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Home -> Devarim -> 5782

הבו לכם אנשים חכמים ונבונים וידעים לשבטיכם ואשימם בראשיכם

Sruly Schnair
In 5782, Devarim

Provide for yourselves distinguished men, who are wise, understanding and well-known to your tribes, and I shall appoint them as your heads. (1:13)

Rashi notes that the word v’asimeim; and I shall appoint, is spelled missing a yud; thus, it reads v’ashmam, their guilt.  This teaches that the moral and ethical failings of the people are the fault of their judges, who should have reproved them when they sinned.  If the “class” is unruly due to a lack of discipline, the first address for blame is the teacher.  First and foremost, a leader must realize that he is not a private person.  He is held responsible not only for his sins, but also for the sins of the people that he leads.  While…

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Home -> 5782 -> Va'eschanan

ואתחנן אל ד'

Sruly Schnair
In Va'eschanan, 5782

I implored Hashem. (3:23)

Moshe Rabbeinu prayed – and prayed.  He pleaded with Hashem five hundred and fifteen times to grant him access to enter Eretz Yisrael.  It is not that Hashem did not listen.  Hashem hears every prayer.  Every tefillah pierces the Heavens. The answer is not always “Yes.”  When we receive “No,” as an answer we think that Hashem did not hear the tefillah.  He heard it, but His response is not what we want to hear.  Hashem stores up the tefillos that, for one reason or another, carry a “no” response, and He transforms them into a “yes” for someone else. …

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Home -> 5782 -> Va'eschanan

ועתה ישראל שמע אל החקים ואל המשפטים אשר אנכי מלמד אתכם

Sruly Schnair
In Va'eschanan, 5782

Now, O’ Yisrael, listen to the decrees and to the ordinances that I teach you. (4:1)

Chukim are mitzvos which defy human rationale.  Mishpatim are mitzvos whose reason, although not stated, are common-sensical and relatable.  The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh offers a novel interpretation of Moshe Rabbeinu’s appeal to the Jewish People.  When Moshe mentioned chukim and mishpatim, he was not referring to any one mitzvah of the 613 commandments; rather, he was referring to two events which, on the surface, are unrelated to one another, although he demonstrates that they are actually very much connected. One event was Moshe’s decision to strike — rather than speak to — the rock.  Moshe intended to carry out Hashem’s…

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Home -> 5782 -> Va'eschanan

וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך כי ד' הוא האלקים ... אין עוד

Sruly Schnair
In Va'eschanan, 5782

You shall know this day and take to your heart that Hashem He is our G-d … there is none other. (4:39)

We know (and understand) so many things intellectually, but do not take them to heart to the point that they guide and control our demeanor.  The above pasuk exhorts us to believe in Hashem, to have emunah, faith, in the Almighty.  Faith means trust. Trust means that one does not question, which, by its very nature, implies his lack of trust.  The pasuk implies that our faith in Hashem must be such that we know that He is our G-d.  This does not seem consistent with the term emunah, belief/faith, which is a prelude to knowledge.  One who knows does…

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Home -> 5782 -> Va'eschanan

שמע ישראל ד' אלקינו ד' אחד

Sruly Schnair
In Va'eschanan, 5782

Hear O’ Yisrael, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One. (6:4)

When the Romans led Rabbi Akiva to his execution (for teaching Torah), it was his time to recite Krias Shema.  They subjected him to inhumane torture by scraping off his skin with metal combs.  Meanwhile, he was engaged in Kabbolas Ol Malchus Shomayim, accepting upon himself the yoke of the Heavenly Kingdom.  His students watched in horror as their revered, saintly Rebbe calmly focused on the spiritual sphere, while ignoring his physical pain.  His students asked, “Must one go so far?”  (Is it necessary to suffer so much in showing one’s devotion to Hashem? How far should mesiras nefesh, self-sacrifice…

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Home -> Matos -> 5782

איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם

Sruly Schnair
In 5782, Matos

How can I alone carry your contentiousness, your burdens, and your quarrels? (1:12)

Moshe Rabbeinu laments the nation’s behavior.  In describing his leadership, he uses the word, essa, carry. This teaches that a leader leads by carrying his flock on his shoulders.  They are not a separate entity removed from him, following him wherever he leads them.  The leader carries them upon his shoulders.  They go where he goes, because he is taking them.  Sometimes, the “weight” becomes too heavy.  Carrying one on his shoulder is a metaphor for accepting responsibility.  A leader does not dole out the blame for something gone wrong on others.  The leader steps up to the plate and…

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Home -> Matos -> 5782

איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם

Sruly Schnair
In 5782, Matos

How can I carry alone your contentiousness, your burdens, and your quarrels? (1:12)

Rashi derives from the word masaachem, your burdens, that the people were apikorsim, heretics.  They were skeptics who did not believe in their leaders.  Thus, they questioned the motives of everything that Moshe Rabbeinu did.  If he left his home early, they asserted that there was trouble at home.  If he left late, they claimed that he was busy seeking ways to take advantage or hurt them.  They were bogged down with suspicion.  Nothing was good enough for them.  They had jaundiced misgivings and perspective about everyone who helped them.  This is a masa, burden.  Apparently, Rashi feels that an…

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Home -> Matos -> 5782

הבו לכם אנשים חכמים ונבונים וידעים לשבטיכם ואשימם בראשיכם

Sruly Schnair
In 5782, Matos

Provide for yourselves distinguished men, who are wise, understanding and well-known to your tribes, and I shall appoint them as your heads. (1:13)

Rashi notes that the word v’asimeim; and I shall appoint, is spelled missing a yud; thus, it reads v’ashmam, their guilt.  This teaches that the moral and ethical failings of the people are the fault of their judges, who should have reproved them when they sinned.  If the “class” is unruly due to a lack of discipline, the first address for blame is the teacher.  First and foremost, a leader must realize that he is not a private person.  He is held responsible not only for his sins, but also for the sins of the people that he leads.  While…

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Home -> Matos -> 5782

נקם נקמת בני ישראל מאת המדינים

Sruly Schnair
In 5782, Matos

Take vengeance for Bnei Yisrael against the Midyanim. (31:2)

The Torah is commanding Klal Yisrael to initiate a campaign of vengeance against the Midyanim, in order to put a stop to their pernicious influence on the Jewish people. Noticeably, the Torah uses strong language in issuing this command: Take vengeance. The Midyanim sent their young women to pervert the Jewish men. This action provoked a zealous and violent response by Pinchas. Klal Yisrael, as a nation, had never previously retaliated when subjected to physical aggression. We fought back, but never acted in vengeance. We acted passively, withdrawing from the fray. We neither seek — nor approve of — violent…

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Home -> Matos -> 5782

נקם נקמת בני ישראל מאת המדינים ... וישלח אתם משה אלף למטה

Sruly Schnair
In 5782, Matos

Take vengeance for Bnei Yisrael against the Midyanim… Moshe sent them a thousand from each tribe. (31:2,6)

Moshe Rabbeinu was the paradigm of a baal ha’koras ha’tov, one who acknowledges his debt of gratitude and repays it at his earliest convenience.  This is the definition that applies to everyone.  Moshe is not everyone.  He lived by a bar whose standards were much higher.  When Hashem instructed Moshe to initiate the ten plagues that debilitated Egyptian life, he respectfully bowed out from being the vehicle to strike both the water (Nile River, to transform it into blood and to bring up the frogs) and the ground (to bring about the plague of lice).  For both he had a…

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