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Home -> Vayeishev -> 5776

וישמע ראובן ויצלהו מידם ויאמר לא נכנו נפש

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Vayeishev

Reuven heard, and he rescued him from their hand; he said, “We will not strike him mortally.” (37:21)

Two of his brothers attempted to save Yosef from his fate: Reuven and Yehudah. Yet, it is only Reuven who has been recognized as the one who made the attempt, and it is he alone who has received credit for his effort. Why? Chazal (Makkos 10a) explain, She’hu posach b’hatzalah techilah, “He was the first to initiate the rescue of Yosef.” Yehudah made the attempt by convincing them to sell Yosef. Should he not also have received credit for his good intentions? The Ponevezer Rav, Horav Yosef Kahaneman, zl, teaches us a profound lesson concerning the true meaning of “saving…

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Home -> 5776 -> Vayeira

וימל אברהם את יצחק בנו בן שמונת ימים כאשר צוה אתו אלקים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vayeira, 5776

And Avraham circumcised his son, Yitzchak, when he was eight days old, as Hashem had commanded him. (21:4)

For the Jew, Bris Milah, circumcision, is much more than a rite of passage; it defines him.  This applies to a halachic bris, performed by a bona fide mohel.  It does not apply to the surgical procedure performed by one is who not of the Jewish faith – either by birth or by practice.  The Jewish child that has been ritually circumcised shares an inextricable bond with the Almighty that transcends any form of physical ligature.  In his commentary to Chumash, Horav Aryeh Leib Heyman, zl, very beautifully explains this relationship.  He notes that the Torah does not mention Avraham…

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Home -> 5776 -> Vayeira

ויאמר אברהם כי אמרתי רק אין יראת אלקים במקום הזה והרגוני על דבר אשתי

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vayeira, 5776

And Avraham said, “Because I said, “There is but no fear of G-d in this place and they will slay me because of my wife.” (20:11)

We can derive a powerful lesson from Avraham Avinu’s statement.  Yiraas Shomayim, fear of Heaven, is the “be all” and “end all.”  One who fears Hashem has hope that he will navigate through life’s journey without encountering challenges that are insurmountable – not because they will not occur, but because he has the one tool that gives him the ability to surmount and triumph over whatever the “satans” of life throw at him.   Avraham felt that a lack of yiraas Shomayim on the part of the Plishtim could even lead to bloodshed. We see this on a regular basis.  When…

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Home -> 5776 -> Vayeira

וישלחו האנשים את ידם ויביאו את לוט אליהם הביתה ואת הדלת סגרו ואת האנשים אשר פתח הבית הכו בסנורים... וילאו למצא הפתח

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vayeira, 5776

The men stretched out their hand and brought Lot into the house with them, and closed the door. And the men who were at the entrance of the house, they were struck with blindness…and they tried vainly to find the entrance. (19:10, 11)

The angels pulled Lot into the house making sure to close the door behind them.  Immediately afterward, the angels struck the men at the door, blinding them.  They no longer could locate the doorway to Lot’s house.  One can only find what he can see.  We wonder why the door had to be closed once the men had been blinded.  They could no longer find the entrance.  Lot was essentially protected.  He could sit right in front of them, and they would not be aware of it. Horav Shalom Schwadron, zl, explains that the door was not closed in order…

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Home -> 5776 -> Vayeira

אולי יש חמשים צדיקים בתוך העיר

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vayeira, 5776

What if there should be fifty righteous persons in the midst of the city? (18:24)

The pasuk seems to be emphasizing tzadikim b’soch ha’ir, “righteous persons in the midst of the city”.  Simply, this means that these virtuous men do not play out their righteousness only in the private sphere, but also in the midst of the city.  It might not be convenient for some to express their religious beliefs in public – such as when it means adhering to the standard uniform of an observant Jew, i.e. tzitzis, yamulka– yet, they do so out of religious conviction.  Hashem was setting the standard: a righteous person at home and in the street.  (We have also…

