Bracha – Page 50 – Peninim on the Torah

And Eisav was forty years old and he took a wife…and they were a source of bitterness for Yitzchak and Rivkah. (26:35)

Rivkah Imeinu is compared to a rose among thorns. She remained righteous despite the thorn of evil which surrounded her: her father, her brother; indeed, her entire environment was replete with evil. She rose above her environment, above the negative influences that permeated her background. Chazal describe her exemplary virtue. When Yitzchak married Rivkah and brought her home to his mother’s tent, the three blessings which had been present during Sarah’s lifetime returned: a lamp burning from one Shabbos eve to the next; her dough was blessed; a cloud signifying the Divine Presence hung over her tent. All of these…

Home -> 5759 -> Toldos

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Toldos, 5759

Yitzchak loved Eisav for game was in his mouth. (25:28)

Eisav used guile to fool Yitzchak. He was “tzayid b’fiv“, a hunter with his mouth. He ensnared his father with halachic questions. He portrayed himself as a devout scholar, concerned about the intricacies of giving Maaser, tithing crops. “How does one tithe salt? How does one tithe straw?” he asked Yitzchak, knowing fully well that Maaser does not apply to these two substances. Chazal interpret the words “tzayid b’fiv“, to be descriptions of Eisav’s cunning. He used his mouth for subterfuge. Should one assume that Yitzchak yearned for Eisav’s “hunt”? Surely, he had sufficient sheep and cattle that he did…

Home -> 5759 -> Lech Lecha

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5759

And He (Hashem) said: “Gaze, now, towards the Heavens, and count the stars if you are able to count them!” And He said to him, “So shall your offspring be!” (15:5)

In order to understand the foregoing simile, we must assume that the reference is to Avraham’s descendants throughout the millennia. Otherwise, how are we to understand the inability to count the Jewish People? Are we that great in number that we cannot be counted? On the other hand, we find in the beginning of Sefer Devarim (1:10) that the Torah states: “Behold, you are like the stars of heaven in abundance.” Rashi attributes this comparison to the eternal nature of the heavenly bodies. As they last forever, so, too, will the Jewish People be blessed with permanence. Horav Shimon Schwab,…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5759

Go for yourself from your land. (12:1)

Hashem is telling Avraham to leave for his own benefit. As long as he remained in Charan, he would not merit the privilege of begetting children or the opportunity of successfully reaching out to a pagan society. Interestingly, Chazal consider Avraham Avinu’s move to be one of the asarah nisyonos, ten trials, to which he was subjected. This seems questionable. Imagine that someone who is r”l childless is told that, by traveling out of the country, he will meet a famous doctor who has successfully treated people who previously had not been blessed with children. Would anyone consider this a…

Home -> 5759 -> Chayei Sarah

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chayei Sarah, 5759

And Avraham was old, well on in years…and Avraham said to his servant…that you not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaani. (24:1,3)

Nowhere in the Torah is so much space devoted to one incident, as it is to Avraham’s initial command to Eliezer, his servant, followed by the eventual securing of a wife for Yitzchak. Indeed, the Ten Commandments occupy only fourteen pesukim, while the story of Yitzchak and Rivkah take up sixty seven pesukim! We infer from here the overwhelming significance of Jewish continuity. Avraham’s mission in life, together with that of Sarah Imeinu, would die with them if there were to be no one faithful to carry on their legacy. Without a secure family, devoted and committed to the faith…

Home -> 5773 -> Vayishlach

ויאמר שלחני כי עלה השחר ויאמר לא אשלחך כי אם ברכתני

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayishlach, 5773

Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn has broken.” And he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” (32:27)

What was the purpose of the debate/fight that took place between Yaakov Avinu and Eisav’s guardian angel? Perhaps the answer lies at the end of the narrative when Yaakov refused to allow the angel to leave unless he would first bless him. The commentators explain this blessing as a demand from Yaakov that the angel concede to him that he had received Yitzchak Avinu’s blessings by right. Once and for all, Eisav’s complaint that Yaakov stole the blessings must be quieted. While it may be a nice gesture, what was to be gained by the angel’s blessing? Was this the…

Home -> Vayikra -> 5773

וקרבו וכרעיו ירחץ במים והקטיר הכהן את הכל המזבחה עלה אשה ריח ניחוח לד'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5773, Vayikra

He shall wash its innards and its feet with water; and the Kohen shall cause it all to go up in smoke on the Altar – an elevation-offering, a fire-offering, a satisfying aroma to Hashem. (1:9)

