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Home -> 5775 -> Re'eh

בנים אתם לד' אלקיכם... לא תתגודדו ולא תשימו קרחה בין עניכם למת כי עם קדוש אתה לד' אלקיך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Re'eh, 5775

You are children to Hashem, Your G-d – you shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes for a dead person. For you are a holy people to Hashem, Your G-d. (14:1,2)

The Torah appears to be giving us a straightforward mandate: do not grieve excessively. When someone dies, his relatives should not mutilate themselves out of grief. As a holy people we do not conduct ourselves in such a manner. Chazal, however, see a different meaning for Lo sisgodedu. The sisgodedu is derived from agudah, group/gathering of people. They interpret Lo sisgodedu as, “Do not form factions.” Hence, we learn that forming factions is prohibited. This plays itself out practically when two batei din, courts of law, are in one town; one rules in accordance with the decisions rendered by Bais…

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Home -> 5775 -> Re'eh

כי יסיתך אחיך... בסתר לאמר נלכה ונעבדה אלהים אחרים... לא תאבה לו ולא תשמע אליו ולא תחוס עינך עליו ולא תחמול ולא תכסה עליו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Re'eh, 5775

If your brother will entice you… secretly saying, “Let us go and worship the gods of others…” You shall not accede to him and not hearken to him; you shall not take pity on him; you shall not be compassionate to him nor conceal him. (13:7,9)

The punishment meted out to the meisis, enticer, is very serious and finds no match in the Torah. The fact that the meisis is treated so badly is a clear indication of the egregious nature of his sin. Five negative commandments concerning how we should act with the meisis are derived from the Torah’s unusual directives concerning our relationship with this evil man: we may neither accede to him, nor hearken to him; we may neither have pity on him; nor show any compassion towards him; we may not conceal him. He has committed a grave sin by attempting to…

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Home -> 5775 -> Re'eh

ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Re'eh, 5775

See, I present before you today, a blessing and a curse. (11:26)

Moshe Rabbeinu does not say a blessing or a curse; rather, he informs Klal Yisrael of the blessing and the curse that he presents before them. Apparently, everything in life – every gift – contains within it both blessing and curse. Let us take Torah for example. Clearly, it is the greatest blessing, without which we could not survive in the spiritually-hostile environment which surrounds us. If, however, a person does not approach the Torah properly, if he does not apply seichal, common sense, to understand what is being asked of him, the Torah becomes his poison. In the Talmud…

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Home -> 5775 -> Re'eh

ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Re'eh, 5775

See, I present before you today. (11:26)

The pasuk begins with re’eh, see, which is lashon yachid, singular, as if Moshe Rabbeinu were speaking to an individual person. It concludes, however, lifneichem, before you, which is lashon rabim, plural. Why is there an inconsistency within the pasuk? Apparently, the Torah is according distinction to the individual who is part of the community. All too often, the individual becomes lost within the large scope of a multitude of people. He becomes a number, a blip, a faceless statistic; his name does not matter; who he is carries no weight, since he is assimilated into the group. While it…

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Home -> 5775 -> Pinchas

אשר יצא לפניהם ואשר יבא לפניהם ואשר יוציאם ואשר יביאם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Pinchas, 5775

“Who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall take them out and bring them in.” (27:17)

Moshe Rabbeinu presents what appears, at first glance, to be redundant qualifications for his successor – Klal Yisrael’s next leader. The proposed leader “shall go out before them and come in before them.” He should lead them in battle, remaining at the forefront every time the nation went to war. Is this not the way that Moshe led the nation? Then Moshe asks that the leader take them out and bring them in. Is this any different from his first criteria which states that the leader shall go out before them? Horav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, zl, explains that these requests…

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Home -> 5775 -> Pinchas

יפקד ד' אלקי הרוחות לכל בשר איש על העדה. אשר יצא לפניהם ואשר יבא לפניהם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Pinchas, 5775

“May Hashem, G-d of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the assembly, who shall go out before them and come in before them.” (27:16,17)

Moshe Rabbeinu asked Hashem to appoint his successor, hoping that his own son would be the one to succeed him as the nation’s leader. Hashem had other plans: “Yehoshua, who has never departed from the (your) tent, deserves to be granted leadership over the nation.” As Shlomo Ha’melech says (Mishlei 27:18) Notzer t’einah yochal piryah, “He who watches over the fig tree should eat its fruit.” Rashi, who cites the above Chazal, indicates that Yehoshua was selected as a result of his devotion to the ohalah shel Torah, incredible diligence in not leaving the tent of Torah. Lo yamush mitoch…

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Home -> 5775 -> Noach

והיתה לי ולזרעו אחריו ברית כהונת עולם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Noach, 5775

And it shall be for him and his offspring after him a covenant of eternal Priesthood. (25:13)

Up until that time, only Aharon HaKohen and his sons had been inducted into the Priesthood. Any additional offspring who would be born into the family would be “born Kohanim.” Pinchas was already born; thus, he was not to be included in the Priesthood. As a result of his decisive act of zealousness, he was granted a place in the Priesthood, a place for himself and his offspring. The Zohar HaKadosh questions Pinchas’ induction into the Priesthood, since he had just killed a Jew. We have a rule that a Kohen who takes a life is not permitted to serve….

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Home -> 5775 -> Noach

והיתה לו ולזרעו אחריו ברית כהנת עולם תחת אשר קנא לאלקיו ויכפר על בני ישראל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Noach, 5775

And it shall be for him and his offspring after him a covenant of eternal Priesthood, because he took vengeance for his G-d, and he atoned for Bnei Yisrael. (25:13)

Pinchas was inducted into the Kehunah, Priesthood, following his zealous act of killing Zimri, the Nasi, Prince, of the Tribe of Shimon. Rashi explains that, until this point in time, the only Kohanim were Aharon HaKohen, his sons and future offspring. Since Pinchas was not a son (neither were his future offspring), he was not included in the Kehunah. In one of the teachings of the Zohar, the position is taken that by killing Zimri, Pinchas became forever disqualified from the Kehunah. Thus, the Kehunah, which he received as a reward, was a totally new Kehunah, not connected with that…

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Home -> 5775 -> Pinchas

פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את את חמתי מעל בני ישראל... לכן אמור הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Pinchas, 5775

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen, turned back My wrath from upon Bnei Yisrael… Therefore, say: “Behold! I give him My covenant of peace.” (25:11,12)

Concerning Pinchas’ right to reward, Chazal express themselves strongly: B’din hu she’yitol s’charo; “It is by right (halachically axiomatic) that he (Pinchas) should take his reward.” Such an act of zealousness on behalf of Hashem warrants an exemplary reward. Far from belittling Pinchas’ right to reward, it seems inconsistent with the halachic maxim, S’char mitzvah b’hai alma leka, “The reward for mitzvah performance is not rendered in this world.” Simply, this is a physical world, a world of the mundane; mitzvos are spiritual in nature, given to us by Hashem for the purpose of our spiritual advancement and as a…

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Home -> 5775 -> Noach

וימת הרן על פני תרח אביו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Noach, 5775

Haran died in the lifetime of Terach his father. (11:28)

Haran was the brother of Avraham Avinu. Very little is written about him, because he did not live very long, and, for all intents and purposes, he did not seem to have achieved very much. This is the first mistake. When we judge a person’s life accomplishments, we must do it with a lens that sees far beyond our first impression. Also, we must take into consideration that Hashem rewards every person in accordance with his own personal barometer of values. Thus, if a person devotes his life to material pursuits, the chances are that his reward will be material…

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