Peninim on the Torah

ואתה תחזה מכל העם אנשי חיל יראי אלקים אנשי אמת שונאי בצע

And you shall discern from among the entire people, men of accomplishment, G-d-fearing people, men of truth, people who despise money. (18:21)

Ramban explains that the phrase, sonei batza, “people who despise money,” refers to improperly obtained money. Moshe Rabbeinu is searching for those individuals who are of sterling character, G-d-fearing men who are not swayed by offers of material abundance. Money means nothing to them. Such people can be judges. We wonder why someone who is a person of accomplishment, G-d-fearing and honest, would still have to prove that he despises money gained inappropriately. If he is an ish emes, honest person, false money would be abhorrent to him. Why is it necessary to underscore that the judge must have proven…

Home -> 5776 -> Yisro

והודעת להם את הדרך ילכו בה ואת המעשה אשר יעשון

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Yisro, 5776

You shall make known to them the path in which they should go and the deeds that they should do. (18:20)

Haderech yeilchu bah, “The path in which they should go.” Yeilchu, “they should go,” is a reference to visiting the sick. By virtue of simply “going” to visit someone who is ill, even if he does nothing, the individual has already fulfilled the mitzvah. What is it about simply visiting that provides mitzvah fulfillment? Obviously, the optimum mitzvah is spending time, talking. Calming the patient– encouraging and engendering hope — is what the patient needs, but the mitzvah at its basic is fulfilled merely with a visit. Perhaps by understanding the immediate consequences of illness we can better comprehend why…

Home -> 5776 -> Yisro

ברוך ד' אשר הציל אתכם מיד מצרים ומיד פרעה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Yisro, 5776

Blessed is Hashem Who has rescued you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh. (18:10)

The Talmud Sanhedrin 94a makes a striking statement: “It was taught in the name of Rabbi Papyas, g’nai hu l’Moshe, it is a shame for Moshe and the 600,000 Jews that they had never uttered, Baruch (Hashem), until Yisro came and said, Baruch Hashem asher hitzil eschem.’” This is a strong statement which begs elucidation. Clearly, Klal Yisrael had praised Hashem when they sang the Shirah amid great joy, praising Hashem for the spectacular miracles and wonders which He had wrought. They did not say the words, “Baruch Hashem.” Does that warrant that their inaction be termed a g’nai, shame?…

Home -> V'zos HaBrachah -> 5776

ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה אשר ידעו ד' פנים אל פנים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, V'zos HaBrachah

Never again has there been in Yisrael a prophet like Moshe, whom Hashem had known face to face. (34:10)

Moshe Rabbeinu merited an outstanding epitaph: the greatest prophet; an individual who spoke panim el panim, face to face, with Hashem. Yet, despite these accolades, Moshe was considered the most humble person to walk the face of the earth. To maintain one’s humility in the face of such incredible, singular praise is in and of itself an uncommon virtue. Surely, Moshe was acutely aware of his eminence. How did he maintain such humility? Veritably, the question applies to so many of our gedolim, Torah giants. These were men of unusual brilliance, who achieved unprecedented heights in Torah achievement. Yet, they…

Home -> V'zos HaBrachah -> 5776

ויקבר אתו בגי הארץ מואב מול בית פעור ולא ידע איש את קבורתו עד היום הזה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, V'zos HaBrachah

He buried him in the depression, in the land of Moav, opposite Bais-Peor, and no one knows his burial place to this day. (34:6)

Chazal teach that Moshe Rabbeinu’s grave had been ready for him since the six days of creation. Furthermore, his burial place has never been revealed. The fact that his burial place is one of the ten miraculous phenomena created during twilight on Erev Shabbos of the sixth day of creation endows it with a supernatural makeup. Thus, it has never been discovered. Rashi explains that Moshe was buried opposite Peor in order to atone for the incident of mass immorality which took place there. The sin committed with the pagan women of Moav undermines the very underpinnings of our faith….

Home -> V'zos HaBrachah -> 5776

וימת שם משה עבד ד'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, V'zos HaBrachah

So Moshe, servant of Hashem, died there. (34:5)

The Talmud Kiddushin 22a states that before an eved Ivri, Hebrew bondsman, can have his ear bored with an awl, so that he be allowed to continue his servitude beyond the normal six years, he must twice say the required words, “I love my master, my wife, and my children. I shall not go free!” Since the vernacular in the Torah is, V’im amor yomar ha’eved, “But if the bondsman shall say” (Shemos 21:5), the words, amor yomar, imply that he says this twice. In his commentary to the Talmud, Horav Elchanon Wasserman, zl, (Kovetz Shiurim) cites the words of…

