Challenge – Page 8 – Peninim on the Torah

וישקל אברהם לעפרון ... ארבע מאות שקל ...ואחרי כן קבר אברהם את שרה אשתו

And Avraham weighed out to Ephron… four hundred silver shekel …and afterwards Avraham buried Sarah his wife. (23:16,19)

Chazal (Pirkei Avos 5:3) state that Avraham Avinu withstood – and emerged successful from – the trials/challenges (to his faith) with which Hashem tested him. This indicates the greatness and deep-rooted faith which our first Patriarch manifested. In his commentary to Avos, Rabbeinu Yonah delineates the ten nisyonos, trials, in ascending order of conviction demonstrated. He places the Akeidas Yitzchak, Binding of Yitzchak (when Avraham Avinu was prepared to slaughter his son to fulfill Hashem’s command), as number nine, with (the travail surrounding) the selecting a gravesite and burying his beloved wife, Sarah Imeinu, as number ten. How are we…

Home -> 5784 -> Lech Lecha

ויאמר אברם אל לוט אל נא תהי מריבה ביני ובינך ובין רעי ובין רעיך כי אנשים אחים אנחנו

Sruly Schnair In Lech Lecha, 5784

And Avram said to Lot, “Please let there not be a fight between me and you and between my shepherd and your shepherds, because we are brothers.” (13:8)

Klal Yisrael is destined to experience various galusim, exiles. The last exile is America, a country that has been good to us, despite its permissive and pervasive society. We are allowed to practice our religion, build mekomos HaTorah, institutes of Torah – schools, shuls which follow their unique Torah traditions. We need not fear a pogrom. While this does not mean that everything is great, it just shows that, in comparison to the previous exiles in our tumultuous history, America is by far the easiest. Yet, it is called galus, because we must contend with an almost constant attack on…

Home -> 5784 -> Bereishis

בראשית ברא אלקים

Sruly Schnair In Bereishis, 5784

In the beginning of G-d’s creating. (1:1)

Horav Yehudah Leib/Leibele Eiger, zl, grandson of Horav Akiva Eiger and son of Horav Shlomo Eiger, was drawn to chassidus (in contrast to the way in which he was raised). This was a time in which chassidim and misnagdim, those in opposition, were, to say the least, not on amicable terms. Rav Leibele went to Horav Menachem Mendel, zl, of Kotzk, the famous Kotzker Rebbe. Kotzk was a chassidus devoted to strict adherence to unvarnished truth. The Rebbe did not have a large following, because he had no tolerance for anything that was less than the truth. He did not…

Home -> Ha'azinu -> 5783

כי דור תהפוכות המה בנים לא אמון בם

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Ha'azinu

For they are a generation of reversals, children whose upbringing is not in them. (32:20)

Horav Tzvi Hirsch Ferber, zl, adds a practical, sadly common, insight concerning the dor tahapuchos, generation of reversals, when everything is topsy turvy. Veritably, the way of the world should be that a father teaches/sees to his son’s Torah-learning development and focuses on his spiritual growth. Conversely, the son is responsible for the support of his father. As a parent ages, daily work becomes a greater challenge. It is up to the son to arrange for his father’s sustenance and wellbeing. Today, however, it is the other way around. Fathers no longer involve themselves or care about the son’s Jewish…

Home -> 5783 -> Ki Savo

וירעו אותנו המצרים

Sruly Schnair In Ki Savo, 5783

The Egyptians mistreated us. (26:6)

The Egyptians were cruel to us, making us suffer and imposing harsh slavery on us. We cried to G-d, G-d of our ancestors, and He heard our voice; he saw our suffering, our harsh labor, and our distress. (26:6,7) Interestingly, Chazal (quoted in the Haggadah) interpret each of the latter phrases: our suffering; our harsh labor; and our distress. They appear, however, to have ignored the beginning of the pasuk, Va’yareiu osanu ha’Mitzrim, “The Egyptians were cruel to us, making us suffer and imposing harsh slavery on us.” In the Haggadah, the second part of the pasuk is explained as…

Home -> Bechukosai -> 5783

ונסתם ואין רדף אתכם

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Bechukosai

You will flee, though none chase after you. (26:17)

Fear of an unknown enemy (or demons, in today’s vernacular) is a terrible curse. It is a miserable way to live. To be beset by imagined fears and phobias takes a toll on a person. His life comes to a halt, his cognitive lucidity off balance, because he is afraid to do anything out of fear of consequences. The systems upon which a person’s basic needs are built are interrupted, often taking down the “victim” and those who have the misfortune to be in his proximity. A modern-day term for describing fear of an unknown enemy which one has convinced…

