Peninim on the Torah – Page 120 – Hebrew Academy of Cleveland

ויבז עשיו את הבכורה

Eisav spurned the birthright. (25:34)

Eisav saw no value whatsoever in the birthright. Thus, when he was hungry, he quickly sold the birthright for a bowl of red soup. Apparently, selling the birthright is held against Eisav. The fact that he committed five grave sins that day does not seem to carry as much weight as his selling the birthright. Why? The Brisker Rav, zl, explains that concerning the other sins which Eisav committed, he always had the excuse that he was provoked by the yetzer hora, evil inclination. The other sins may have brought him some sort of perverse satisfaction. Selling the birthright was…

Home -> 5779 -> Toldos

ויאמר לאביו יקם אבי ויאכל מציד בנו בעבר תברכני נפשך

Sruly Schnair In Toldos, 5779

He said to his father, “Let my father rise and eat of his son’s game, so that your soul will bless me. (27:31)

The commentators (Midrash Tanchuma) note the stark disparity between the manner in which Yaakov Avinu addressed his father and the way that Eisav spoke to him. Yaakov spoke to his father with the words, Kum na shvah v’achlah mitzeidi; “Rise up, please, sit and eat of my game” (Bereishis 27:18). Eisav ha’rasha said, Yakum avi v’yochal mitzeid bno; “Let my father rise and eat of his son’s game” (ibid. 27:31). Yaakov said, “Please;” Eisav demanded, “Get up.” Yaakov spoke with humility. Eisav arrogantly commanded, insisting that his father eat. We are well aware that the mitzvah of Kibud av, honoring…

Home -> 5779 -> Chayei Sarah

תנו לי אחזת קבר עמכם ואקברה מתי מלפני

Sruly Schnair In Chayei Sarah, 5779

Grant me burial property with you, so that I may bury my dead from before me. (23:4)

Achuzah (according to Horav S.R. Hirsch, zl) means settlement, the act of becoming domiciled in a given place. When Avraham asked permission to bury his wife, Sarah, he asked that she be able to rest in a place that would be her permanent, everlasting home. Avraham Avinu lived his entire life as a wanderer, refusing to settle in any one place, because this would contradict his mission in life: to reach out wherever possible to touch the lives of many, wherever they may be. He was not going to sit back and wait for people to come to him. He…

Home -> 5779 -> Chayei Sarah

ואברהם זקן בא בימים וד' ברך את אברהם בכל

Sruly Schnair In Chayei Sarah, 5779

Now Avraham was old, well on in years, and Hashem had blessed him with everything. (24:1)

We think of life as measured by years: a long life is one during which one has lived many years; a short life is defined the opposite way. Horav Eliyahu Lopian, zl, derives from the above pasuk that we should measure life by days – complete days. He quotes the Zohar HaKadosh, who teaches that at the beginning of each day, a person’s forthcoming “day” asks him, “What will it be today?” What type of day will you have? Will you stand up to the challenges and tests prepared for you by the yetzer hora, evil inclination? Will your yetzer…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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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ויבז עשיו את הבכורה

Eisav spurned the birthright. (25:34)

ויאמר לאביו יקם אבי ויאכל מציד בנו בעבר תברכני נפשך

He said to his father, “Let my father rise and eat of his son’s game, so that your soul will bless me. (27:31)

תנו לי אחזת קבר עמכם ואקברה מתי מלפני

Grant me burial property with you, so that I may bury my dead from before me. (23:4)

ואברהם זקן בא בימים וד' ברך את אברהם בכל

Now Avraham was old, well on in years, and Hashem had blessed him with everything. (24:1)

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

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)

ואמר אל אדני אלי לא תלך האשה אחרי

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

ואל הבקר רץ אברהם

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

וישלח אברהם את ידו ויקח את המאכלת לשחט את בנו

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

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

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)

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

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

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