Peninim on the Torah

ויצא לבם ויחרדו איש אל אחיו לאמר מה זאת עשה אלקים לנו

Their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that G-d has done to us?” (42:28)

Any intelligent, observant Jew knows that life is neither lived randomly, nor lived in a vacuum. Life is filled with meaning and purpose, much like a roadway with signs warning the driver to slow down for a construction site, a children’s crossing, traffic jam, bad weather. The intelligent driver takes heed and makes the necessary changes in accordance with the messages that he sees. The driver who ignores the messages and is too preoccupied to take notice – or cannot read the language – will either luckily avoid an accident or fail to negotiate a problem area properly and hurt…

Home -> Mikeitz -> 5776

הלא אמרתי אליכם לאמר אל תחטאו בילד ולא שמעתם וגם דמו הנה נדרש

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, Mikeitz

Did I not speak to you saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy,’ but you would not listen! And his blood as well– behold – is being avenged. (42:22)

Reuven cast the blame for Yosef’s debacle on his brothers, claiming, “I told you so.” Veritably, they did not shed Yosef’s blood, but, since he had been held in captivity all these years, anything could have happened. If something actually had happened to Yosef, the brothers needed to be aware they were responsible. The Yalkut Chamishai quotes the Gerrer Rebbe, zl, the Bais Yisrael, who employs this pasuk as a remez, allusion, that the one who sins with regard to a child is guilty of a grave sin. A child is unable to protect himself, and, thus, he is susceptible…

Home -> Mikeitz -> 5776

וירא יוסף את אחיו ויכירם ויתנכר להם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, Mikeitz

Yosef saw his brothers and he recognized them, but he acted like a stranger towards them. (42:7)

Yosef apparently wanted to conceal his identity from his brothers. He wanted them to think that he was the Egyptian viceroy, a pagan, not a Jew, and certainly not their long-lost brother, Yosef. Why? A practical, insightful explanation for Yosef’s behavior is rendered by Horav Moshe Yaakov Ribicov, zl, the holy man known as the Der Shuster, HaSandlor, the Shoemaker. Let me first digress from the subject and introduce the reading audience to this holy man. The Sandlor lived in Tel Aviv, and the Chazon Ish considered him to be rosh ha’lamed vov tzaddikim, the head/leader of the thirty-six righteous…

Home -> 5762 -> Nitzavim

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Nitzavim, 5762

“And you will return unto Hashem, your G-d, and listen to His voice.” (30:2)

Repentance – the opportunity to return to Hashem, to once again be accepted by Him and be able to appeal to Him – is the ultimate kindness that Hashem offers us. The following analogy, cited by Horav Yaakov Beifus, Shlita, demonstrates this idea. Rebelling against the king is without a doubt the most egregious transgression one can do to a monarch. The punishment is commensurate with the level of rebellion and the relationship of the rebel to the king. The closer one is to the king, the greater and more serious the infraction and eventual punishment. In one of the provinces,…

Home -> 5762 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5762

“Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, amid gladness and goodness of heart.” (28:47)

Joy in mitzvah performance, aside from being an essential prerequisite to the actual fulfillment of the mitzvah, also has a very practical application. Horav Moshe Feinstein, z.l., explains why so many children of European immigrants who came to America after World War I did not remain observant. Their parents were deeply committed to Yiddishkeit. They slaved long hours, performing all kinds of backbreaking labor to eke out a meager living. They would never compromise their observance of Torah and mitzvos. Shabbos was paramount, and Kashrus was a standard in their homes. So, what went wrong? Why did so many Jews who…

Home -> 5762 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5762

“Your sons and daughters will be given to another people – and your eyes will see and pine in vain for them… You will bear sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.” (28:32,41)

There seems to be a redundancy in these two tragic curses. We suggest that, unfortunately, they are two distinct curses, each one focusing on a different type of loss. In the former, the children are given over to another people. They might be living under the same roof as their parents, but their values are different. They are alienated from their people and instead are enchanted by the culture of another nation. In the latter curse, the children are no longer home; they have been taken captive by another nation. They are slaves to another people. In the first curse, the…

