought you out of Uhr Kasdim” – nothing at all about saving him from certain death. Apparently, as far as our Patriarch was concerned, Uhr Kasdim was not much of a nisayon, test, for him. Why? Horav Yaakov Moshe Charlop, zl, explains that Avraham Avinu lived his life on the ultimate spiritual plateau of V’chai bahem, “By which he shall live” (Vayikra 18:5). This teaches that one’s entire…

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Home -> 5779 -> Lech Lecha

ויאמר אברם אל לוט אל נא תהי מריבה ביני ובינך...

Sruly Schnair
In Lech Lecha, 5779

And Avram said to Lot, “Let there be no discord, please, between me and you….” (13:8)

Horav S.R. Hirsch, zl, teaches an important lesson concerning the grammatical syntax of the above pasuk. He explains that the word beineinu, between us, is used when the separation or union is not necessarily mutual. However, when the Torah repeats the bein, between, such as here, beini u’beinecha, between me and you, the union or separation is mutual. It is as if Avraham Avinu was intimating to Lot: “If we have discord, there can be no relationship between us. Our quarrel is mutual. There are things about you which do not please me, and I am certain that there are…

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Home -> 5779 -> Lech Lecha

זאת בריתי אשר תשמרו ביני וביניכם ובין זרעך אחריך המול לכם כל זכר

Sruly Schnair
In Lech Lecha, 5779

This is My Covenant which you shall keep between Me and you and your descendants after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. (17:10)

In addressing the mitzvah of Bris Milah, the Sefer HaChinuch writes: “One root reason for this precept is that Hashem wished to affix in the people that He set apart to be called by His Name a permanent sign on their bodies to distinguish them physically from the other nations. Just as they are differentiated in their spiritual form, their purpose and way in the world not being the same, their physical differentiation sets them apart as it constitutes the perfection of their physical form. Hashem Yisborach desired to refine the physical character of His chosen people, and He wanted…

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