Home -> V'zos HaBrachah -> 5776

ברוך מבנים אשר יהי רצוי אחיו וטבל בשמן רגלו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, V'zos HaBrachah

Of Asher he said, the most blessed of children is Asher; he shall be pleasing to his brothers, and dip his feet in oil. (33:24)

What made Asher so special that he was considered “the most blessed of children”? Horav Shlomo Levenstein, Shlita, quotes Lechem Lefi HaTaf who explains that the word, shmeinah, richness, which Yaakov Avinu uses to describe Asher – Mei Asher shmeinah lachmo, “From Asher- his bread will have richness” (Bereishis 49:20), – is a reference to Asher’s land which will be so rich in olive trees that it will flow with oil like a fountain. The word shmeinah is comprised of the same letters which comprise the word Mishnah. This alludes to the true “richness” of Asher; his tribe was devoted…

Home -> 5776 -> Vayishlach

ויענו בני יעקב את שכם ואת חמור אביו במרמה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayishlach, 5776

The sons of Yaakov answered Shechem, and his father, Chamor, with guile. (34:13)

Rashi defines the word mirmah, guile, b’chochmah, with cleverness. One who reads the narrative and delves into what occurred and the response of Yaakov Avinu’s sons to the moral incursion into their family, might discover mirmah, more as deceit than cleverness. Their intention was to convince the men of Shechem to have Brisim, circumcisions, for the purpose of weakening them physically. From the very beginning, the intention of Yaakov’s sons was to avenge the degradation of their family. Why is this considered to be “clever”? Horav Yeruchem Levovitz, zl, explains that ramaus, deceit, swindle, is a term that applies to…

Home -> 5776 -> Vayishlach

ותצא דינה בת לאה... לראות בבנות הארץ

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayishlach, 5776

And Dinah – the daughter of Leah… went out… to look over the daughters of the land. (34:1)

The Midrash Tanchuma makes a startling statement concerning Dinah’s journey to observe the girls of the land. Poretz geder yishchenu nachash, “One who breaches the fence will/should be bitten by a snake.” (This term is used in the Talmud Avodah Zarah 27b and is based upon a pasuk in Koheles 10:8, “He who breaks down a wall will be bitten by a snake.”) This is strong terminology to be applied to Dinah. Chazal continue: “Her father and brothers were sitting in the bais hamedrash studying Torah, and she went out to observe the girls of the land. As a result,…

Home -> 5776 -> Vayishlach

וישא את עיניו וירא את הנשים ואת הילדים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayishlach, 5776

(Eisav) raised his eyes and saw the women and children. (33:5)

In his commentary to Parashas Toldos, Horav Mordechai Druk, zl, observes the glaring contrast between Yitzchak Avinu and his errant son, Eisav. The Rav begins with the maxim, “A person sees what he wants to see,” or, alternatively, “a person sees who he is.” We are creatures of habit, our human nature comprising who we are and how we live. Indeed, our nature most often dictates our perspective, how we perceive people and situations. Who we are determines how we look at concepts, events, people. A ben Torah whose life is molded by the Torah which he studies and to…

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ואתה תחזה מכל העם אנשי חיל יראי אלקים אנשי אמת שונאי בצע

And you shall discern from among the entire people, men of accomplishment, G-d-fearing people, men of truth, people who despise money. (18:21)

והודעת להם את הדרך ילכו בה ואת המעשה אשר יעשון

You shall make known to them the path in which they should go and the deeds that they should do. (18:20)

ברוך ד' אשר הציל אתכם מיד מצרים ומיד פרעה

Blessed is Hashem Who has rescued you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh. (18:10)

ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה אשר ידעו ד' פנים אל פנים

Never again has there been in Yisrael a prophet like Moshe, whom Hashem had known face to face. (34:10)

ויקבר אתו בגי הארץ מואב מול בית פעור ולא ידע איש את קבורתו עד היום הזה

He buried him in the depression, in the land of Moav, opposite Bais-Peor, and no one knows his burial place to this day. (34:6)

וימת שם משה עבד ד'

So Moshe, servant of Hashem, died there. (34:5)

ברוך מבנים אשר יהי רצוי אחיו וטבל בשמן רגלו

Of Asher he said, the most blessed of children is Asher; he shall be pleasing to his brothers, and dip his feet in oil. (33:24)

ויענו בני יעקב את שכם ואת חמור אביו במרמה

The sons of Yaakov answered Shechem, and his father, Chamor, with guile. (34:13)

ותצא דינה בת לאה... לראות בבנות הארץ

And Dinah – the daughter of Leah… went out… to look over the daughters of the land. (34:1)

וישא את עיניו וירא את הנשים ואת הילדים

(Eisav) raised his eyes and saw the women and children. (33:5)

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