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Home -> 5775 -> Tetzaveh

ועשית בגדי קדש לאהרן אחיך לכבוד ולתפארת

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tetzaveh, 5775

You shall make vestments of sanctity for Aharon, your brother, for glory and for splendor. (28:2)

Much of the Parsha is devoted to describing the Bigdei Kehunah, Holy Vestments worn by the Kohanim, their construction and materials. Clearly, great significance is attributed to the manner in which the Kohen presents himself. Veritably, it is not only the Kohen – indeed, every Jew must maintain a dress code in which his attire is modest and does not call attention to the person’s body but rather to his personality and character. In order for one’s personality to be noticed, he/she should not be detracting others by having them focus on his/hers clothes – or lack thereof. Jewish People…

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Home -> 5775 -> Tetzaveh

ויקחו אליך שמן זית זך כתית למאור

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tetzaveh, 5775

They shall take for you pure, pressed olive oil for illumination. (27:20)

The Midrash Tanchuma questions the fact that pure, pressed olive oil is required for illumination – although it is not ingested. Yet, the oil used for the Korban Minchah, Meal-offering, which is consumed, does not require such a degree of purity. Horav Eliyahu Meir Kovner explains that there is a difference whether one is acting for himself or when one is acting on behalf of others. The Korban Minchah is a personal offering, which is eaten by the one who offers it. It is a personal “thing”. When it concerns oneself, one’s own comfort zone, the Torah does not demand…

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Home -> 5775 -> Terumah

ועשית את הקרשים למשכן עצי שטים עמדים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Terumah, 5775

You shall make the beams of the Mishkan of shittim wood, standing erect. (26:15)

Rashi teaches that the word ha’kerashim, with the hay ha’yediah, (the beams) with the definite article hay, is written by design. The Torah is alluding to specific shittim wood that was “standing” – designated for the unique purpose of serving as the walls of the Mishkan. Yaakov Avinu took along with him saplings from the shittim trees planted by Avraham Avinu in his eishel, travelers’ welcome house, where he performed his famous acts of chesed, kindness. Yaakov then replanted these saplings in Egypt and commanded his children that, upon leaving the country, they were to take these trees along. He…

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Home -> 5775 -> Terumah

ועשית שנים כרבים זהב מקשה תעשה אתם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Terumah, 5775

You shall make two Keruvim of gold – hammered out shall you make them. (25:18)

Rashi teaches that the Keruvim had the image of young children. The Mishkan/Bais Hamikdash was the holiest place on the Jewish spiritual landscape. The Kodesh HaKedoshim, Holy of Holies, was the holiest place in the Sanctuary. The penultimate seat of holiness within the Kodesh HaKedoshim was the Keruvim which rested atop the Ketores, Cover, of the Aron Hakodesh. It was from there that Hashem’s Voice would emanate out to speak with Moshe Rabbeinu. The Keruvim had the image of children. In Sefer Bereishis, when the Torah relates Adam HaRishon’s expulsion from Gan Eden, two Keruvim stood at the entrance to…

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Home -> 5775 -> Terumah

ועשית שנים כרובים זהב... ונועדתי לך שם ודברתי אתך מעל הכפרת מבין שני הכרובים אשר על ארון העדות

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Terumah, 5775

You shall make two Keruvim of gold… It is there that I will set My meetings with you, and I will speak with you from atop the Cover, from between the Keruvim that are on the Aron HaEidus. (25:18,22)

It is interesting to note the change in the spelling of the word “two.” At first, the Keruvim are referred to as shnayim Keruvim, while later on they are called shnei Keruvim. Rabbeinu Bachya distinguishes between shnayim which means “two,” but does not denote anything more than a quantity of subjects or items. Shnayim is not used when the “two” are of equal status, such as: Shnei Luchos HaEidus, Two Tablets of Testimony, which were the same; shnei seirim, two he-goats, used for the Yom Kippur service, which were also similar to one another. The Keruvim, however, were male and…

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Home -> 5775 -> Terumah

ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Terumah, 5775

They shall make for Me a Sanctuary, then I will dwell in their midst. (25:8)

Parashas Terumah, which details the construction of the Mishkan is the logical sequel to Parashas Mishpatim, which contains the principal features of the Code of Law and of the Bris, Covenant, built upon the foundations of that Law. The symbolic function of the Mishkan/Mikdash is to express the collective task upon whose fulfillment the Presence of the Shechinah in Klal Yisrael depends. The two accompany one another. If we do not uphold our end of the Covenant, the Mishkan and Hashem’s Presence within the Jewish People will not occur. The construction of the Mishkan, which is the external Temple, is…

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Home -> 5775 -> Terumah

ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Terumah, 5775

And let them take for Me a Terumah/portion. (25:2)

The pasuk has been used for much homiletic discourse concerning the attitude one should manifest upon contributing to a worthy cause. In V’chai Bahem from Horav Weiss, zl, the author quotes the well-known concept, posited by the Baal Shem Tov, that the faults a person notices in others are actually his own failings. Since Ein adam ro’eh nigei atzmo, “One does not perceive his own plagues/failings/shortcomings/indiscretions.” We notice everything regarding others, but never that which applies to us. Thus, the pasuk is informing us that, whatever indiscretions one notices in others, are a mirror image of his own failings. Likewise,…

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Home -> 5775 -> Metzora

כי תבואו אל ארץ כנען... ונתתי נגע בבית ארץ אחזתכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Metzora, 5775

When you arrive in the land of Canaan… and I will place a tzaraas affliction upon a house in the land of your possession. (14:34)

V’nasati, “and I will place.” The structure of the pasuk is such that it implies good tidings – when, in fact, it means the destruction of one’s home. Rashi explains that, when the Canaanite inhabitants of Eretz Yisrael saw that their sojourn in the Holy Land was soon coming to an end, they concealed their valuables in the walls of their homes. They were not about to enrich their Jewish victors. In order to avail His People of the Canaanite wealth, Hashem placed an affliction on the part of the wall in which the treasure was hidden. Once the tainted…

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Home -> 5775 -> Metzora

ולקח למטהר שתי צפורים חיות טהרות... ושחט את הציפור האחת... ושלח את הצפור החיה על פני השדה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Metzora, 5775

And for the person being purified there shall be taken two live clean birds… and one bird shall be slaughtered… and he shall set free the live bird upon the open field. (14:4,5,7)

As part of the process of purifying the metzora, two birds are brought as an offering to Hashem. Only one of them is killed, however, while the other one is set free. Birds are used for the korban, sacrifice, because birds are constantly chirping, and the metzora had not stopped spewing his slander when he should have kept his mouth shut. This explains why one bird is killed, but what about the second bird? Why is it released? The explanation as cited by the commentators is that the Torah is hereby circumventing a common error, thus imparting an important lesson….

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Home -> 5775 -> Tazria

אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת או ספחת או בהרת. והיה בעור בשרו לנגע צרעת.

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tazria, 5775

If a person will have on the skin of his flesh a s’eis or a sapachas, or a baheres, and it will become a tzaraas affliction on the skin of his flesh. (13:2)

Lashon hora, slanderous speech, which is the cause of tzaraas, is most often the result of envy and controversy in their various states. In the scheme of things, for every dispute among people, every point of contention which catalyzes animus towards one another and the resulting inevitable lashon hora, there is one simple point, one solitary position, that would make the controversy dissolve, if the individual would opt for it. If so, the envy dissipates and harmony continues to reign. What has the power to mitigate dispute, to put an end to contention between people? Vitur, acquiescence, submissiveness. One who…

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