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Home -> 5784 -> Emor

ובת איש כהן כי תחל לזנות את אביה היא מחללת

Sruly Schnair
In Emor, 5784

If the daughter of a Kohen will be desecrated through adultery, she desecrates her father. (21:9)

The Torah explains what a tragedy truly is. A young woman, married or betrothed, commits an act of adultery. The actual act is an egregious sin in its own right, but her pedigree magnifies the sin. This woman’s father is a Kohen, member of the Priestly family. Thus, not only does she disgrace herself, but she also humiliates and defames her father. As a result, her punishment is more harsh than if she had been the daughter of a Yisrael. The word seichel is translated as desecrated, a derivative of challal or chillul. Seichal, posits Horav Shlomo Kluger, zl, can…

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Home -> 5784 -> Emor

ועל כל נפשת מת לא יבא לאביו ולאמו לא יטמא

Sruly Schnair
In Emor, 5784

He shall not come near any dead person; he shall not contaminate himself to his father or his mother. (21:11)

Rashi infers from the pasuk (which on the surface appears superfluous) that, while the Kohen Gadol may not contaminate himself even to a family member, he may contaminate himself to a meis mitzvah, deceased who has no one to bury him. To better understand this, we will explain what it means to be alone at the time of death. By nature, the human being seeks connection and companionship. Human beings are social creatures. As such, during moments of vulnerability, the need for companionship intensifies. Having said this, we turn to the laws concerning the meis mitzvah, man who dies alone,…

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Home -> 5784 -> Emor

ולקחתם לכם ... פרי עץ הדר כפת תמרים וענף עץ עבת וערבי נחל

Sruly Schnair
In Emor, 5784

You shall take for yourselves … an esrog (the fruit of a citron tree), a lulav (the branches of date palms), hadas (twigs of a plaited tree/myrtle), and aravos (brook willows). (23:40)

Chazal (Succah 37b) state that one is to take the lulav (held) in his right hand, while he takes the esrog in the left. The reason for this is that the lulav includes three mitzvos: lulav, hadas, aravah; the esrog is singular. This does not seem consistent with the Midrash’s (Vayikra Rabbah 30:12) characterization of the symbolic representation of each of the arba minim, four species. The four species allude to four types of Jews. The esrog, pri eitz hadar, the beautiful fruit of a tree, has taam and reiach, taste as well as fragrance. It parallels the talmid chacham,…

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Home -> 5784 -> Kedoshim

דבר אל כל עדת בני ישראל ואמרת אליהם קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5784

Speak to the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael, and say to them: “You shall be holy, for holy am I.” (19:2)

Sefer Vayikra is called Toras Kohanim, the Laws of Kohanim. Veritably, only the first few parshiyos of Sefer Vayikra address the Priestly service and obligations. Why, then, is the entire book under the rubric of Toras Kohanim? The question is especially germane with regard to Parashas Kedoshim which addresses the normal gamut of mitzvos that applies to all Jews, who, through the observance of these mitzvos, sanctify and maintain the kedushah of the entire nation. Horav Simcha Wasserman, zl, explains that, just as the Kohanim are to be the spiritual exemplars of the Jewish nation, so, too, should the Jewish…

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Home -> 5784 -> Kedoshim

קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5784

You shall be holy, for holy am I. (19:2)

Holiness for the Jew is a Divine mandate, whose meaning is debated by the Rishonim (Ramban, Rashi). Rashi posits that kedoshim tiheyu means perushim tiheyu, distance yourself from the illicit relationships detailed in the previous parshah. Ramban contends that is an exhortation to approach all aspects of life through moderation. Despite the fact that a particular behavior is permitted, surrendering to self-indulgence, gluttony and licentiousness undermines the goals of kedushah. Having said this, we turn towards what appears to be an enigmatic statement by Chazal (Vayikra Rabbah 24), “‘Be holy’ – I might think that this means Kamoni – like…

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Home -> 5784 -> Kedoshim

איש אמו ואביו תיראו

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5784

Every man: your father and mother shall you revere. (19:3)

One fears his father more than his mother. Rashi explains that this is why the Torah places mother first. A child naturally fears his father more than his mother. He is instructed that Torah does not “play” by the rules of nature. Both parents are the same. Likewise, concerning the mitzvah of honoring a parent, the Torah mentions the father before mother, because a child is predisposed to honoring his mother. Thus, the Torah teaches that both parents are on the same level. The Jew does not act because he is so inclined. He acts in accordance with Hashem’s dictates….

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Home -> 5784 -> Kedoshim

ובקצרכם את קציר ארצכם לא תכלה פאת שדך לקצר

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5784

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not complete your reaping to the corner of your field. (19:9)

Before one may consider his crops to be his own, he must first discharge his obligations to others. Horav S. R. Hirsch, zl, observes that, even at the closing moment of an entire growing season – after he has put in his time and effort, cultivated, planted, seeing to it that his crops have grown well and are ready for reaping – the produce still does not belong to him until he leaves peah, the corner of his field to the poor. They, too, must eat. This is how they sustain themselves. The obvious question is: Why not give them…

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Home -> 5784 -> Acharei Mos

ולקח מלא המחתה גחלי אש מעל המזבח... ומלא חפניו קטרת סמים דקה... ונתן את הקטרת על האש לפני ה'

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5784

He shall take a shovelful of fiery coals from atop the Altar and his cupped handful of finely ground incense spices… He shall place the incense upon the fire before Hashem. (16:12,13)

The incense service performed on Yom Kippur was unique in that it could only be performed by the Kohen Gadol, who performed this service only once a year in the Kodesh HaKodoshim, Holy of Holies. The Kohen Gadol would scoop a shovelful of burning coals from the outer Altar, then fill his hands with the incense, which he then placed into a ladle. With the shovel in his right hand and the ladle in his left hand, the Kohen Gadol would proceed into the Holy of Holies where he would pour the incense onto the fire, after which the smoke…

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Home -> 5784 -> Acharei Mos

ופשט את בגדי הבד אשר לבש בבאו אל הקדש והניחם שם

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5784

He shall remove the linen vestments that he had worn when he entered the Sanctuary, and he shall leave them there. (16:23)

After the Kohen Gadol completed the Yom Kippur service, he removed the white linen vestments that he had worn upon entering the Holy of Holies. We wonder why he should discard such expensive garments. Why can he not wear them the following year? Horav Zalman Sorotzkin, zl, explains that the white linen vestments leave a powerful impact upon the Kohen Gadol. He realizes that the white linen is essentially the same material used to sew shrouds. The priestly vestments accompany him into the Holy of Holies, while the shrouds are the garments he wears when he meets his Maker. He…

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Home -> 5784 -> Acharei Mos

כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5784

For on this day, he shall provide atonement for you. (16:30)

The Yom Kippur service revolves around the Kohen Gadol, in the sense that he has the leading role in performing the service, the culmination of which is his entrance into the Kodesh HaKodoshim, Holy of Holies. The Kohen Gadol had been accorded extraordinary honor when he left his home one week prior to Yom Kippur, enroute to the Bais HaMikdash. Tens of thousands of Kohanim and Leviim, along with the rest of Klal Yisrael, accompanied him on this “journey.” This display of kavod haTorah, honor accorded to a person who represents Torah, was unusual. What did the Kohen Gadol do…

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