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Home -> 5777 -> Tetzaveh

וחשב אפדתו אשר עליו כמעשהו ממנו יהיה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tetzaveh, 5777

The belt with which it is emplaced, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, it shall be made of it. (28:8)

Horav Yosef Chaim, zl, m’Bagdad, derives an important educational principle from this pasuk. One’s children are referred to as begadim, children. This is implied by the Navi Zecharyah (3:4), when Yehoshua Kohen Gadol is admonished, Hasiru ha’begadim ha’tzoim meialav, “Remove the soiled garments from him.” Concerning this, Chazal (Sanhedrin 93a) ask, “Was it the practice of Yehoshua to wear soiled garments?” They respond that the Navi refers to his sons who had married out of the faith. Thus, we see that children are likened to one’s garments. Perhaps, I might add, as the popular maxim goes, clothes make the man;…

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Home -> 5777 -> Tetzaveh

ואתה תדבר אל כל חכמי לב אשר מלאתיו רוח חכמה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Tetzaveh, 5777

And you shall speak to all the wise-hearted people whom I have invested with a spirit of wisdom. (28:3)

Chachmei lev; “wise-hearted people,” is in the plural form. “Whom I have invested”; m’leisiv, is singular. Is Moshe Rabbeinu to speak to all of the wise-hearted people, collectively, or is he to speak to each one individually? Why does the pasuk change midsentence from plural to singular? Simply, this is referring to Moshe who personally merited to be filled with wisdom. He was to speak to the wise-hearted people, because he was especially filled with wisdom. The Chasam Sofer explains that mileisiv applies to the chachmei lev. Hashem instructed Moshe to speak to each individual craftsman to inform him that…

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Home -> 5777 -> Terumah

מקשה תיעשה המנורה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Terumah, 5777

Hammered out shall the Menorah be made. (25:31)

The Menorah consisted of a number of shapes and forms, all of which were hammered out from one large ingot of gold. Nothing was made separately and attached. The Midrash relates that Moshe Rebbeinu had great difficulty in creating the Menorah. He could not visualize the finished product. Hashem went as far as to show him a Menorah made of fire. Still, Moshe felt uncertain concerning making the Menorah in accordance with Hashem’s plan. It was then that Hashem instructed Moshe to fling the ingot into a fire, such that a completed Menorah miraculously emerged.  In other words, the Menorah…

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Home -> 5777 -> Terumah

ככל אשר אני מראה אותך את תבנית המשכן...וכן תעשו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Terumah, 5777

Like everything that I show you, the form of the Mishkan…and so shall you do. (25:9)

Rashi comments, v’chein taasu – l’doros; “And so shall you do” – for generations. This means that, if for some reason it was necessary to make more vessels for the Mishkan, or later for the Bais HaMikdash, the form should be similar to the original vessels used in the Mishkan. Alternatively, the Nefesh HaChaim explains the tzivui, command, of l’doros, for ensuing generations, based upon a statement of the Gaon, zl, m’Vilna who posits that the entire Bais HaMikdash was redolent with a sweet fragrance emanating from the Torah housed in the Aron HaKodesh, situated in the Kodesh HaKedoshim, Holy…

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Home -> 5777 -> Terumah

ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Terumah, 5777

They shall make a Sanctuary for Me so that I may dwell among them. (25:8)

The Alshich HaKadosh, zl, notes the use of the word, b’socham, in them, rather than b’socho, in it. This teaches that every Jew must serve as a veritable Mishkan, Sanctuary, for Hashem. Every Jew is a mikdash me’at, miniature sanctuary. This should be our self-view, and likewise, the way we look at others. While one can accept this idea concerning gedolei Yisrael, individuals who truly represent Kavod Shomayim, the glory of Heaven, what about the ordinary person? Is the ordinary person also a mikdash me’at? First, the term “ordinary” is too general a term. I refer rather to someone who…

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Home -> 5777 -> Terumah

ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Terumah, 5777

And have them take for Me a terumah offering. From every man whose heart impels him to generosity, you shall take My terumah offering. (25:2)

Rashi writes that the words, v’yikchu li, “and take for Me,” indicate that the contributors for the Mishkan must be dedicated lishmah, exclusively for Hashem’s Name. From the fact that the Torah follows up the v’yikchu li with asher yidvenu libo, whose heart impels him to generosity, we may suggest that the determining factor in li, “for me,” is that it is motivated by the heart. The heart is the seat of one’s emotions and, thus, expresses his truthful feelings. Nidvas ha’lev, a contribution from the bottom of one’s heart, is an honest contribution. The concept of lishmah was a…

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Home -> Shemos -> 5777

ותפתח ותראהו את הילד והנה נער בכה ותחמל עליו ותאמר מילדי העברים זה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Shemos

“She opened it and saw the boy, and behold! A youth was crying. She took pity on him and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrew boys.’” (2:6)

Sequentially, it would have made sense to write that the infant was a Hebrew child first and only afterwards (despite the child’s ancestry) that she took pity on him. One would think that the child’s Jewish identity was the most significant aspect of the pasuk – not her act of compassion. Horav Nissan Alpert, zl, feels that the reversed sequence teaches us an important lesson, one which (I feel) we should all apply to our personal lives. Upon seeing someone in pain, an organization in serious need, we are confronted with two immediate reactions: empathy, compassion to reach out and…

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Home -> Shemos -> 5777

ותפתח ותראהו את הילד והנה נער בכה ותחמול עליו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Shemos

She opened it and saw him, the boy, and behold! A youth was crying. She took pity on him. (2:6)

Horav Nachman Breslover, zl, teaches that everything has good and bad, positive and negative, aspects. Tears/crying are/is no different. Some tears emanate from atzvus, depression, despair, hopelessness, which are “motivated” by the sitra acharah, evil inclination, under the auspices of Satan. In such an instance, a person weeps for something entrenched in the yetzer hora – a passion, a desire, something that rightfully does not belong to him. Yet, he seeks to have it – and when Hashem is not forthcoming with filling his taavah, desire, he cries bitterly. When Eisav did not obtain his father’s blessing, he raised his…

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Home -> Shemos -> 5777

ותיראן המילדת את האלקים ולא עשו כאשר דבר אליהן מלך מצרים ותחיין את הילדים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Shemos

But the midwives feared G-d and they did not do as the king of Egypt spoke to them, and they caused the boys to live. (1:17)

Pharaoh had to stem the tide of the Jewish population explosion. Infanticide was his proposal. He could not prevent conception, but he could see to it that the infants never saw the light of day. The two Jewish midwives feared Hashem and rejected Pharaoh’s orders, claiming that, by the time they arrived, the children had already been born. These midwives were, like so many of the other Jewish women, nashim tzidkaniyos, righteous women, who placed their commitment to Hashem above everything. Their faith in the Almighty motivated their actions, despite the pressing question: To what kind of world and to…

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Home -> Shemos -> 5777

ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Shemos

A new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Yosef. (1:8)

When did the Egyptian exile begin? Most would have us think that the shibud Mitzrayim, Egyptian exile, commenced with the death of Yosef and his brothers. The Torah records Yosef’s passing and immediately adds that a new Pharaoh came into the picture who had no knowledge of Yosef – or the debt of gratitude the country owed him. It would seem that this was the early stirrings of the exile. Surely, during the golden era of Egypt, when Yosef was viceroy in charge of the entire country, exile was the farthest thought from the minds of the people. Chazal do…

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