In the Talmud Menachos 110a, Chazal state the following: “We find that the Torah says regarding a bulky ox brought as an offering, that it is ishei reiach nichoach, ‘A fire-offering, a satisfying aroma’; and in regard to a Minchah, it likewise says, ‘A fire-offering, a satisfying aroma.’” The same expression is used each time to teach you that, Echad ha’marbeh, v’echad ha’mamit, u’bilvad sheyichavein es libo l’Aviv she’ba Shomayim, “Whether one gives a lot, or one gives a little, his offering is equally pleasing to G-d, provided he directs his heart towards his Father in Heaven.” Horav Gamliel Rabinowitz,…

Home -> Vayikra -> 5773

ויקרא אל משה וידבר ד' אליו מאהל מועד

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5773, Vayikra

He called to Moshe. (1:1)

The Baal HaTurim notes that, in this verse, the summons to Moshe, Vayikra is spelled with a diminutive aleph. From afar, it appears as vayikar, not Vayikra. In his great humility, Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to describe the way in which Hashem appeared to him in much the same manner as He appeared to Bilaam. G-d’s prophecy to Bilaam is introduced as vayikar, without the aleph. This word connotes chance and spiritual contamination. Hashem, however, instructed Moshe not to ignore the aleph. Our quintessential leader had great difficulty accepting this. He acquiesced, of course, and wrote the aleph – but in…

Home -> 5773 -> Vayeira

ויגש אברהם ויאמר האף תספה צדיק עם רשע

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeira, 5773

Avraham came forward and said, “Will you also stamp out the righteous along with the wicked?” (18:23)

Unlike his predecessor, Noach, Avraham Avinu prayed for the wicked people of his generation. The Torah makes a point of relating the Patriarch’s dialogue with Hashem to spare the city of Sodom. This was a community inhabited primarily by evil degenerates whose narcissistic desires towered over any sense of humanity they might have had. They were totally evil. Yet, Avraham prayed for them. Likewise, Moshe Rabbeinu prayed on behalf of those Jews who had sinned with the eigel ha’zahav, Golden Calf. The prayer was for the sinners to repent and the sins to be forgiven. This is the area in…

Home -> 5773 -> Vayeira

ויקחו את לוט ואת רכושו בן אחי אברם וילכו והוא יושב בסדם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeira, 5773

And they captured Lot and his possessions – Avram’s nephew – and they left; for he was residing in Sodom. (14:12)

Upon reading the pasuk, one cannot help but note that the word rechusho, “his possessions,” is out of order. The way the pasuk reads is: and rechusho/his possessions, the son of Avram’s brother. Surely, rechusho was not Avram’s nephew! In his Shevilei Pinchas, Horav Pinchas Friedman, Shlita, cites the Arizal in Likutei Torah, who comments that the neshamah, soul, of the famous Amora, Rava, had its roots in the neshamah of Naamah ha’Amonis, descendant of Lot. Thus, Rava’s neshamah was held “captive” within Lot. If something were to happen to Lot, there would be no Rava. Hence, Avraham Avinu went…

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And Eisav was forty years old and he took a wife…and they were a source of bitterness for Yitzchak and Rivkah. (26:35)

Yitzchak loved Eisav for game was in his mouth. (25:28)

And He (Hashem) said: “Gaze, now, towards the Heavens, and count the stars if you are able to count them!” And He said to him, “So shall your offspring be!” (15:5)

Go for yourself from your land. (12:1)

And Avraham was old, well on in years…and Avraham said to his servant…that you not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaani. (24:1,3)

ויאמר שלחני כי עלה השחר ויאמר לא אשלחך כי אם ברכתני

Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn has broken.” And he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” (32:27)

וקרבו וכרעיו ירחץ במים והקטיר הכהן את הכל המזבחה עלה אשה ריח ניחוח לד'

He shall wash its innards and its feet with water; and the Kohen shall cause it all to go up in smoke on the Altar – an elevation-offering, a fire-offering, a satisfying aroma to Hashem. (1:9)

ויקרא אל משה וידבר ד' אליו מאהל מועד

He called to Moshe. (1:1)

ויגש אברהם ויאמר האף תספה צדיק עם רשע

Avraham came forward and said, “Will you also stamp out the righteous along with the wicked?” (18:23)

ויקחו את לוט ואת רכושו בן אחי אברם וילכו והוא יושב בסדם

And they captured Lot and his possessions – Avram’s nephew – and they left; for he was residing in Sodom. (14:12)

YEARS

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