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Home -> 5775 -> Shoftim

לא תסור מן הדבר אשר יגידו לך ימין ושמאל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shoftim, 5775

You shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left. (17:11)

Some individuals find it hard to follow the direction set forth by the Torah sages of each generation. They feel that the guidance of the gedolim, giants of Torah, must be consistent with their personal line of thinking. Accepting the sage advice of a Torah leader is a bit too much for them to handle. The ben Torah who conforms to the direction of the chachmei haTorah, wise men of Torah, lives a life of peace and calm, serene in the knowledge that he is following the path that Hashem has established for him. He realizes that, after all is…

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Home -> 5775 -> Shoftim

לא תקים לך מצבה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shoftim, 5775

And you shall not erect for yourself a pillar. (16:22)

It is forbidden to set up a single stone for worship – even if it is in order to worship the true G-d, Hashem. He has despised these stones ever since the pagans decided to employ them as a means for their own worship. Only an altar comprised of numerous stones or of earth creates the proper modality of worship. Horav Levi Yitzchak, zl, m’Berditchev, renders this prohibition homiletically as referring to the most common form of worship: self-worship. Chazal state (Pirkei Avos 4), “This world is compared to a vestibule before Olam Habba, the World to Come.” Our world…

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Home -> Shemos -> 5775

ויצא אל אחיו וירא בסבלתם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5775, Shemos

And (he) went out to his brethren. And (he) saw their burdens. (2:11)

Rashi defines vayar b’sivlosam, “And he saw their burdens: Nasan einav v’libo liheyos metzar aleihem, ‘He focused his eyes and heart to be distressed over them.’” Literally, the phrase means that Moshe Rabbeinu “saw into their burdens.” He delved into their adversity. Apparently, the word va’yar, or its root raoh, to see, means much more than superficial perception. It demands cognitive application in conjunction with the perception. To see, and not to see beneath the surface, is not reiyah, seeing. I think that we have just uncovered a deep insight into the concept of “seeing” as evinced by the word…

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Home -> Shemos -> 5775

ויגדל הילד ותבאהו לבת פרעה ויהי לה לבן ותקרא שמו משה ותאמר כי מן המים משיתהו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5775, Shemos

The boy grew up and she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh and he was a son to her. She called his name Moshe, as she said, “For I drew him from the water.” (2:10)

The well-known Midrash at the beginning of Sefer Shemos states: “By your life! (Hashem is speaking to Moshe). From amongst all of the names that were called (given) to you, I will only refer to you by the name given to you by Bisyah bas Pharaoh. Thus, it is written, Vatikra shemo Moshe; ‘And she (Bisyah) called him Moshe;’ Vayikra el Moshe, ‘And He (Hashem) called to Moshe.” This is a wonderful commentary on the character and moral demeanor of Bisyah, Pharaoh’s daughter. Nonetheless, Horav Chaim Shmuelevitz, zl, wonders why Hashem accepted a name which was given to Moshe as…

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Home -> Shemos -> 5775

ותראהו את הילד והנה נער בוכה... ותאמר מילדי העברים זה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5775, Shemos

She saw him, the boy, and behold! A youth was crying… and (she) said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.” (2:6)

Pharaoh’s daughter looked at the infant in the basket and noticed something unusual about the manner in which the infant wept. This made her assume that it was a Jewish infant. What about the infant’s weeping spurred her to think that it was Jewish? The Slonimer Rebbe, zl, explains that, indeed, a marked difference exits between the cry of a Jew and the cry of one who is not. Rather than go right to the distinction, I would like to approach it from the vantage point of Tishah B’Av, our national day of mourning. Every Festival has its cheftzah d’mitzvah,…

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Home -> Shemos -> 5775

וימת יוסף וכל אחיו וכל הדור ההוא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5775, Shemos

Yosef died, and all his brothers and that entire generation. (1:6)

