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ויאמר קין גדול עוני מנשוא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Bereishis, 5776

Kayin said to Hashem “Is my iniquity too great to be borne.” (4:13)

Kayin committed a grave sin. To take a human life is a heinous act of aggression. Yet, Chazal teach that Kayin did teshuvah, repented, for his terrible crime. What is the meaning of his teshuvah? Can this teshuvah bring back Hevel? Obviously, it is impossible to bring back the deceased. Hevel is gone. He is not coming back – regardless of the sublimity of Kayin’s teshuvah. Murder is different than robbery. A thief can return the money. The murderer has taken a life, which he cannot bring back. Horav Shimon Schwab, zl, explains that, indeed, this is the wonder of…

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בעצב תלדי בנים... בזעת אפיך תאכל לחם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Bereishis, 5776

In pain shall you bear children… by the sweat of your brow shall you eat your bread. (3:16,19)

Prior to the sin, Chavah conceived and gave birth immediately. She did not have to go through the physical change. After the sin, however, conception was not a given, and the extended pregnancy followed by a painful childbirth became a reality. Likewise, Adam, who, heretofore had his sustenance right before him, would now have to toil to earn a living. The Torah uses a strange word, etzev, to describe the pain associated with childbirth. The word etzev is more closely related to anxiety and depression than to pain. Horav Tuvia Lisitzin, zl, derives from here that when a person is…

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Home -> 5776 -> Bereishis

וירא אלקים את כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאד

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Bereishis, 5776

And G-d saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good. (1:31)

The Midrash interprets tov, good, meod, very (good), in a novel manner: “And behold it was very good” – tov is a reference to the Malach Ha’Chaim, Angel of life, or life per se. Meod, very (good), is a reference to the Malach Ha’Maves, Angel of death. Clearly, Chazal’s choice of the term “very” good to denote death begs elucidation. How can we understand death as being “very good” when life is only “good”? Horav Eliezer Sorotzkin, zl, posits that herein lies the secret of simchas ha’chaim, joy of life. When a person goes through life acquiescing to whatever Hashem…

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Home -> 5776 -> Bereishis

וירא אלקים כי טוב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Bereishis, 5776

And G-d saw that it was good. (1:10)

Horav Zelik Epstein, zl, Rosh Yeshivah of Shaar Torah, spent the early part of 1940 in Kelm, Lithuania. He was an aveil, mourner, for his father, and he required a thrice daily minyan to recite Kaddish. He felt that, at the time, while the war was raging, the most practical place to do this would be in Kelm. Already at a young age, his reputation as a talmid chacham, Torah scholar, preceded him. Additionally, he was proficient with a Hebrew typewriter. Thus, Rebbetzin Nechamah Leeba, daughter of the Alter m’Kelm and widow of Horav Tzvi Hirsch Broide, asked him to…

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Home -> 5776 -> Bereishis

ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Bereishis, 5776

And there was evening, and there was morning. (1:5)

The commentators discuss the essence of choshech, darkness: Was it nothing more than an absence of light; or was choshech a creation in the same sense as light? G-d created darkness. If we view darkness as the absence of light, we can understand why darkness preceded light. There was no light – hence, it was dark. According to the Gaon, zl, m’Vilna, who contends that darkness is a creation (I have no idea how to describe the void that “existed” prior to the creation of darkness), why did it precede light? They were both equal entities. Indeed, creating light first…

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Home -> 5776 -> Bereishis

בראשית ברא אלקים את השמים ואת הארץ

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Bereishis, 5776

In the beginning of G-d’s creating the heavens and the earth. (1:1)

The opening pesukim of Sefer Bereishis detail the process of Creation. This process progressed over a period of six Creation days. The last day was yom Shabbos kodesh, the holy Shabbos, a day on which Hashem rested from Creation. It was after these days of Creation that the natural clock of time with which we identify began. The Talmud Rosh Hashanah, 32a, explains that the word bereishis, in the beginning, is much more than a chronological term which describes when it all began;  rather, the word bereishis is the word which Hashem employed to commence creation itself. Horav Tzadok HaKohen,…

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Home -> Behar -> 5776

כי עבדי הם אשר הוצאתי אתם מארץ מצרים לא ימכרו ממכרת עבד

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Behar

For they are my servants, whom I have taken out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold in the manner of a slave. (25:42)

The Talmud Yevamos 46a teaches, “You may purchase from them, but they may not purchase from you.” In other words, a Jew may not sell himself as a slave to a gentile. The Brisker Rav, zl, comments that this is the underlying directive of the above pasuk. The Jewish people are excluded from the laws of slavery. They do not apply to us, because we may no longer become slaves. We were taken out of Egypt, from servitude to freedom. We have parted ways with slavery – we serve Hashem as our only Master. There is an emotional aspect to…

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וכי ימוך אחיך...וחי אחיך עמך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Behar

If your brother becomes impoverished … and let your brother live with you. (25:35, 36)

It is our responsibility to see to it that our brother does not descend to the level of poverty such that he will have great difficulty sustaining himself. We must attempt to help him before he becomes poor, so that, with help from his brother, he can maintain his independence and raise himself up to his prior status. Lending him money or investing in his business is among the highest and noblest forms of charity, since the beneficiary is not made to feel like a charity case. The Torah admonishes us not to lend money for interest. This is not…

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Home -> Behar -> 5776

וכי ימוך אחיך ומטה ידו עמך והזחקת בו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Behar

If your brother becomes impoverished and his means falter in your proximity, you shall strengthen him. (25:35)

The Midrash quotes an often-used pasuk relating to the mitzvah of tzedakah, charity: Ashrei maskil el dal, b’yom raah yimalteihu Hashem, “Praiseworthy is he who contemplates the needy, on the day of disaster Hashem will deliver him” Tehillim 41:2. David HaMelech enjoins us to give tzedakah with understanding: delving into who stands before us and why; making an attempt to put ourselves in his shoes. The above pasuk addresses the needs of one who has not yet hit rock bottom. He is faltering and needs assistance to prevent him from falling into the abyss of abject poverty. We are admonished…

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Home -> Behar -> 5776

וצויתי את ברכתי לכם בשנה הששית

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5776, Behar

I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year. (25:21)

The crops produced during the sixth year will suffice for portions of the three calendar years affected by Shemittah: from Nissan of the sixth year until Nissan of the eighth year. In commentary on this pasuk, Horav Michel Feinstein, zl, explained that Hashem was ensuring the blessing as part and parcel of the mitzvah. The mitzvah itself provided the blessing. This is similar to the statement made by Chazal in Pirkei Avos, Maasros s’yag l’osher, “Tithes are a protective fence for wealth” (Avos 3:17). The discipline of taking a percentage of one’s produce and giving it to charity motivates the…

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