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Home -> 5775 -> Beshalach

נטית ימינך תבלעמו ארץ

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Beshalach, 5775

You stretched out Your right hand – the earth swallowed them. (15:12)

Rashi explains this pasuk as sort of a reward for the Egyptians, because they had acknowledged Hashem’s justice, when (ibid 9:27) they proclaimed, Hashem HaTzaddik, “Hashem is righteous.” He showed His infinite mercy by allowing them to be buried following their ordeal. This is the meaning of, tivlaeimo aretz, “The earth swallowed them up.” A powerful lesson may be derived from here. Regardless of who a person is, his previous negative actions notwithstanding, when he acts appropriately, when he performs a positive act that either serves as a vehicle for glorifying Hashem or assisting a (fellow) Jew – he will…

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Home -> 5775 -> Beshalach

ויאמר ד' אל משה מה תצעק אלי דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Beshalach, 5775

Hashem said to Moshe, “Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to Bnei Yisrael and let them journey forth.” (14:15)

Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu that there was a time to pray and a time to move on to take action. Apparently, this was not the time for prayer. The Divrei Chaim renders this pasuk homiletically, lending us an insight into the demands of leadership, and the need for a strong leader to determine the appropriate response to a given situation and how best to rally the people behind him. Moshe Rabbeinu was well known for his unusual humility. Anav mikol adam; “he was the most humble person on the earth.” Indeed, the word mah, “what” (as in V’nachnu mah, “And…

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Home -> 5775 -> Beshalach

וחמושים עלו בני ישראל מארץ מצרים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Beshalach, 5775

Bnei Yisrael were armed when they went up from Egypt. (13:18)

Rashi defines chamushim as armed. Taking a journey through the wilderness is not like a walk in the park. One can encounter pernicious challenges at almost every step of the way. Additionally, the pagan nations inhabiting Eretz Yisrael would certainly not take kindly to the idea of being displaced by the Jewish People. The fact that G-d promised the Land to the Jews had very little bearing on the pagan mindset. On the other hand, the Jews were not a warrior nation. For the past 210 years, their primary vocation had been slavery. Thus, the people took along weapons as…

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Home -> 5775 -> Beshalach

ויהי בשלח פרעה את העם ולא נחם אלקים דרך ארץ פלשתים...

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Beshalach, 5775

And it came to be when Pharaoh sent out the people that G-d did not lead them by the land of the Plishtim. (13:17)

Developing a relationship/bond with Hashem is a process. It does not just happen. There are ups and downs and challenges to our faith which we must overcome. Some do so successfully; others do not. In an inspirational and informative thesis, Horav Tzadok HaKohen, zl, (Pri Tzaddik) elucidates an insightful comment made by the Zohar HaKadosh concerning the opening pesukim of this parsha. Parashas Beshalach begins with the word Vayehi, “And it came to be.” Chazal teach that this word imparts a fundamental lesson in Biblical exegesis. Whenever the word vayehi appears in the Torah it conveys a message of sorrow….

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5775

ואבדתם בגוים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5775, Bechukosai

And you will become lost among the nations. (26:38)

Horav Mordechai Ilan, zl, observes that, when Klal Yisrael is in exile, they are compared to a lost article. As long as a lost item has a siman, recognizable sign, which the owner can use to identify it, then a din ha’shavah applies, an obligation for the finder to return it. He may not keep something for which the owner has not yet given up hope. If an item does not have a recognizable feature by which the owner can identify it, he will be me’yaeish, despair of getting it back. We derive an important lesson from here. The Jew…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5775

ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם ונתנה הארץ יבולה ועץ השדה יתן פריו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5775, Bechukosai

Then I will provide your rains in their time, and the land will give its produce and the tree of the field will give its fruit. (26:4)

Interestingly, all of the physical blessings mentioned by the Torah as a reward for mitzvah observance and toiling in Torah are agricultural in nature. Why does the Torah not ensure a person with great wealth, agriculture property or real estate? It seems as if every blessing is: If you observe mitzvos and work hard at studying Torah, you will be blessed with success for all of your hard work in the field. It is almost like saying, if you work hard in the bais hamedrash, then your work in the field will reap great success. Horav Shimshon Pincus, zl, offers…

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Home -> Bechukosai -> 5775

ואם בחקתי תמאסו ואם את משפטי תגעל נפשכם לבלתי עשות את כל מצותי להפרכם את בריתי

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5775, Bechukosai

And if you will consider My decrees revolting, and if your being rejects My ordinances, so as not to perform all of My commandments, to annul My covenant. (26:15)

Chazal teach that the final straw, which is denying belief in Hashem, is part of a descending seven-step process. In other words, one does not just wake up one morning and decide to become a kofer, heretic. He has been slipping slowly over a period of time, and now this trait has finally begun to manifest itself in his denial of the Creator. What makes this process most astonishing is that it takes very little to gain entry into it. All one needs in order to mount the first step is not really a lack of study, but rather, a…

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Home -> Behar -> 5775

וכי ימוך אחיך ומטה ידו עמך והחזקת בו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5775, Behar

If your brother becomes impoverished and his hand falters in your proximity. (25:35)

Concerning this pasuk, which enjoins us to reach out to our fellow man who has sadly fallen on hard times, David Hamelech says in Tehillim 41:2, Ashrei maskil el dal, b’yom raah yimalteihu Hashem, “Praiseworthy is he who contemplates the needy; on the day of evil, Hashem will liberate him.” Why is this pasuk specifically selected by Chazal as the paradigm for giving tzedakah, charity? Can something special, a unique lesson/message regarding charitable giving, be derived herein? Simply, we are being enjoined to add some seichal, common sense, to our emotion upon giving the poor man a check. We should…

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Home -> Behar -> 5775

ולא תונו איש את עמיתו ויראת מאלקיך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5775, Behar

Each of you shall not aggrieve his fellow, and you shall fear your G-d. (25:17)

Hurting another Jew is an egregious sin. What makes it most serious is the fact that one does not always observe the damage that he has wrought. Embarrassing someone, reminding him of an inappropriate episode in his life, can cause grave emotional trauma, which is concealed beneath the surface of the man’s demeanor. It hurts no less; since it is covert, the pain may be even greater. Talking about something that bothers a person is in itself a form of therapy. Onaah, aggrieving, applies to cheating in commerce, while onaas devarim refers to aggrieving with words, such as reminding people…

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Home -> 5775 -> Bereishis

ויבא קין... מפרי האדמה מנחה לד'... והבל הביא גם הוא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Bereishis, 5775

Kayin brought an offering to Hashem of the fruit of the ground… and as for Hevel, he also brought. (4:3,4)

We note from the pesukim that Hevel was a righteous person. The mere fact that Hashem acquiesced to Hevel’s sacrifice serves as a barometer of His approbation of Hevel. If so, why was he taken so soon? Hevel’s life was cut short due to his brother’s irrational jealousy. He did not live long enough even to establish a legacy of offspring. Kayin, on the other hand, lived seven more generations, from which was established the future of the world. To the average spectator, the disparity between the subsequent history of Kayin, the murderer, and Hevel, the innocent victim, is glaring….

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