Sforno comments that, as long as any member of the original generation that had descended with Yaakov Avinu to Egypt was still alive, the present generation was able to maintain the proper spiritual level. Once they were gone, however, the spiritual decline which led to slavery and persecution accelerated. In his commentary to Shemos 6:16, Rashi teaches that, as long as a member of the original group of immigrants was alive, the Jews enjoyed freedom. The slavery commenced with the demise of the last one. This seems inconsistent with Rashi’s commentary to the beginning of Parashas Vayechi (Bereishis 47:28), where…

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Home -> 5775 -> Shemini

להבדיל בין הטמא ובין הטהור ובין החיה הנאכלת ובין החיה אשר לא תאכל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shemini, 5775

To distinguish between the contaminated and the pure, and between the creature that may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten. (11:47)

Due to the spiritual repugnance associated with maachalos asuros, forbidden foods, they affect and compromise the Jewish consciousness, which is particularly sensitive to spiritual incursion. Thus, a Jew whose body has been satiated and nourished on tarfus, unkosher, unclean foods, lacks the spiritual finesse and ethical/moral qualities inherent to Jews who are spiritually refined. Throughout the millennia, Jews have sacrificed themselves to remain loyal to the Torah’s code concerning the laws of kashrus, maintaining a strong degree of personal stringency in adhering to its halachic demands. The following episode demonstrates how a grandfather’s fidelity to the laws of kashrus impacted…

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Home -> 5775 -> Shemini

ויאמר משה אל אהרן הוא אשר דבר ד' לאמר בקרבי אקדש ועל פני כל העם אכבד וידם אהרן

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shemini, 5775

And Moshe said to Aharon: Of this did Hashem speak, saying: “I will be sanctified through those who are nearest Me; thus, I will honored before the entire people”, and Aharon was silent. (10:3)

Horav Shlomo Levinstein, Shlita, relates that he heard from Rav Eliezer Yehudah Finkel, son of Horav Eliyahu Baruch Finkel, zl, that the Rosh Yeshivah told him the following thought two weeks prior to his petirah, untimely passing. The thought is a powerful insight into Aharon HaKohen’s reaction – or better, non reaction, to the tragic death of two of his sons, Nadav and Avihu. Rashi observes that following the tragedy, Moshe Rabbeinu rendered a powerful eulogy for his nephews. Moshe said to Aharon, “My brother, I knew that Hashem would sanctify His Sanctuary with His beloved close ones. I figured…

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Home -> 5775 -> Shemini

וישא אהרן את ידיו אל העם ויברכם... ויברכו את העם וירא כבוד ד' אל כל העם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shemini, 5775

Aharon raised his hands towards the people and blessed them… and they blessed the people – and the glory of Hashem appeared to the entire people. (9:22,23)

A person can follow all the rules, do all that is expected of him; yet, without that special blessing, that prayer, that everything he has done find favor in the eyes of Hashem, it could all be for naught. Klal Yisrael had done it all, executed everything in accordance with the direction of Moshe Rabbeinu; still, the Shechinah, Divine Presence, had not reposed upon the Sanctuary. Something was missing. Only after they received the blessing of Moshe and Aharon did the work achieve fruition, and Hashem’s Shechinah reposed on the Mishkan. One can have the correct and proper intentions; his…

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Home -> 5775 -> Shemini

ויהי ביום השמיני קרא משה לאהרן ולבניו ולזקני ישראל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Shemini, 5775

It was on the eighth day, Moshe summoned Aharon and his sons and the elders of Yisrael. (9:1)

Thrice daily, we recite the prayer, Al ha’tzaddikim v’al ha’chassidim v’al ziknei amcha Bais Yisrael v’al pleitas bais sofreihem, “(May Your mercies be aroused) upon the righteous, upon the pious, upon the elders of Your People, the House of Yisrael, upon the remnant of their sages.” We must recite this prayer with consummate kavanah, intention/devotion. Chazal understood the value to the Jewish People of these varied leaders, without whom we would not exist as a people. We rely on them, and we are unable to function without them. Therefore, it is our obligation to pray for their continued good health….

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