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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5777

לדעת כי אני ד' מקדשכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Ki Sisa

To know that I am Hashem, Who makes you holy. (31:13)

Chazal (Shabbos 11:B) teach, “Hashem said to Moshe, ‘I have a good (very special) gift in My treasury (where I keep My precious treasures). It is called Shabbos. I wish to give it to Klal Yisrael. Go and inform them.’” Shabbos is a precious treasure that Hashem saved especially for His children. We must learn to appreciate the unique nature of this gift, and, above all, how much it means to Hashem. The Tzaddik, Horav Avraham, zl, m’Porisav related in the name of the Chidushei HaRim, the meaning of, Leich v’hodiam, “Go and inform them” (which Hashem said to Moshe)….

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5777

אך את שבתותי תשמרו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Ki Sisa

However, you must observe My Shabbasos. (31:13)

Tishmoru is written in the plural, implying that the exhortation to observe Shabbos is being spoken to a group. The Chafetz Chaim, zl, commented, “It is not enough that you and your household observe Shabbos. You must see to it that other Jews also observe Shabbos.” Thus, it is not a singular command. Rarely do we find the Torah instructing us not only to personally observe, but also, to see to it that our observance influences others. I write this specifically because our observance, our valuing Shabbos, our sensitivity to this mitzvah is the only way the alienated Jew will…

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Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5777

זה יתנו כל העבר על הפקודים מחצית השקל בשקל הקדש

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Ki Sisa

This shall they give – everyone who passes through the census – a half-shekel of the sacred shekel. (30:13)

Why was Klal Yisrael commanded to contribute a half-shekel coin? Would it have been so difficult to give a whole shekel? This question has been treated extensively by the various commentators. The gist of their commentary focuses on the need for each individual Jew to view himself as a mere half. No Jew is whole, alone and in and of himself. Horav Yoshiyahu Pinto, Shlita, offers a powerful insight into the half-shekel requirement. He explains that a Jew should view every occurrence, every circumstance, every issue that he faces, as being only half of the story. Another side to the…

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Home -> 5777 -> Ki Seitzei

לא יבוא עמוני ומואבי בקהל ד' ... על דבר אשר לא קדמו אתכם בלחם ובמים...ואשר שכר עליך את בלעם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Seitzei, 5777

An Amomite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of Hashem… because of the fact that they did not greet you with bread and water… and because he hired against you Bilaam. (23:4,5)

Two reasons are given as to why we may not accept converts from the nations of Ammon and Moav: A) They did not come forward to greet us with bread and water as we journeyed through the wilderness following 210 years of slavery; B) They hired Bilaam, the evil pagan prophet, to curse us.  These are two good reasons, which are clearly quite different from one another. The first reason criticizes their lack of etiquette, of human decency. The second reason excoriates them for attempting to destroy one another. They are so distant from one another that they hardly belong…

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Home -> 5777 -> Ki Seitzei

כי קבור תקברנו ביום ההוא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Seitzei, 5777

Rather, you shall surely bury him on that day. (21:23)

The prohibition against keeping a body unburied overnight applies even to one who has died of natural causes. The Talmud Yerushalmi Moed Kattan (2:4) states that one is not permitted to disinter the bones of a corpse unless it is for the purpose of reinterring them in a family plot. This prohibition is applicable, even if it means moving the bones to a cemetery that is more dignified than the original place where the body had been buried. Also, a person/neshamah would rather be buried in close proximity to family (Meshech Chochmah). The Meshech Chochmah seems to say that same-day…

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Home -> 5777 -> Ki Seitzei

כי יהיה לאיש בן סורר ומורה איננו שומע בקול אביו ובקול אמו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Seitzei, 5777

If a man will have a wayward and rebellious son, who does not hearken to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother. (21:18)

Einenu shomeia, “does not hearken/listen” is the given translation. The word einenu means much more than “does not (listen).” It means he is not a listener; he is unable to listen; his ability to listen is (sadly) impeded. The Torah should have written (simply), eino shomeia: “(he) does not listen.” The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh notes this change and derives from here that, when the yetzer hora, evil inclination, reigns over a person, or, rather, if the yetzer hora becomes part of this person, his ability to hear, listen, to accept, becomes so impeded that he is unable to listen. He…

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Home -> 5777 -> Ki Seitzei

כי יהיה לאיש בן סורר ומורה איננו שמע בקול אביו ובקול אמו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Seitzei, 5777

If a man will have a wayward and rebellious son, who does not hearken to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother. (21:18)

The Torah refers to the father of the wayward and rebellious son as an ish, a man, and then goes on to state the boy’s sin: he does not obey his father and mother. Why does the Torah refer to the ish/father as the boy’s progenitor, as having begotten him, but – in contrast – when it addresses his disobedience, he is considered to be son of both his father and mother? This inconsistency in and of itself might be the precursor for the boy’s degenerate behavior. Parents have a child; it is a boy! The father immediately takes charge….

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Home -> 5777 -> Ki Savo

גם כל חלי וכל מכה אשר לא כתוב בספר התורה הזאת יעלם ד' עליך עד השמדך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5777

Even any illness and any blow that is not written in this Book of the Torah, Hashem will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. (28:61)

This pasuk caps it off. If there were not enough curses (98) to punish us, we are informed that, just because the curse did not appear in the Torah, we will not be exempted from it. Every illness or blow, in other words, everything that could possibly be imagined – is included in the punishments available for disciplining us, if necessary. This presents us with a very bleak outlook. Horav Mordechai Pogremonsky, zl, addressed this issue, when the Telshe students who were displaced from their yeshivah were living in Shidlov, at the beginning of World War II. Tensions were rising,…

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Home -> 5777 -> Ki Savo

אלה יעמדו לברך את העם... ואלה יעמדו על הקללה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5777

These shall stand to bless the people… and these shall stand for the curse. (27:12,13)

There appears to be a change in the vernacular between blessing and curse. Concerning blessing, the Torah writes l’varech es ha’am, “to bless the people,” implying proactive blessing, while regarding curse, it states, “stand for curse,” almost as if the curse happens by itself. The Kli Yakar explains that this is, indeed, the case. Blessing is actively bestowed by Hashem to the person who deserves it. Curse, however, is the result of hastaras Panim, Hashem concealing Himself (so to speak) from he whose actions warrant curse. Hashem removes Himself, takes off the protective covering that spares us from pain. Once…

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Home -> 5777 -> Ki Savo

והיה בעברכם את הירדן תקימו את האבנים האלה... בהר עיבל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5777

It shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall erect these stones… on Har Eival. (27:4)

Har Gerizim was the site of the blessings; Har Eival served as its counterpart, the site reserved for the curses. Would it not make sense that the Mizbayach, Altar, upon which the Korbanos Shelamim, Peace-offerings and Festive-offerings were brought, would be situated on Har Gerizim, the mountain of blessing? Har Eival was the mountain upon which the curses were pronounced. One would consider it an unlikely candidate for the Mizbayach. Horav Moshe Feinstien, zl, illuminates us with an insight into the meaning of — and the distinction between –blessing and curse. Blessing is defined as abundance, fulfillment of all one’s…

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