Home -> 5762 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5762

“Hashem will send in your midst attrition, confusion and worry, in your every undertaking that you will do.” (28:20)

Inner peace eludes many of us. We search for it, never realizing that it is right in front of us. The Yismach Moshe once dreamed that he was in Gan Eden. He entered a room that was very plain, completely devoid of ornamentation, and noticed a group of Torah scholars studying Torah. He was quite surprised that this was all there was to Gan Eden. Suddenly, a voice called out to him, “If you are under the impression that the scholars are in paradise – you are wrong. It is paradise that is within the Torah scholars.” We are always searching for…

Home -> 5762 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5762

“Look down from Your holy abode, from the Heavens, and bless Your people, Yisrael.” (26:15)

The word hashkifah, look down, usually has a negative connotation, which implies a harsh scrutinizing focus on a subject. The sole exception to this rule is the hashkifah of Viddui Maaser, which is the confessional prayer that one recites upon successfully dispensing the required tithes. In this case, we ask Hashem to look down and bless us. The Midrash explains that this is the power of tzedakah. It can transform the Middas HaDin, attribute of strict Justice, into the Middas HaRachamim, attribute of Mercy. Although hashkifah generally implies something bad, when people act in accordance with Hashem’s will, dispensing their tithes to…

Home -> 5762 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5762

“It will be when you enter the land…and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take of the very first fruit of the ground.” (26:1-2)

Rashi derives from the words, “and you possess it and dwell in it,” that the Jews were not obligated to bring Bikurim, the first fruits, until after Eretz Yisrael had been captured and divided according to each tribe. Why is Bikurim different from the mitzvah of Challah, which was imposed on them as soon as they entered the land? Why should they have been required to wait until the land was divided up? In his sefer Simchas HaTorah, Horav Simchah Shepps, z.l., explains that the underlying motif of the mitzvah of Bikurim is to actualize the hidden potential of hakoras ha’tov,…

Home -> 5762 -> Ki Seitzei

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Seitzei, 5762

“That he happened upon you on the way.” (25:18)

The pasuk seems to be addressing the nation as a whole. Why then does it switch to karcha, “it happened upon you,” in the singular? Horav Eliezer Elyakim Schlesinger, Shlita, explains that the Torah is teaching us a fundamental principle. He cites the Brisker Rav, z.l., who interprets the pasuk: “I quarrel with those who rise up against You!… I regard them as my own enemies” (Tehillim 139:21,22), in which David Hamelech is saying that Hashem’s enemies are his personal enemies. Anyone who rebels against Hashem cannot be David Ha’melech’s friend. Likewise, we are admonished here to view Amalek’s evil as…

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ויצא לבם ויחרדו איש אל אחיו לאמר מה זאת עשה אלקים לנו

Their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that G-d has done to us?” (42:28)

הלא אמרתי אליכם לאמר אל תחטאו בילד ולא שמעתם וגם דמו הנה נדרש

Did I not speak to you saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy,’ but you would not listen! And his blood as well– behold – is being avenged. (42:22)

וירא יוסף את אחיו ויכירם ויתנכר להם

Yosef saw his brothers and he recognized them, but he acted like a stranger towards them. (42:7)

“And you will return unto Hashem, your G-d, and listen to His voice.” (30:2)

“Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, amid gladness and goodness of heart.” (28:47)

“Your sons and daughters will be given to another people – and your eyes will see and pine in vain for them… You will bear sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.” (28:32,41)

“Hashem will send in your midst attrition, confusion and worry, in your every undertaking that you will do.” (28:20)

“Look down from Your holy abode, from the Heavens, and bless Your people, Yisrael.” (26:15)

“It will be when you enter the land…and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take of the very first fruit of the ground.” (26:1-2)

“That he happened upon you on the way.” (25:18)

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