Bracha – Page 22 – Peninim on the Torah

דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו לי תרומה

Speak to Bnei Yisrael, and they shall take for Me a portion. (25:2)

Shlomo Hamelech says in Sefer Koheles (12:1), U’z’chor es Borecha b’yimei bacharusecha, ad asher lo yavou yimei ha’raah, v’higiu shanim asher tomar ein li bahem cheifetz, “So remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the end days come, and those years arrive of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’” Mar Ukva says (Kesubos 67b), “Bring me my charity records… my provisions are light and the way is long…” He went ahead and lavished half his assets on charity. The Maharasha explains that tzedakah, giving charity (as in v’yikchu li terumah, “Take for Me…

Home -> 5779 -> Terumah

ועשית מנרת זהב טהור מקשה תיעשה המנורה

Sruly Schnair In Terumah, 5779

You shall make a Menorah of pure gold, hammered out shall the Menorah be made. (25:31)

Chazal (Midrash Tanchuma) teach that Moshe Rabbeinu had difficulty visualizing the completed Menorah. Hashem showed him a Menorah of fire. Moshe still had difficulty in making it. Hashem then instructed Moshe to hurl an ingot of gold into the fire – and a completed Menorah emerged. This Midrash is laden with commentary addressing Moshe’s difficulty, in as much as we only find two other places in the Torah in which Moshe experienced difficulty understanding Hashem’s command. Obviously, the idea of a Menorah fashioned of fire has a profound message. I came across an inspiring story concerning Chanukah which I think…

Home -> 5779 -> Yisro

לא תחמד בית רעך... וכל אשר לרעך

Sruly Schnair In Yisro, 5779

Do not covet your friend’s house… and everything that belongs to your friend. (20:14)

The question is obvious. Why delineate various items that belong (so to speak) to your friend (which you covet) and then conclude the pasuk with, V’chol asher l’reiecha, “And everything that belongs to your friend”? The aforementioned items also belong to your friend. Why not simply write: “Do not covet anything that belongs to your friend”? The simple answer to this question is that a person covets because he sees something that his neighbor has, and this drives him into a frenzy. Why not me? I also want that. Envy is the driving force behind chemdah, coveting, what belongs to someone…

Home -> Shemos -> 5779

ותפתח ותראהו את הילד והנה נער בכה ותמחל עליו ותאמר מילדי העברים זה

Sruly Schnair In 5779, Shemos

She opened it and saw him, and behold! A youth was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.” (2:6)

Rashi explains the transformation in the description of the child in the basket from yeled, boy (infant, young child), to naar, youth (implying that he was far from infancy), by asserting that while the child was an infant, his voice was that of a youth. Why did Hashem change the tenor of the infant’s voice to make it seem as if it were emanating from someone much older? The commentators offer a number of explanations, many of which have appeared over the years on these pages. Horav Tzvi Hirsch Ferber, zl, who was Rav in London’s West End over a…

Home -> 5779 -> Vayishlach

ויאבק איש עמו עד עלות השחר

Sruly Schnair In Vayishlach, 5779

And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. (32:25)

Chazal (quoted by Rashi) say that the “man” who wrestled with Yaakov Avinu was no ordinary human; rather, he was the archangel of Eisav, who had been dispatched by Hashem to pave the way for the ultimate salvation of Yaakov and his descendants. We derive a portent for the future from their fight. Just as Yaakov was injured during the course of the struggle, but, nonetheless, he prevailed and went on to even greater achievements; so, too, will our People suffer losses in the future, but will emerge stronger, better, spiritually healthier – in preparation for our ultimate geulah, redemption….