Home -> 5783 -> Shemini

ויהי ביום השמיני קרא משה לאהרן ולבניו ולזקני ישראל

Sruly Schnair In Shemini, 5783

It was on the eighth day, Moshe called to Aharon and his sons and to the elders of Yisrael. (9:1)

Rashi explains that, when Moshe Rabbeinu summoned Aharon, he also asked the zekeinim, elders, to join them. It was important for the zekeinim to hear/see that Al pi haDibur Aharon nichnas u’meshameish b’Kehunah Gedolah, v’lo yomru meieilav nichnas, “In accordance with the statement (dibur) of G-d, Aharon enters and officiates in the office of Kehunah Gedolah, and they should not say he enters the office of Kehunah Gedolah on his own.” Apparently, Moshe Rabbeinu was concerned that the people would criticize the appointment of Aharon HaKohen as Kohen Gadol. Thus, he underscored that it was al pi haDibur, by Hashem’s…

Home -> 5783 -> Tzav

וזאת תורת המנחה

Sruly Schnair In Tzav, 5783

This is the law of this meal-offering. (6:7)

In Parashas Vayikra, the Torah addresses the laws of the Korban Minchah. The Torah (2:1) begins the laws of Korban Minchah with a word not used regarding any of the other korbanos nedavah, voluntary offerings: Nefesh, soul (v’nefesh ki sakriv). Rashi explains that, concerning a Korban Minchah, the Torah makes an exception, since this inexpensive korban is usually the offering which a poor man brings. Hashem says, “I will regard it (the korban of an ani, poor man) as if he had offered his very soul. Concerning the Korban Minchah, Chazal (Menachos 110a) teach, Echad ha’marbeh v’echad ha’mamit, ubilvad she’yichavein…

Home -> 5783 -> Tetzaveh

ואתה תדבר אל כל חכמי לב אשר מלאתיו רוח חכמה ועשו את בגדי אהרן לקדשו לכהנו לי

Sruly Schnair In Tetzaveh, 5783

And you shall speak to every wise-hearted person whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, and they shall make the vestments of Aharon, to sanctify him to minister to Me. (28:3)

The Torah refers to the craftsmen who fashioned the various vessels used in the Mishkan and the priestly vestments which the Kohanim were enjoined to wear when performing the avodah, service, as chachmei lev, wise-hearted people. The pasuk states that Hashem filled these men with chochmah, wisdom. Why was it necessary for these men to be invested with Heavenly wisdom? Ramban explains that the Bigdei Kehunah, priestly vestments, require that its manufacture be lishmah, for its purpose, and it is possible that it even required kavanah, intent, as well. In order that they understand what they are doing, Hashem infused…

Home -> 5783 -> Vaeira

קח את מטך והשלך לפני פרעה

Sruly Schnair In Vaeira, 5783

Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh. (7:9)

What “merit” did the mateh, staff, have that it was used as the medium for carrying out some of the plagues against Pharaoh and the Egyptian people? Rabbi Go’el Alkarif suggests a powerful mussar, ethical lesson, to be derived from here. Prior to Horav Yisrael Salanter’s public emergence as the preeminent founder of the mussar movement, he lived quietly in Memel, Germany, with an idea, an idea that would transform the Jewish world. His innovation was to focus on mussar also. In addition to studying Gemorah, Jews should also work on their middos, character traits, refining and honing them, so…

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וישקל אברהם לעפרון ... ארבע מאות שקל ...ואחרי כן קבר אברהם את שרה אשתו

And Avraham weighed out to Ephron… four hundred silver shekel …and afterwards Avraham buried Sarah his wife. (23:16,19)

ויאמר אברם אל לוט אל נא תהי מריבה ביני ובינך ובין רעי ובין רעיך כי אנשים אחים אנחנו

And Avram said to Lot, “Please let there not be a fight between me and you and between my shepherd and your shepherds, because we are brothers.” (13:8)

בראשית ברא אלקים

In the beginning of G-d’s creating. (1:1)

כי דור תהפוכות המה בנים לא אמון בם

For they are a generation of reversals, children whose upbringing is not in them. (32:20)

וירעו אותנו המצרים

The Egyptians mistreated us. (26:6)

ונסתם ואין רדף אתכם

You will flee, though none chase after you. (26:17)

ויהי ביום השמיני קרא משה לאהרן ולבניו ולזקני ישראל

It was on the eighth day, Moshe called to Aharon and his sons and to the elders of Yisrael. (9:1)

וזאת תורת המנחה

This is the law of this meal-offering. (6:7)

ואתה תדבר אל כל חכמי לב אשר מלאתיו רוח חכמה ועשו את בגדי אהרן לקדשו לכהנו לי

And you shall speak to every wise-hearted person whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, and they shall make the vestments of Aharon, to sanctify him to minister to Me. (28:3)

קח את מטך והשלך לפני פרעה

Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh. (7:9)

YEARS

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