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Home -> 5780 -> Shemini

זאת החיה אשר תאכלו

Sruly Schnair
In Shemini, 5780

These are the life forms that you may eat. (11:2)

Rashi explains that the word chayah, life, is related to the word chaim, life. Because Klal Yisrael are davuk, cleave, to Hashem, they are fit to be alive. He separated them from impurity and decreed commandments upon them in order to maintain their purity of soul, thus continuing their relationship with Hashem, which, consequently, grants them life. To put it simply: Our adherence to the laws of kashrus grants us “life” status. Our people have kept the laws of kashrus for thousands of years, ever since Hashem gave us the Torah. Hashem entered into a covenant with the Jewish People…

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Home -> 5780 -> Shemini

אל תשקצו את נפשתיכם בכל השרץ השרץ ולא תטמאו בהם ונטמתם בם

Sruly Schnair
In Shemini, 5780

Do not make your souls abominable by means of any teeming thing; do not contaminate yourselves through them lest you become contaminated through them. (11:43)

Thorough the vehicle of a number of mitzvos, the Torah exhorts us to distance ourselves from prohibited foods. The prohibitions come in various forms: Some foods have once been kosher/appropriate for eating until they contracted a form of tumah, ritual contamination, rendering them spiritually unsuitable for Jewish consumption. Neveilah is a dead carcass, which has not been ritually slaughtered, rendering it unkosher, so that it is tamei, unclean. Sheratzim, creeping creatures, in various sizes and physical build, may not be eaten. Bugs and insects, both land and water based, are restricted from Jewish consumption. They are all included under the…

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Home -> 5780 -> Tzav

צו את אהרן ואת בניו לאמר זאת תורת העולה

Sruly Schnair
In Tzav, 5780

Command Aharon and his sons, saying: “This is the law of the Elevation /Burnt offering.” (6:2)

When a commandment regarding the korbanos, offerings, was presented to the nation/Kohanim/Priests, it was introduced with the word v’amarta, “and you shall say,” or dabeir, “speak.” This is the first time that the emphatic term tzav, command, is employed. Chazal teach, that in circumstances which involve a loss of money greater urgency is required, so that the Kohanim act zealously in the performance of their duties and that they transmit this urgency and need for zealousness to the ensuing generations. (The commentators render a number of explanations which shed light on the monetary loss associated with the Korban Olah, Burnt-Offering….

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Home -> 5780 -> Tzav

צו את אהרן ואת בניו לאמר זאת תורת העולה

Sruly Schnair
In Tzav, 5780

Command Aharon and his sons, saying: This is the law of the Elevation/Burnt offering. (6:2)

Previously,commandment/instructions concerning the korbanos, offerings, were introduced with the less-emphatic term, emor, “say,” or dabeir, “speak.” The word, tzav, command, implies that the Kohanim are being urged to be especially ardent in performing the service of the Korban Olah with alacrity. Chazal teach that this exhortation (tzav) must be repeated constantly to future generations. Furthermore, this introduction is especially relevant whenever a monetary loss (such as the Korban Olah in which the Kohanim receive nothing of the korban, since all of the meat is burned) is involved. If money (or the loss thereof) plays such a significant role in the…

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Home -> 5780 -> Tzav

וישחט ויקח משה מדמו ויתן על תנוך אזן אהרן הימנית

Sruly Schnair
In Tzav, 5780

And (Moshe) he slaughtered (the ram), and Moshe took from the blood and put it on Aharon’s ear. (8:23)

Moshe Rabbeinu was concluding his brief tenure as Kohen Gadol. Soon, his older brother, Aharon HaKohen, would be invested in the Kehunah Gedulah, High Priesthood, with his descendants following him as Kohanim. Moshe slaughtered the ayil ha’miluim, inauguration ram. It was a Korban Shelamim, Peace-Offering, with this service serving as the conclusion of the process by which the Kohanim were consecrated for their new role in Jewish life. In this pasuk, the word vayishchat, “and he slaughtered,” has the trop, cantillation mark, shalsheles, a sign which rarely appears in the Torah and which gives great emphasis to the word upon…

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Home -> Vayikra -> 5780

אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Vayikra

When a man among you brings an offering. (1:2)

Unlike pagan offerings and the “dogma” surrounding that form of worship, korbanos which are mandated by Hashem are not meant to influence the Almighty.  Pagan sacrifice was meant to appease their pantheon of gods and other imaginary idol figures.  Humans were taught to believe that by offering various forms of sacrifices to the gods, they would succeed in dissipating his anger.  How fortunate are we that we have been blessed with minds that comprehend that such an idea is ludicrous. When we distance ourselves from Hashem through sin, we must seek an avenue of return, a medium for narrowing the…

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Home -> Vayikra -> 5780

אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Vayikra

When a man among you brings an offering. (1:2)

The word korban is derived from karov, close/near.  A korban brings us closer to Hashem.  The Navi Hoshea (6:6) states, “For I (Hashem) wanted chesed, acts of lovingkindness, and not a korban.”  Chesed is being presented as being on par with korbanos, but also as being better than korbanos.  Chesed brings about atonement, but chesed has an advantage that exceeds the korban effect.  Maharal (Nesivos Olam/Nesiv Gemilus Chassadim) explains that chesed elevates a person, granting him a higher level of spirituality, while a korban does not.  As Horav Tzvi Kushelevsky, Shlita, puts it: “Chesed elevates a person above his natural…

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Home -> Vayikra -> 5780

והיה כי יחטא ואשם והשיב את הגזילה אשר גזל

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Vayikra

So it shall be when he will sin and become guilty, he shall return the robbed item that he robbed. (5:23)

The thief brings his guilt-offering only after he has appeased the victim by returning the stolen goods.  Hashem’s forgiveness follows after the thief has made his peace with his victim.  Everyone wants to be observant, repent and return to good, spiritual standing.  Hashem is not interested in pardoning one who has no respect for the feelings of his fellow Jew.  Furthermore, one who steals indicates that he has no faith in Hashem’s ability to provide for his needs.  By his very actions, such a person demonstrates that he is more concerned with his own needs than with the feelings of…

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Home -> Vayikra -> 5780

ואם נפש אחת תחטא בשגגה מעם הארץ

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Vayikra

If an individual person from among the people of the land shall sin unintentionally. (4:27)

The sin-offering of a yachid, individual, which is brought for an inadvertent sin (for a mitzvah whose intentional prohibition carries the punishment of Heavenly excision, kares), is always a beast (female goat or sheep) and does not vary up and down (oleh v’yoreid) according to the wealth or poverty of the one who sinned.  The Sefer HaChinuch explains the shoresh ha’mitzvah, root of the commandment, as in all korbanos, to abase and bring the sinner to humility over the sin which he committed.  As Shlomo HaMelech says in Mishlei (16:18), “Pride precedes destruction, and arrogance comes before failure.”  Humility is…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5780

ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קדש שבת שבתון לד'

Sruly Schnair
In 5780, Vayakhel, Pekudei

On six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem. (35:2)

Shabbos occurs on the seventh day of the week. Why does the Torah assert that working during the six days of the week that precede Shabbos is appropriate? The Torah is addressing the prohibition of laboring on Shabbos. What do the six workdays have to do with Shabbos? The Chafetz Chaim, zl, asked this question when he addressed the chillul, desecration, of Shabbos manifest by a certain gvir, wealthy man, in one of the communities he visited when he was selling his sefarim. The Chafetz Chaim met privately with the man in the hope that he could present a passionate…

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