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Home -> 5782 -> Lech Lecha

ואברם כבד מאד במקנה בכסף ובזהב

Sruly Schnair
In Lech Lecha, 5782

Now Avram was very laden with livestock, silver and gold. (13:2)

The mere mention of the word Ruzhin conjures up images of wealth and royalty. Indeed, the saintly Ruzhiner Rebbe, zl, was a legend in his own time. Everything about him, from his clothes to his living quarters to his total demeanor was resplendent with wealth and monarchy. Nonetheless, he was regarded as one of the greatest tzaddikim, righteous leaders, of his time. The greatest gedolim, Torah giants, of his generation would travel for weeks just to spend a brief visit with him. They viewed him as a Heavenly agent, dispatched to this world on a Divine mission to reach out…

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Home -> 5781 -> Shelach

שלח לך אנשים ויתורו את ארץ כנען

Sruly Schnair
In Shelach, 5781

Send forth men, if you please, and let them spy out the land of Canaan. (13:2)

In a shmuess, ethical discourse, he gave in memory of his father, Horav Eliyahu Svei, zl, attempts to show how generations decline spiritually. His father survived World War I, during which Jewish life drastically changed. Entire communities were obliterated. Extreme hunger became a way of life. People were compelled to eat grass just to have some nutrients in their bodies. He studied in Kollel Slabodka until the material pressures were too much to handle. The next step was to move to America, which in and of itself was a spiritual challenge of immense proportion. Nonetheless, he lived in this country…

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Home -> 5781 -> Naso

ויקריבו הנשאים את חנכת המזבח ביום המשח אתו

Sruly Schnair
In Naso, 5781

And the Nesiim offered up a dedication of the Altar on the day it was consecrated. (7:10)

Chazal (Midrash) teach that even though the offerings of the twelve Nesiim were identical, each individual offering alluded to the singular mission of its tribe; thus, the offering of each Nasi represented a unique spiritual message. Indeed, the Torah could have saved much “ink” by including all the korbanos of the Nesiim under one collective banner: “This is what all of the Nesiim offered.” Actually, why did the Nesiim choose to offer identical korbanos? One would think they each wanted to express the uniqueness and individuality of his own tribe. The Ramban quotes the Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 13:13), which (in…

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Home -> Bamidbar -> 5781

איש על דגלו באתת לבית אבתם

Sruly Schnair
In 5781, Bamidbar

Every man shall encamp by his banner with the sign of his father’s house. (2:2)

Chazal teach that the arrangement of the Jews’ encampment in the Wilderness paralleled the configuration of the Heavenly entourage that accompanied the Shechinah when it descended upon Har Sinai prior to the Giving of the Torah. Myriads of Heavenly Angels descended with Hashem, all grouped in composition under Degalim, banners. When Klal Yisrael saw this pattern, they, too, sought a sequence of Degalim for their encampment. It did not stop there. Chazal (Bamidbar Rabbah 2:4) state that when umos ha’olam, the nations of the world, saw Klal Yisrael encamped under the Degalim, they approached the Jewish People and attempted to…

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Home -> Behar -> 5781

כי ימוך אחיך ומכר מאחזתו... ואיש כי לא יהיה לא גאל והשיגה ידו ומצא כדי גאלתו

Sruly Schnair
In 5781, Behar

If your brother becomes impoverished and sells part of his ancestral inheritance… if a man will have no redeemer, but his means suffice and he acquires enough for his redemption. (25:25,26)

An ancestral field should not be sold. It is supposed to remain within the family. If it must be sold in order to generate badly needed funds, it may be sold only for the number of crops it will yield until Yovel, the upcoming Jubilee year, when it reverts back to its original owner. If the owner does not have the necessary funds to redeem his field before the Jubilee year, the responsibility falls on his relatives to help him out. If he has no “redeemer,” relative, to assist in extricating him from his bind, the field remains with the…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5781

