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Home -> 5777 -> Vayeira

ויאמר מהרי שלש סאים קמח סלת לושי ועשי עוגות

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vayeira, 5777

And he said, “Hurry! Three se’ahs of meal, fine flour! (18:6)

Kemach is meal; solas is fine flour. They are not the same. The Talmud Bava Metziah 87a wonders how we reconcile these contrasting “flours” in the same cakes. They explain that Avraham Avinu asked for fine flour. Sarah Imeinu responded with inferior flour. Chazal conclude from here, that we may derive that a woman is stingier than a man toward guests. Anyone who studies Torah understands that this dialogue between Avraham and Sarah contains more than meets the eye. Especially noteworthy is the fact that Hashem had earlier instructed Avraham to listen to Sarah, because she was greater than him…

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Home -> Vayeilech -> 5777

ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Vayeilech

So now, write this song for yourselves. (31:19)

Chazal derive from the above pasuk that each Jew is commanded to write a Sefer Torah – or, at least, participate in the writing of a communal Sefer Torah. As this is the last of the 613 mitzvos, we glean from here that the entire Torah must be recorded for the purpose of knowing and understanding its mitzvos. Without learning, there can be no knowledge; and, without knowledge, there can be no observance; and, without personal observance, we have nothing to transmit to the next generation. Why is the mitzvah to write a Sefer Torah enjoined to the individual as…

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Home -> 5777 -> Vaeira

הן בני ישראל לא שמעו אלי

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vaeira, 5777

Behold! Bnei Yisrael have not listened to me. (6:12)

Moshe Rabbeinu raised the issue of his inability to speak well. Furthermore, he thought that the people had lost confidence in him, because his earlier intercession with Pharaoh had catalyzed greater work for them. Nonetheless, despite Klal Yisrael’s probable unenthusiastic response to him, Hashem still sent Moshe to them. Why?  If they would not listen, perhaps it would be best that he not come. We must remember that consecrated words do not simply go into oblivion. When someone of the calibre of Moshe speaks, his words are not wasted – ever. If they do not penetrate the ears of the…

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Home -> 5777 -> Vaeira

ולא שמעו אל משה מקוצר רוח ומעבודה קשה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Vaeira, 5777

But they did not heed Moshe, because of shortness of breath and hard work. (6:9)

Imagine that a person is afflicted, persecuted, the victim of a vicious and cruel despot who has enslaved him for years. One would think that if someone would come along and tell him that it will soon be over– he will be able to leave — he would jump for joy and begin counting the minutes until the cuffs would be off and he could finally say good-bye to his life of misery. Yet, we see here that, when Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon HaKohen told Klal Yisrael that it was finally all over, they paid no attention to them. They…

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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

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 -> 5777 -> Mishpatim

אם במחתרת ימצא הגנב והכה ומת אין לו דמים. אם זרחה השמש עליו דמים לו שלם ישלם. אם אין לו ונמכר בגניבתו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Mishpatim, 5777

If the thief will be found in an underground passage, and he is struck and dies, there is no blood for him. If the sun shone upon him, he has blood, he shall pay; if he has nothing, he shall be sold for his theft. (22:1,2)

It seems quite simple. A person breaks into a house at night, indicating by his covert approach that he does not want to be discovered. Thus, his life has no value, because he would murder in order to protect his identity. On the other hand, the thief that steals by light of day presents less of a danger to the owner of the house. Therefore, when he is caught, he pays. If he is unable to pay, he is sold into slavery. The halachah that an indigent thief is sold into slavery is not exclusive to ba b’machteres, one who…

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Home -> Mikeitz -> 5777

וירא יעקב כי יש שבר במצרים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Mikeitz

Yaakov perceived that there were provisions in Egypt. (42:1)

When the Baal HaTanya, zl, was taken to prison in St. Petersburg, he asked one of his Chassidim to take a kvittel, written petition asking for a blessing, to his mechutan (father of child’s spouse) and close friend, Horav Levi Yitzchak Berdichever, zl. The Berditchever asked the messenger for Rav Shneur Zalman’s mother’s name. The chasid did not know. Rav Levi Yitzchak took out a Chumash and made a goral, lot, a means of turning pages in such a manner that the last page will have a pasuk which reveals the answer to one’s question. Obviously, only a Torah scholar…

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Home -> Ha'azinu -> 5777

שימו לבבכם לכל הדברים אשר אנכי מעיד בכם היום

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Ha'azinu

Apply your hearts to all the words that I testify against you today. (32:46)

Are Klal Yisrael to apply themselves solely to that which Moshe Rabbeinu commanded them that day? What about all of the other days? Are they to be disregarded? Horav Nachman, zl, m’Breslov teaches that one’s avodas haKodesh, service to the Almighty, should focus on hayom, today. Yesterday is gone, over, finished. Tomorrow is the future. Who knows if there will even be a tomorrow? Our concern is for today. Rav Yitzchak makes the following statement (in the Talmud Kiddushin 30b): B’chol yom – “A person’s yetzer hora, evil inclination, renews itself against him (every Jew) every day.” Rabbi Shimon ben…

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Home -> Ha'azinu -> 5777

לו חכמו ישכילו זאת יבינו לאחריתם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Ha'azinu

Were they wise they would comprehend this, they would discern it from their end. (32:29)

There are some things that we only seem to comprehend at the end, after we have had the bad experience, and everything good that we believed would occur does not materialize. Only then do we realize our foolishness for not listening to the voice of reason, to those who discourage us from making a bad choice. The worst part is that, even after we have supposedly learned our lesson, it does not serve as a deterrent from performing the same foolish acts over again. The Kaf HaChaim, zl, offers a powerful analogy to explain the pasuk. A man was married…

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