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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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Home -> Vayechi -> 5776

ואני בבאי מפדן מתה עלי רחל... ואקברה שם בדרך אפרת הוא בית לחם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Vayechi

But as for me – when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me… and I buried her there on the road to Efras, which is Bais Lechem. (48:7)

Rashi explains that Yaakov Avinu was excusing himself for not having buried Rachel Imeinu in the Meoras HaMachpeilah. Here he was asking Yosef to make a special effort to take his body out of Egypt in order to bury him in the Meoras HaMachpeilah – when he had not done the same for his wife – Yosef’s mother. Apparently, Yaakov sensed that Yosef might have been harboring ill will against him for not making that extra effort to bury his mother in what he might have felt was her rightful place. Yaakov explained that the decision concerning Rachel’s final resting…

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Home -> Vayechi -> 5776

ויאמר ליוסף הנה אביך חולה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Vayechi

And someone said to Yosef, “Behold!” – your father is ill. (48:1)

If someone had not informed Yosef that his father was ill, he would not have known. During the entire seventeen years that Yaakov Avinu resided in Egypt he was never alone with his long lost son, Yosef. They had been separated for twenty-two years, their hearts yearning for one another; yet, they were never alone together, never saw one another, until the end, when Yaakov lay on his deathbed. Pesikta Rabbasi explains that Yosef was afraid to be alone with his father, lest he ask him the big question: “What happened?” Yosef was acutely aware of his father’s supernatural powers….

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5776

והנשאם הביאו את אבני השהם ואת אבני המלאים לאפוד ולחשן

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Vayakhel

The Nesiim/Princes brought the Shoham stones and the stones from the settings for the Eiphod and the Breastplate. (35:27)

Rashi quotes the Midrash in which Rabbi Nosson notes that the word Nesiim, Princes, is spelled without the two yuds that would normally be there. The defective spelling is sort of a subtle rebuke of the Princes for not bringing their gifts immediately when the call for contributions was made; rather, they waited until everything else had been donated. They had calculated that they would complete whatever would end up lacking. How surprised they were to discover that the nation had given overwhelmingly, leaving almost nothing for the Princes to give. Our sages indicate that their lack of an immediate…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5776

וכל הנשים אשר נשא לבן אותנה בחכמה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Vayakhel

All the women whose hearts inspired them with wisdom. (35:26)

The Baal HaTurim notes the Mesorah, Masoretic tradition, of the phrase, V’chol ha’nashim, “And all the women,” is used again in Megillas Esther, V’chol hanashim yitnu yikar l’baaleihen, “And all wives should show respect to their husbands” (Megillas Esther 1:20). This refers to Haman’s advice in which he instructs Achashveirosh to issue a decree, emphasizing the significance of women appreciating and valuing their husbands. This is undoubtedly one of the primary tenets that provide the framework for a successful marriage relationship. A woman who does not value her husband (and reminds him of his second-class status) will ultimately cause the…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5776

וכל אשה חכמת לב בידיה טוו...וכל הנשים אשר נשא לבן אותנה בחכמה טוו את העיזים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Vayakhel

Every wise-hearted woman spun with her hands…all the women whose hearts inspired them with wisdom spun the goats. (35:25,26)

This was extraordinary craftsmanship, for they would spin the fibers from the fleece on the backs of the goats before it was shorn from them.  Sforno explains that, after it is shorn from the animal, goat’s hair loses more and more of its luster each time that it is handled. Thus, by combing and spinning the fleece while it was still growing, they were able to preserve much of the luster that would otherwise have been lost. How much luster is diminished after a few hours of spinning? Probably a minimal amount, which is unnoticeable. Yet, the women made the…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5776

ויבואו האנשים על הנשים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Vayakhel

The men came with the women. (35:22)

Rashi translates the phrase, al ha’nashim, on the women, as with the women. Targum Onkelos, however, translates it as al neshaya, on the women. This implies that the men brought the donations on the women, suggesting that the men accompanied their wives to the collection center, after which the women removed their jewelry and contributed it to the Mishkan. Why did they follow this procedure? Could the men not just have brought the jewelry on their own? Horav Moshe Feinstein, zl, derives an important insight from here. The women wanted to show that they were wearing the jewelry, that it…

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Home -> 5776 -> Va'eschanan

כבד את אביך ואת אמך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Va'eschanan, 5776

Honor your father and mother. (5:16)

To render honor to one’s parents is an awesome task. Honor means much more than respect. It means: to value; to cherish; to appreciate; to understand that one’s presence in this world is attributed to his parents. The Sefer HaChinuch writes: Heim sibas heyoso b’olam, “They are the cause of his being in this world.”  When one realizes that his basic “being” is due to them, he should be filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Honor should be the result of this emotion. Sadly, this emotion, or lack thereof, can backfire, when one has determined for himself that he…

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Home -> 5776 -> Va'eschanan

שמור את יום השבת לקדשו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Va'eschanan, 5776

Safeguard the day of Shabbos to sanctify it. (5:12)

The vernacular of this pasuk is ambiguous. If Shabbos is holy, why do we have to sanctify it? It is already holy. If it is a mitzvah like all mitzvos, one that imbues us with its kedushah, holiness, what role does remembering play in the scheme of shemiras Shabbos, Shabbos observance? Perhaps we may suggest the following: secular society recognizes that Shabbos is designated for the Jewish People as a day of rest. This does not necessarily mean that they view it as a day replete with unusual holiness. The kedushah is something that we infuse into the Shabbos. Otherwise,…

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