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Home -> 5762 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5762

“And you shall discern from among the entire people, men of accomplishment, G-d fearing people.” (18:21)

Ibn Ezra explains that those who genuinely fear Hashem do not fear people. A judge who is subject to Divine authority is swayed by neither bribery nor threats. He responds to a Higher Authority. This implies that a person’s fear of man diminishes commensurate with his increasing fear of Hashem. With this in mind, Horav Sholom Schwadron, z.l., notes that one who feels that he has achieved yiraas Shomayim, fear of Heaven, should ask himself how much of earthly/human concerns he fears. Rav Schwadron substantiates Ibn Ezra’s thesis with a famous incident from Navi. Yonah Ha’Navi was fleeing Tarshish. While he…

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Home -> 5762 -> Yisro

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Yisro, 5762

“And you shall make known to them the path in which they should go.” (18:20)

In the Talmud Bava Kama 100a, Chazal indicate that the word bah, “in which,” is a reference to kevurah, burial of the dead. Gedolei Yisrael were extremely meticulous in attending to the needs of the deceased. Horav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Shlita, writes about Horav Chaim Sofer, z.l., one of the preeminent Torah leaders in Hungary, who made it a point to involve himself with those deceased who either did not have a minyan, quorum, by their bedside when they passed from this world or did not have anyone to recite Kaddish for them. In the preface to his sefer, Kol Sofer,…

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Home -> 5762 -> Beshalach

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Beshalach, 5762

Moshe said to Yehoshua, “Choose people for us and go do battle with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill”. (17:9)

In the Talmud Yoma 52b, Chazal say that the word machar, tomorrow, which is found in the above pasuk, can be interpreted as belonging to the previous phrase: “Choose people for us and go to do battle with Amalek tomorrow.” Alternatively, it can refer to the second half  of  the pasuk: “Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill.” We wonder what is the significance of the word, “tomorrow”? What message regarding the war with Amalek is being taught to us via the word “tomorrow”? Horav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, z.l., explains that the concept of “tomorrow” plays a crucial…

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Home -> 5762 -> Beshalach

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Beshalach, 5762

The people contended with Moshe, and they said, “Give us water that we may drink!” Moshe said to them, “Why do you test Hashem?”… Moshe cried out to Hashem saying, “What shall I do for this people? A bit more, and they will stone me!” (17:2,4)

The Torah says that the People “tested” Hashem. Where is this written? We only find that they asked for water. What really is wrong with asking for water when one is thirsty? Is this not the purpose of prayer – to supplicate Hashem for our needs? Furthermore, we find nowhere that Moshe Rabbeinu prayed to Hashem on behalf of the Jews. We do read in the Torah that he felt threatened by them. Why did he not entreat Hashem for water? Horav Yechezkel Levenstein, z.l., explains this with a parable. A student once came to a yeshivah for an entrance bechinah,…

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Home -> 5762 -> Beshalach

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Beshalach, 5762

“Let the people go out and pick each day’s portion on its day, so that I can test them, whether they will follow My teaching or not.” (16:4)

The daily gift of manna, Klal Yisrael’s Heavenly food, was actually  a lesson in Jewish spiritual survival. The Jewish People had witnessed  incredible  miracles  leading  up  to,  and  including,  the exodus from Egypt. Life is all one miracle: an important lesson that so many of us tend to ignore. Many of us go through life with the notion that we are in charge, we make decisions, and we carry out what we have determined is the correct course to follow. It is always “we” or “I”. Whatever happened to Hashem? Why do we always impose upon Him a reason to remind…

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Home -> 5762 -> Bo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Bo, 5762

“Remember this day on which you departed from Egypt…Today you are leaving in the month of springtime.” (13:3-4)

We are enjoined to remember the liberation from Egypt and to relate it constantly. Interestingly, the Torah seems to emphasize the  fact  that  we  were  redeemed  b’chodesh  ha’aviv,  in  the spring. This is part and parcel of the geulah, liberation. It must be stressed again and again that we left during the spring. Rashi explains that we were redeemed in the spring, at a time when it is not cold or hot, or rainy. Indeed, at a time when the climate is perfect. When we think about it, however, the fact that we left Egypt in the spring is secondary to…

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Home -> 5762 -> Bo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Bo, 5762

“This month shall be for you the beginning of the months.” (12:2)

The first mitzvah Klal Yisrael received as a nation was the mitzvah of Kiddush haChodesh, sanctifying the new moon. Indeed, the moon is  the  constellation  by  which  we  reckon  our  Yomim  Tovim, festivals; and Klal Yisrael is compared to the moon. Simply, this is due to  the waxing and waning of the moon every month. As the moon goes through a process of monthly renewal, so, too, does Klal Yisrael have the opportunity and ability to rejuvenate themselves spiritually. Even if a person has feelings of rejection, when he senses within himself a sort of spiritual deterioration,  he can reinvigorate himself…

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Home -> 5762 -> Bo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Bo, 5762

“One more plague shall I bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; after that, he shall send you forth from here. When he sends forth, it shall be complete; he shall drive you out of here.” (11:1)

Simply, Hashem is conveying to Moshe Rabbeinu that Pharaoh and the Egyptians will have to undergo one more plague. Then the Ten Plagues will be complete, and Pharaoh will have received his due. Sforno, however, renders this pasuk differently. He explains that Pharaoh originally sent Moshe and Aharon away willingly; with his rod of anger, he drove them out from his presence. In a similar manner, he will now be compelled to send them and all of Klal Yisrael away in anguish. The  previous time he had driven away only Moshe and Aharon – and it was only from his…

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Home -> 5762 -> Vaeira

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vaeira, 5762

Say to Aharon, “Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt.” (7:19)

People are always searching for that magic elixir that will grant them everlasting happiness – and they do not succeed in finding it. They go for therapy sessions and take vacations in the most remote and exotic places in the world, yet the secret continues to elude them. Why? Because they are missing a fundamental point, a crucial lesson about life, human nature, and G-d. Without this point, they will never be truly happy. They are missing the attribute of hakoras ha’tov, gratitude. The concept of gratitude is probably the most important lesson a person should internalize and integrate into his…

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Home -> 5762 -> Vaeira

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vaeira, 5762

“And they too – the magicians of Egypt – did so with their incantations.” (7:11)

Why did Hashem choose miracles and wonders that Pharaoh thought he could replicate? It started with the staff  transforming into a serpent; next the river turned into blood; and then the earth issued forth frogs. In each case, Pharaoh’s magicians were able to create a similar ruse – sufficient reason for Pharaoh to think that he had little to fear.  Why not give him a sign that he would remember, so that  he would have no recourse but to listen to Moshe? This goes on throughout Hashem’s “dialogue” with Pharaoh. Even when Klal Yisrael left Egypt, Hashem left one idol, Baal…

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