Home -> 5779 -> Chayei Sarah

תנו לי אחזת קבר עמכם ואקברה מתי מלפני

Sruly Schnair In Chayei Sarah, 5779

Grant me burial property with you, so that I may bury my dead from before me. (23:4)

Achuzah (according to Horav S.R. Hirsch, zl) means settlement, the act of becoming domiciled in a given place. When Avraham asked permission to bury his wife, Sarah, he asked that she be able to rest in a place that would be her permanent, everlasting home. Avraham Avinu lived his entire life as a wanderer, refusing to settle in any one place, because this would contradict his mission in life: to reach out wherever possible to touch the lives of many, wherever they may be. He was not going to sit back and wait for people to come to him. He…

Home -> 5779 -> Chayei Sarah

ואברהם זקן בא בימים וד' ברך את אברהם בכל

Sruly Schnair In Chayei Sarah, 5779

Now Avraham was old, well on in years, and Hashem had blessed him with everything. (24:1)

We think of life as measured by years: a long life is one during which one has lived many years; a short life is defined the opposite way. Horav Eliyahu Lopian, zl, derives from the above pasuk that we should measure life by days – complete days. He quotes the Zohar HaKadosh, who teaches that at the beginning of each day, a person’s forthcoming “day” asks him, “What will it be today?” What type of day will you have? Will you stand up to the challenges and tests prepared for you by the yetzer hora, evil inclination? Will your yetzer…

Home -> 5779 -> Chayei Sarah

ואמר אל אדני אלי לא תלך האשה אחרי

Sruly Schnair In Chayei Sarah, 5779

And I said to my master, “Perhaps the woman will not follow me?” (24:39)

Life is not always a bed of roses. Disappointments are part of the Heavenly-designed world in which we live. How one reacts and responds to disappointments is the barometer of his acknowledgement that it is Hashem – not he – who runs the world. Accepting disappointment — and, in fact, growing from it — is the mark of a great person. When Avraham Avinu sent his trusted student/servant, Eliezer, on a mission to find a suitable mate for his son, Yitzchak (Avinu), he set forth one critical criterion which was non-negotiable: Under no circumstances was Yitzchak permitted to live with…

Home -> 5779 -> Vayeira

וישלח אברהם את ידו ויקח את המאכלת לשחט את בנו

Sruly Schnair In Vayeira, 5779

Avraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slaughter his son. (22:10)

A dear friend who became observant late in life, after raising his children to be devoutly secular Jews with little or no Jewish identity, was told by his daughter, “What bothers me most about your commitment to Orthodoxy is that you care more about G-d than you do about me!” A powerful accusation – if one is not Orthodox. One whose life is wholly regulated by the Torah understands that it is all about G-d. He comes first. This does not in any way suggest that frum people do not have feelings for family. If anything, they place a higher…

Home -> 5779 -> Noach

נח איש צדיק

Sruly Schnair In Noach, 5779

Noach was a righteous person. (6:9)

Noach’s reputation as a tzaddik, righteous person, appears solid. He stood alone against a generation that had transformed corruption into a culture, a society that embraced and embodied decadence. One man against a world. This was Noach. He was compelled to live alone because, otherwise, the evil influence would have overpowered him. An individual who possesses such strength of character was worthy of being spared during the great Flood that engulfed the world. Eventually, it was Noach who was charged with rebuilding the world. Despite Noach’s personal distinction, the waters of the Flood are called mei Noach, waters of Noach,…

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Back to Home -> Terumah ->

דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו לי תרומה

Speak to Bnei Yisrael, and they shall take for Me a portion. (25:2)

ועשית מנרת זהב טהור מקשה תיעשה המנורה

You shall make a Menorah of pure gold, hammered out shall the Menorah be made. (25:31)

לא תחמד בית רעך... וכל אשר לרעך

Do not covet your friend’s house… and everything that belongs to your friend. (20:14)

ותפתח ותראהו את הילד והנה נער בכה ותמחל עליו ותאמר מילדי העברים זה

She opened it and saw him, and behold! A youth was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.” (2:6)

ויאבק איש עמו עד עלות השחר

And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. (32:25)

תנו לי אחזת קבר עמכם ואקברה מתי מלפני

Grant me burial property with you, so that I may bury my dead from before me. (23:4)

ואברהם זקן בא בימים וד' ברך את אברהם בכל

Now Avraham was old, well on in years, and Hashem had blessed him with everything. (24:1)

ואמר אל אדני אלי לא תלך האשה אחרי

And I said to my master, “Perhaps the woman will not follow me?” (24:39)

וישלח אברהם את ידו ויקח את המאכלת לשחט את בנו

Avraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slaughter his son. (22:10)

נח איש צדיק

Noach was a righteous person. (6:9)

YEARS

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