ראו קרא ד' בשם בצלאל בן אורי בן חור

Sruly Schnair
In 5781, Vayakhel

See, Hashem has proclaimed by name, Betzalel, ben Uri, ben Chur. (35:30)

It was necessary for Moshe Rabbeinu to announce that Hashem had selected Betzalel, his sister’s grandson, to be the Mishkan’s chief artisan. As a result, the usual malcontents, who derive their greatest pleasure from finding fault and expressing their dissatisfaction, should be aware that it was Hashem’s decision – not Moshe’s. Why was Betzalel selected for this august position? Chazal (Tanchuma Vayakhel 4) explain that Hashem wanted to reward Betzalel’s grandfather, Chur, who had given up his life Al Kiddush Hashem when he stood up to the sinners that committed idol worship with the Golden Calf. Hailing from the tribe…

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Home -> Pekudei -> 5781

ויברך אותם משה

Sruly Schnair
In 5781, Pekudei

And Moshe blessed them. (39:43)

Rashi teaches that Moshe Rabbeinu’s blessing was: “Yehi ratzon, May it be His will that the Shechinah rest on the work of your hands; Vihi noam, May the pleasantness of our G-d be upon us.” What greater blessing can there be than knowing that Hashem’s Shechinah, His Divine Presence, rests upon his work? One can have no greater prize than having the Divine Presence crown his finished product. How did the people warrant such an extraordinary blessing? They were sincere in their contributing. Their donations – whether it was their best material or themselves – was all l’shem Shomayim, for…

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Home -> 5781 -> Tetzaveh

והיה על מצח אהרן... והיה על מצחו תמיד לרצון להם לפני ד'

Sruly Schnair
In Tetzaveh, 5781

It shall be on Aharon’s forehead… and it shall be on his forehead always, to bring them favor before Hashem. (28:38)

The Tzitz, Head-Plate, was a unique addition to the Kohen Gadol’s vestments. When the Kohen Gadol wore it, the two words that were engraved on it: Kodesh l’Hashem, Holy to Hashem, served to gain Heavenly favor for blood or sacrificial body parts that were offered on the Mizbayach, Altar, while in a state of tumah, ritual contamination, allowing them to be accepted by Hashem. Tzitz meratzeh: the Tzitz caused ineligible offerings to become accepted. Whether this was only when Aharon/Kohen Gadol wore it on his forehead is the subject of a debate in the Talmud (Yoma 7b). One Tanna takes…

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Home -> Vayechi -> 5781

בך יבורך ישראל לאמר ישימך אלקים כאפרים וכמנשה

Sruly Schnair
In 5781, Vayechi

By you shall Yisrael bless saying, “May G-d make you like Ephraim and Menashe.” (48:20)

Yaakov Avinu assured Yosef that, throughout the ages, Jewish parents would bless their sons that they grow up to be like Ephraim and Menashe. Why should these two grandsons of Yaakov, children raised in the pagan, hedonistic society that Egypt epitomized, be the paradigms of Jewish parents’ hopes for their children? At first blush, the mere fact that they “made it” in Egypt speaks volumes about them and their upbringing. If so, Yaakov would be speaking only with regard to the galus Jew, who is challenged by the non-Jewish, assimilationist environment. This is obviously not the case. Yaakov spoke to…

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Home -> Vayigash -> 5781

ואת יהודה שלח לפניו ... להורות לפניו גשנה

Sruly Schnair
In 5781, Vayigash

He sent Yehudah ahead of him… to prepare ahead of him in Goshen. (46:28)

Rashi quotes the well-known Chazal: Yaakov Avinu sent Yehudah to prepare the way for the family. He sent Yehudah to establish a bais Talmud, house of Torah study, a yeshivah, from where Torah would be disseminated. No one questions that Yehudah was a capable leader, a spokesman for the family, but was he appropriate to be a Rosh Yeshivah? Levi and Yissachar were the two brothers who devoted their days and nights to spiritual pursuits. One would have expected that Yaakov would have selected either or both of them to be his emissaries to build a makom Torah. The answer…

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