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Home -> 5776 -> Vayeira

וד' אמר המכסה אני מאברהם אשר אני עשה. ואברהם היו יהיה לגוי גדול ועצום

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vayeira, 5776

And Hashem said, “Shall I conceal from Avraham what I do, now that Avraham is surely to become a great and mighty nation?” (18:17, 18)

Hashem informed Avraham Avinu, that He was about to destroy the city of Sodom. Its community of sinners had gone too far, elevating sin to the level of cultural acceptance.  It had become a way of life.  The Torah teaches that Hashem’s intention in notifying Avraham of His plans was to inform Avraham about his future as Patriarch of a large nation.  Is this the reason that Hashem informed Avraham of His plans?  True, Hashem wanted Avraham to pray for the people of Sodom, to teach the Patriarch the significance of prayer and its ability to rescind a decree –…

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Home -> 5776 -> Vayeira

וירא אליו ד' ... והוא ישב פתח האהל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vayeira, 5776

Hashem appeared to him…while he was sitting at the entrance of the tent. (18:1)

Rashi’s commentary to this pasuk is well known.  Hashem appeared to Avraham Avinu, visiting him during the Patriarch’s recuperation from his Bris Milah.  It was the third day following the circumcision, a day which is especially painful, so Hashem was mevaker choleh, visited the sick.  Rashi’s source is Chazal, who laud the exalted nature of this mitzvah.  While everyone agrees that this mitzvah is meaningful, both to the beneficiary and benefactor, it is also a source of incredible reward to the individual who fulfills it. The Sefer HaMiddos writes concerning the mitzvah of bikur cholim: “In the merit of bikur…

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Home -> Vayechi -> 5776

ויעל יוסף לקבר את אביו ויעלו אתו כל עבדי פרעה... ויבאו עד גרן האטד... ויספדו שם מספד גדול וכבד

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Vayechi

Yosef went up to bury his father, and with him went up all of Pharaoh’s servants… they came to Goren Haatad… and they held a very great and imposing eulogy. (50:7, 10)

Chazal teach that this name (Goren Haatad) is not the name of a place; rather, it is a name given to a singular event and the image it projected, which determined the name of the area. The Kings of Canaan and the Princes of Yishmael worked together to prevent Yaakov Avinu’s burial and, in order to once and for all, eliminate the Jewish People. They conjectured that following the loss of their holy father, the brothers and their families were at their lowest emotional point. What better time to attack them than at a time in which the Jews were…

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Home -> Vayechi -> 5776

בן פרת יוסף בן פרת עלי עין

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Vayechi

A charming son is Yosef, a charming son to the eye. (49:22)

The Talmud Berachos 20a teaches that Yosef HaTzaddik and his descendants were impervious to the nefarious power of the evil eye. They derive from the above pasuk that the evil eye had no power over them, because Yosef refused to feed himself from anything that was not his. The evil eye is the product of envy, which results from an individual’s character deficiency. He is jealous of others, because he is insecure with himself. Why should a decent person suffer because an individual with a jaundiced character is jealous of his success? In his Michtav MeiEliyahu 4, Horav Eliyahu Eliezer…

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Home -> Vayechi -> 5776

וירא ישראל את בני יוסף ויאמר מי אלה ויאמר יוסף אל אביו בני הם אשר נתן לי אלקים בזה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Vayechi

Then Yisrael saw Yosef’s sons and he said, “Who are these?” And Yosef said to his father, “They are my sons whom G-d has given me here.” (48:8,9)

Rashi quotes the Midrash which explains that, although Yaakov Avinu’s vision was impaired, he would still have been able to see the two young men standing before him. Instead, they explain that, Mi eileh? “Who are these?” is a reference to descendants of Menashe and Efraim, whose nefarious activities precluded them from deserving blessing. Yaakov wondered – “How did they get into this family? They certainly do not have a reason to warrant blessing.” Yosef assured his father that his two sons had been begotten through a marriage of sanctity with a kesubah, kosher marriage contract, and that, indeed, they…

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