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Home -> 5777 -> Shoftim

שפטים ושוטרים תתן לך... לא תטה משפט לא תכיר פנים ולא תקח שחד

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shoftim, 5777

Judges and officers shall you appoint in your cities… you shall not pervert judgment, you shall not respect someone’s presence; and you shall not accept a bribe. (16:18,19)

The Torah exhorts us to appoint honest judges who will adjudicate accordingly. It then follows up with three rules (so to speak) for keeping the judges “honest”. They should not pervert judgment; they should treat everyone equally, regardless of the litigant’s financial portfolio or eminence and power; last, they should not accept a bribe – even if the bribe comes without strings attached. Once one has accepted anything from another person, he becomes predisposed to him and the judgment that he renders might in some way be biased. The appointment of judges is obviously critical for the healthy growth of…

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Home -> 5777 -> Shoftim

שופטים ושטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך... ושפטו את העם משפט צדק

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shoftim, 5777

Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities… and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. (16:18)

Titen lecha, “Shall you appoint” (Literal translation: shall you put for you/yourself). The Kli Yakar derives from you/yourself that, before one concerns himself with helping others, he must first judge himself. Make absolutely certain that your house is in order before you reach out to others. How true this is. There are some who occupy themselves with reaching out to others as an excuse, in order to delay addressing their own personal issues. In a similar vein, Horav Simcha Bunim, zl, m’Peshischa, explains Shoftim v’shotrim titen lecha, “Judges and officers shall you appoint” in the following way: As long as…

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Home -> 5777 -> Shemini

ואת החסידה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shemini, 5777

And the chasidah (11:19)

An interesting name for a non-kosher fowl. Rashi adds to the ambiguity with his reason for the name chasidah. This bird performs kindness with others of its species by sharing food with them. This is supposedly a compassionate bird, because it shares. Furthermore, its compassion is even noted by its given name – all the more reason that it should be included among the kosher birds. The Chassidic Masters explains that selective chesed with one’s own species, while ignoring the plight of other species, is far from admirable. Jews are not exclusive in their chesed activities. We help everyone. This…

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Home -> 5777 -> Shemini

ואחיכם כל בית ישראל יבכו את השרפה אשר שרף ד'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shemini, 5777

And your brethren, the entire House of Yisrael, shall bewail the conflagration which Hashem ignited. (10:6)

When we look around today at the Torah world, we are amazed that in a short period of time of some seventy years, we have gone from a nation of broken Jewry, to a world of Torah study unlike anything in previous times. While the numbers of committed, scholarly Torah Jews have probably increased with the level of Torah study and erudition achieved in our yeshivos unlike anything one can remember, the quality of Jewish commitment, the abrogation of materialism that bespoke the average European Jews, is no longer. We may know more and daven longer and understand what we…

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Home -> 5777 -> Shemini

ראשכם אל תפרעו ובגדיכם לא תפרמו ולא תמתו...ואחיכם כל בית ישראל יבכו את השרפה אשר שרף ד'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shemini, 5777

Do not leave your heads unshorn and do not rend your garments that you not die… And your brethren the entire House of Yisrael shall bewail the conflagration that Hashem ignited. (10:6)

Two reactions, two varied responses to the same occurrence. The Kohanim were not to interrupt the joy of their service – despite the tragic passing of two of their own. On the other hand, Klal Yisrael must mourn the deaths of two saintly Kohanim. The people must mourn; the Kohanim, however, must continue their joyful service. Two opposites – how is it possible? If it is a joyful occasion, be joyful. If it is a sad time, be sad. How do we reconcile two contradictory emotional responses to the same occurrence? Horav Gamliel Rabinowitz, Shlita, understands that there are vantage…

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Home -> 5777 -> Shemini

בקרבי אקדש ועל פני כל העם אכבד

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shemini, 5777

I will be sanctified through those who are nearest to Me, thus I will be honored before the entire People. (10:3)

Bikrovai ekadeish, “I will be sanctified through those nearest to Me,” are two words that instill fear and awe, because they are words that are often uttered following a tragedy in which the best, those closest to Hashem, are taken from within our midst. One who is exposed to greater inspiration, to greater Heavenly illumination – whose spiritual cognition is more profound – is on a higher spiritual plane. He is nearer to Hashem; therefore, more is expected of him. Horav Chaim Zaitchik, zl, explains that this was the reason for the punishment received by the mekoshesh eitzim, one who…

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Home -> 5777 -> Shelach

והיה אם מעיני העדה נעשתה לשגגה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shelach, 5777

And it will be, if from the eyes of the assembly it was done by error. (15:24)

Enei ha’eidah, eyes of the assembly, refer to the Sanhedrin who, as the leaders of the nation, provide guidance, vision and illumination – which are all functions of one’s eyes. As the final arbiters of Jewish law, they infuse our nation with the clarity that comes with Torah erudition and the wisdom, the result of their daas Torah, wisdom honed and inspired by the Torah. In his hesped, eulogy, for the Maharam Shick, Horav Nota Wolf, Rav of Pressburg, Hungary, and the leading elder of the Torah community, offered the following parable, which gives us a powerful insight into the…

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Home -> 5777 -> Shelach

במדבר הזה יפלו פגריכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shelach, 5777

In this wilderness shall your carcasses drop. (14:29)

Ever since that first Tishah B’Av, when the meraglim, spies, returned with their slanderous report of Eretz Yisrael, Tishah B’Av became a sad, fateful night for the male members of Klal Yisrael. The decree had been issued that they would not enter into the Promised Land. The wilderness would become their graveyard. Every Tishah B’Av every (eligible) Jew dug a grave for himself, lay down in it and prayed. Would he wake up in the morning, or would this be his last night on earth? Every year, fifteen thousand men did not wake up. Whoever did not arise in the…

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Home -> 5777 -> Shelach

ותשא כל העדה ויתנו את קולם ויבכו העם בלילה ההוא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shelach, 5777

The entire assembly raised up and issued its voice; the people wept that night. (14:1)

The Talmud Sanhedrin 104b states that the fateful night on which the meraglim, spies, shared their slanderous report of Eretz Yisrael with the nation was the Ninth of Av. The people reacted with unwarranted, incessant weeping, which consumed the entire nation. The weeping was a reaction to a report that was foundless. Furthermore, they had been guided by Hashem in the wilderness under the protective shield of the Clouds of Glory. For them to cry without reason was ludicrous. Hashem said, “You cried a bchiyah shel chinam, unwarranted weeping. I will establish for you a b’chiyah l’doros, weeping for generations.”…

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Home -> 5777 -> Shelach

ויעלו בנגב ויבוא עד חברון

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shelach, 5777

They ascended in the south and he arrived at Chevron. (13:22)

From the Torah’s use of the singular va’yavo, and he came, Chazal (Sotah 34b) derive that Calev alone left the group, so that he could visit the graves of the Patriarchs to pray that they intercede on his behalf. So great was the ability of the meraglim to influence that Calev feared being influenced by them. Yehoshua had no reason to leave, since Moshe Rabbeinu had already prayed for him before they had all left the camp. In his Iyun Yaakov commentary to the Talmud, Horav Yaakov Reisher, zl, asks why Calev prayed at the graves of the Patriarchs. Chazal…

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