Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

  • Reset

Home -> 5762 -> Acharei Mos

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Acharei Mos, 5762

“You shall observe My decrees and My laws, which man shall carry out and by which he shall live.” (18:5)

Targum Onkelos explains the words, V’chai bahem, “by which he shall live,” as referring to chayei alma, eternal life. In other words, as the Chafetz Chaim, z.l., explains in his preface to the Mishnah Berurah, the Torah is the spiritual food of the neshamah, soul. By studying Torah in this world, we are preparing ourselves for chayei olam, eternal life in Olam Haba. This is the meaning of the phrase, V’chayei olam nota b’socheinu, “He planted eternal life within us.” With the study of Torah, we plant the seeds from which we will one day subsist in the eternal world. We…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5762 -> Acharei Mos

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Acharei Mos, 5762

“For on this day, he shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you, from all of your sins.” (16:30)

Yom Kippur provides atonement – if it is not too late. Horav Yitzchak Blazar, z.l., the famous Rav Itzele Peterburger, primary disciple of Horav Yisrael Salanter, z.l., spoke prior to Rosh Hashanah in the Bais HaMussar of Kovno. After his ethical discourse, the assemblage began to recite various perakim, chapters, from Sefer Tehillim. At the end, together they recited the verses of Shema Koleinu, Hear our Voices, a heartrending appeal which follows the Selichos prayer. When they reached the pasuk, Al tashlicheinu l’eis ziknah, “Do not discard us when we grow old,” Rav Itzele stopped, turned around to the kahal, those…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5762 -> Metzora

כנגע נראה לי בבית

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Metzora, 5762

“Something like an affliction has appeared to me in the house.” (14:35)

Otzar Chaim has a wonderful thought regarding the teshuvah process and how the Kohen or rav can achieve the greatest success with the sinner. In the Mishnah Negaim  2:3, Chazal state that in a house which is dark – and, therefore, difficult for the Kohen to see the nega, plague – we do not open the windows to increase the light and make the nega more accessible. We can derive a profound lesson from this halachah. It is a message to the Kohanim, rabbanim, and anyone whose function it is to rebuke, to reproach, to guide and mentor: Do not search…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5762 -> Metzora

ועץ ארז ושני תולעת ואזב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Metzora, 5762

“Cedarwood, crimson thread and hyssop.” (14:4)

The sin of lashon hara has its roots in arrogance. The sinner possesses a moral flaw, a character deficiency which allows him to think  that  he  is  better,  more  intelligent  and  more  virtuous than others. He is the savior that is going to rid the world of those whom he perceives to be corrupt. He overlooks one thing: his own haughtiness, which breeds contempt for others, provokes him to think ill of them, catalyzing him to speak callously about them. The teshuvah, repentance, process takes this into consideration by making him bring cedarwood, crimson thread and hyssop along with his sacrifice,…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5762 -> Metzora

זאת תהיה תורת המצרע ביום טהרתו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Metzora, 5762

“This shall be the law of the metzora on the day of his purification.” (14:2)

One who is determined to correct the sin of lashon hara is confronted with two paradoxical issues. On the one hand, Chazal teach us that the Torah goes out of its way not to reveal any failing whatsoever, even in regard to an inanimate object. The Midrash teaches us that Hashem did not reveal the specie of the Eitz HaDaas, Tree of Knowledge, because an aveirah, sin, was actualized through it. We see this idea in regard to an animal with whom a woman had an immoral  relationship: it is killed. While we understand that the woman should be put to…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5762 -> Metzora

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Metzora, 5762

“This shall be the law of the metzora on the day of his purification: he shall be brought to the Kohen.” (14:2)

The Kohen has the first and last word in regard to negaim, plagues. Toras Kohanim states that it is a gezeiras haKasuv, Biblical edict, that  the  rendering  of  tumah  and  taharah,  impurity  or  purity, is solely in the hands of the Kohanim. Sforno adds that the Kohanim are the ones who teach and guide the people in the spiritual dimension. Interfacing with them all will encourage the metzora, afflicted sinner, to repent and mend his ways. While the Kohen is the decisor concerning negaim, Chazal say that “one can see/inspect all negaim, except his own.” Even a simple, clean-cut plague cannot…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5762 -> Tazria

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tazria, 5762

“He is a person with tzaraas, he is contaminated, the Kohen shall declare him contaminated, his affliction is upon his head.” (13:44)

In the various forms of tzaraas mentioned previously in the parsha, the Torah has either written tamei hu, he is ritually impure, or v’timo ha’Kohen, the Kohen shall declare him tamei. Regarding nigei ha’rosh, the plague that sets itself upon one’s head, the Torah emphasizes ish tzarua hu, he is a person with tzaraas, and then reiterates the status of impurity with the words, “The Kohen shall declare him contaminated.” Why such emphasis upon tzaraas ha’rosh? The Netziv, z.l., explains that unlike the other forms of tzaraas, which are a punishment for lashon hara, evil speech, tzaraas ha’rosh is visited upon…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5762 -> Tazria

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tazria, 5762

“If a tzaraas affliction will be in a person.” (13:9)

The laws of tzaraas, a spiritual malady which manifests itself in a physical illness which mimics leprosy, is the result of “speech problems.”  People  who  do  not  use  their  God-given  tongues appropriately, such that they disparage and slander, are visited with tzaraas. Volumes have been written addressing the sin of lashon hara, evil speech. What about lashon tov, good speech, positive speech, words that heal and soothe? The power of speech is a special gift that we must learn to appreciate. A good word can lift a spirit and save a life. How often do we regret not saying the right…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5762 -> Tazria

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tazria, 5762

“If a person will have on the skin of his flesh a s’eis, or a sapachas, or a baheres.” (13:2)

In the Pleasant Way, a collection of some of the shmuessen, ethical discourses, of Horav Avraham Pam, z.l., a meaningful shmuess focuses on the root of lashon hara, evil speech. In his inimitable manner, Rav Pam lovingly explains and guides us concerning how to distance ourselves from the harmful effects of this dreadful sin. He explains the juxtaposition of Parashas Tazria, which discusses the laws of tzaraas, to Parashas Shemini, which addresses the laws of Kashrus. Just as we should be meticulous in  what we ingest, we should likewise take great care in what emerges from our mouths. The consumption of…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5762 -> Tazria

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tazria, 5762

“On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” (12:3)

One day the Sefas Emes asked one of his close chassidim to take his two young sons, (Rav) Avraham Mordechai and (Rav) Moshe Betzalel, to a certain Jew in Warsaw for a brachah, blessing. The person left the next day in search of this Jew whom he assumed must certainly be a famous tzaddik, righteous man. He arrived in Warsaw and,  after some inquiry, he discovered that the individual he sought was actually a simple, common Jew. The man, indeed, had no idea why the famous Rebbe of Gur would send his two sons to him for a blessing. Yet, at…

Continue Reading

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

You have Successfully Subscribed!