Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

  • Reset
Category

Back to Home -> Beha'alosecha ->


Home -> 5786 -> Beha'alosecha

ויהי אנשים אשר היו טמאים לנפש אדם ...למה נגרע לבלתי הקריב את אדם קרבן ד' במועדו

Sruly Schnair
In Beha'alosecha, 5786

These were men who were contaminated by a human corpse…Why should we be diminished by not offering Hashem’s offering in its appointed time?” (9:6,7)

Some men were ritually impure due to contact with a human corpse, and they could not sacrifice the Pesach-offering on that day … These men said, “We are ritually impure through contact with a human corpse.  Why should we be diminished, so as not to bring the offering of Hashem on its appointed time?”  (9:6) One must be ritually pure in order to offer the Korban Pesach (or any Korban for that matter).  These men were tamei meis, ritually impure, due to their contact with a human corpse.  Confronted with the circumstance, they came to Moshe Rabbeinu and offered their…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5786 -> Beha'alosecha

והאיש משה ענו מאד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה

Sruly Schnair
In Beha'alosecha, 5786

Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth. (12:3)

The Torah describes Moshe Rabbeinu as the humblest of all men.  This does not mean that he was unaware of his unparalleled greatness, his extraordinary achievements, or his role as Klal Yisrael’s quintessential rebbe and leader.  On the contrary, Moshe understood exactly who he was.  Yet, his humility lay in how he perceived the source of his greatness.  He felt that he had been granted opportunities that no one else had received.  Had others stood at Har Sinai, had they learned Torah directly from Hashem, they, too, could have risen to his level of leadership. Chazal teach that the Torah…

Continue Reading

Home -> Bamidbar -> 5786

וידבר ד' אל משה במדבר סיני

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Bamidbar

Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai. (1:1)

The Torah is Hashem’s greatest gift to Klal Yisrael.  It is more than our guide for living – it is our life.  One would think that the giving of the Torah, which was a seminal experience like none other, would have occurred in a thriving metropolis, a cultured capital – not in a desolate wilderness.  Everything that Hashem does and how He does it is to teach us lessons for life and living.  Obviously, the giving of the Torah in the desert is no different.  Chazal teach that it was, indeed, deliberate.  Each commentator explores his own approach.  Perhaps we…

Continue Reading

Home -> Bamidbar -> 5786

ואלה תולדות אהרן ומשה ... ואלה שמות בני אהרן

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Bamidbar

These are the offspring of Aharon and Moshe … These are the names of Aharon’s sons. (3:1,2)

The pasuk commences by stating that the following are the offspring of Aharon and Moshe, but goes on to list only Aharon’s sons.  What happened to Moshe’s sons? Is Moshe considered a “father” to Aharon’s sons?  Chazal (Sanhedrin 19B) infer from here that, Kol ha’melameid es ben chaveiro Torah maaleh alav ha’kasuv k’ilu yoldo, “Whoever teaches Torah to his friend’s child, the Torah regards it as if he had begotten him.”  Thus, Moshe Rabbeinu became Aharon’s sons’ spiritual progenitor, because he taught them Torah. This statement is not poetic embellishment.  Chazal do not exaggerate.  As such, the commentators offer their…

Continue Reading

Home -> Bechukosai -> 5786

אם בחוקתי תלכו ... ואם לא תשמעו לי

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Bechukosai

If you will follow My decrees … But if you will not listen to Me. (26: 3,14)

While Bechukosai is one of the two parshios of the Torah identified with the Tochechah, Rebuke (Ki Savo), it actually begins with the idyllic blessings conferred upon he who follows Hashem’s decrees.  The Torah focuses on the Jew who listens, who follows, who acts positively. Sometimes, however, one will veer off the prescribed trajectory.  He will, unfortunately, require discipline to help him return and tow the line as everyone else does.  The interpretation of teileichu, follow, gives the commentators much food for thought.  Rashi interprets the phrase, She’tiheyu ameilim baTorah, to mean by engaging in intense Torah study, with the…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5786 -> Acharei Mos

ושמרתם את חקתי ואת משפטי אשר יעשה אתם האדם וחי בהם

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5786

You shall observe My decrees and My laws, which man shall carry out and by which man shall live. (18:5)

The mitzvos were given for the sake of life – not death.  Thus, if fulfilling a mitzvah entails danger to one’s life, such as pikuach nefesh— life-threatening issues which must be carried out on Shabbos – we act accordingly to prolong the individual’s life.  Chiddushei HaRim has a notable homiletic twist on the exhortation of V’chai ba’hem, as reference to our attitude toward mitzvah observance (and life in general). We are commanded to perform mitzvos with zest, vigor and enthusiasm, as if they are our source of life.  Perhaps, we can extrapolate and say that the area of life which…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5786 -> Metzora

זאת תהיה תורת המצורע

Sruly Schnair
In Metzora, 5786

This shall be the law of the metzora. (14: )

Since Parshios Tazria/Metzora address physical manifestations of spiritual maladies, it was suggested that it would be an opportune time to address both the Torah’s and Chazal’s exhortations concerning taking care of one’s health.  The immediate reaction will probably be, “What do health issues have to do with a commentary on the parshah?”  This is probably a good question.   Due to the importance of reminding everyone that we were placed on the world to serve Hashem, and sick people find it challenging to properly serve Him. It would be prudent for an individual to address his known and even unknown health…

Continue Reading

Home -> Vayakhel -> 5786

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

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Vayakhel

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)

Noticeably, Hashem first issued the command to build the Mishkan in Parshios Terumah and Tetzaveh. In Parashas Ki Sissa, He reiterated the laws of Shabbos.  Moshe Rabbeinu, on the other hand, begins Parshas Vayakhel with the laws of Shabbos. Afterwards, he gives a recounting of the construction of the Mishkan.  Why did Moshe alter from Hashem’s derech, way?  Gur Aryeh explains that Moshe did not relate all the laws of the Mishkan at one time, but rather, over a few days.  He feared that, if he did not complete delivering the laws before Shabbos, they – not knowing that the…

Continue Reading

Home -> Pekudei -> 5786

These are the reckonings of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of Testimony. (38:21)

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Pekudei

אלה פקודי המשכן, משכן העדת

Rashi notes the redundancy of the word Mishkan.  He explains that the two words allude to the Mishkanos, which were taken from us.  In a play on words, the letters of mishkan can also be read as mashkon, collateral.  Chazal intimate that the two Batei Mikdash are collateral for the sins committed by the nation, and Hashem took them from us until that time that we repent and deserve its return.  The obvious question is: It was the Bais HaMikdash that was destroyed, not the Mishkan.  It is related that Horav A. Mishkovsky, zl, explained that, in the Bais HaMikdash,…

Continue Reading

Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5786

ומשרתו יהושע בן נון, נער, לא ימיש מתוך האהל

Sruly Schnair
In 5786, Ki Sisa

His servant, Yehoshua Bin Nun, a lad, would not depart from within the tent. (33:11)

Yehoshua gave everything up in order to be in the tent of Torah.  As a result, he earned the position as Moshe Rabbeinu’s primary disciple and eventual successor. Many believe that leadership is simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time.  In Torah, however, leadership goes far deeper.  Torah leaders are those who have proven themselves worthy of such responsibility – a position that can only be earned through dedication to, and toil in, Torah.  It is cultivated in the bais hamedrash, through long hours of study, presence, and commitment, not by worldly acumen or…

Continue Reading

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

You have Successfully Subscribed!