Chesed – Page 3 – Peninim on the Torah

הקם תקים עמו

You shall surely stand them up with him (22:4)

From the words Hakeim takim imo, we derive that the assistance we lend to someone in need should be carried out imo—with him. If the owner of the animal (providing that he is able) sits back and wants to watch as you do the lifting and carrying, you have no obligation to help. Our responsibility to help extends to one who is trying to help himself. If the owner sits idly by refusing to make an effort, the mitzvah no longer applies. We wonder why this is so. While it may be true that the owner, due to his lack…

Home -> Masei -> 5785

אלה מסעי בני ישראל אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים... ויכתב משה את מוציא הם למסעיהם על פי ד' ואלה מסעיהם למוצאיהם

Sruly Schnair In 5785, Masei

These are the journeys of Bnei Yisrael, who went forth from the land of Egypt… Moshe wrote their goings for the according to their journeys, according to the bidding of Hashem, and these were the journeys according to their goings forth. (33:1,2)

The Torah attributes much significance to Klal Yisrael’s forty-year journey throughout the wilderness – to the point that it details each one of its forty-two encampments. Apparently, we can derive much from this journey and each one of the stops Bnei Yisrael made. Horav Zakai, a student of Horav Chaim Volozhiner, zl, was a deeply righteous Jew, who had a profound understanding of all areas of Torah – both revealed and unrevealed. Every year, when he would recite the forty-two encampments listed at the beginning of Parashas Masei, he would break down in bitter weeping. When asked for an explanation…

Home -> 5785 -> Pinchas

לכן אמור הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום

Sruly Schnair In Pinchas, 5785

Therefore, say: “Behold! I give him My covenant of peace.” (25:12)

Pinchas saw an outrageous act of moral turpitude and took decisive action, meting out the ultimate punishment to the two perpetrators. He was rewarded with the Kehunah, Priesthood, the covenant of peace. Upon taking a closer look at the reward, a striking contrast is evident between Pinchas’ response to the sin and the reward that he received. To act zealously, risking one’s life, demands a strong element of the middah, attribute, of gevurah, strength/discipline and strict judgment. The reward of a covenant of peace is reflective of the attribute of chesed, kindness. Why would an act of zealousness be rewarded…

Home -> 5785 -> Beha'alosecha

והאיש משה ענו מאד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה

Sruly Schnair In Beha'alosecha, 5785

Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth. (12:3)

The Chafetz Chaim commented on the pasuk in Iyov 3:18, Katan v’gadal shom hu, “Small and great are equal there” (in the World of Truth). In the next world, all external differences disappear. The distinctions we make in this world between wealthy and poor, strong and weak, influential and unnoticed, are irrelevant in Olam Habba. In this world, the barometer for determining who is “considered” great and who is small is a superficial measure. Society elevates those who appear successful, while those who seem as insignificant go unnoticed. This is an illusion. In the World of Truth, the only barometer…

Home -> 5785 -> Naso

פר אחד בן בקר איל אחד כבש אחד בן שנתו לעולה

Sruly Schnair In Naso, 5785

One young bull, one ram, one sheep in its first year for an elevation-offering. (7:21)

Rashi comments concerning the allusion of the individual korbanos to the Avos, Patriarchs. The young bull alludes to Avraham Avinu, who used a young bull as part of his act of chesed, kindness, in welcoming three guests to his tent. The ram refers to Yitzchak Avinu, whom Avraham replaced on the Altar with a ram. This was part of Yitzchak’s unprecedented act of mesiras nefesh, self-sacrifice. The sheep alludes to Yaakov Avinu who tended sheep during his stay with Lavan. The Torah underscores Yaakov’s honesty in making certain that he took nothing for himself that did not belong to him….

Home -> Bamidbar -> 5785

וידבר ד' אל משה במדבר סיני

Sruly Schnair In 5785, Bamidbar

Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai. (1:1)

Chazal (Bamidbar Rabbah 1:7) explain that Hashem chose the wilderness as the site where He would give the Torah, by design. It is not that we received the Torah in the wilderness, because we just happened to be there. Rather we were there because this is where Hashem wanted us to receive the Torah. Horav Moshe Shternbuch, Shlita, explains the simile of wilderness as a place where there is no baalus, ownership. Likewise, one who learns Torah, one who seeks to grow and achieve in the field of Torah, must render himself like a wilderness, by relinquishing control, possession over…

Home -> 5785 -> Kedoshim

ואמרת אליהם קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני אלקיכם

Sruly Schnair In Kedoshim, 5785

And say to them: “You shall be holy, for holy am I, Hashem, Your G-d. (19:2)

Hashem exhorts us to be holy, to sanctify ourselves. In other words, “being good” is insufficient. One must strive to be holy. How does one achieve holiness? Indeed, how does one define holiness in the Heavenly vernacular? Rashi explains kedoshim tehiyu as perushim tehiyu, abstinence from immorality, distancing oneself from morally profligate behavior. Ramban maintains that instruction to be holy is not limited to any specific observance or discipline; rather, it is an enjoinment to live a life of moderation. Just because an activity is permitted, one does not have license to overindulge. Such a person is called a naval…

Home -> Pekudei -> 5785

עשה את כל אשר צוה ד' את משה

Sruly Schnair In 5785, Pekudei

Did everything as Hashem commanded Moshe. (38:22)

A king commissioned a master craftsman to build a summer mansion. The king gave him the approved architectural drawings and instructed him to build the mansion in accordance with the drawings. The craftsman was a brilliant builder who had ideas of his own which he incorporated into the edifice. When it was completed, he felt that the mansion was far more beautiful than what he would have constructed based upon the architect’s drawings. He was beyond proud of himself. It, therefore, came as a surprise when the king frowned upon seeing and entering the mansion. “What did you do?” asked…

Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5785

וחנתי את אחן ורחמתי את אשר ארחם

Sruly Schnair In 5785, Ki Sisa

I shall show favor when I choose to show favor, and I shall show mercy when I choose to show mercy. (33:19)

Hashem revealed to Moshe Rabbeinu that there are instances in which He shows favor and mercy to people who are (for whatever reason) not deserving of these gifts. Hashem essentially intimated to Moshe that, even though someone had sinned egregiously, there was still hope for him, and Moshe should pray for his forgiveness. Horav Avraham Pam, zl (cited by Rabbi Shalom Smith in Messages from Rav Pam), derives a powerful insight from this. Hashem not only shows mercy and favor to those who are undeserving, [Undeserving is a strong term, because we have no idea who does and who does…

Home -> 5785 -> Bo

ויהי חשך אפלה בכל ארץ מצרים ... לא ראו איש את אחיו ולא קמו איש מתחתיו

Sruly Schnair In Bo, 5785

And there was a darkness of gloom throughout the land of Egypt…No man could see his brother nor could anyone rise from his place. (10:22,23)

In his sefer, Yalkut Chinuch L’Doros, Rabbi Simcha Zissel Dessler, Shlita, quotes a story from Horav Yisrael Meir Lau, Shlita, which is well-worth repeating. Fifty years ago, a place in the center of Tel Aviv’s downtown was where the wagon drivers would line up and wait for passengers who either wanted to travel or to ship their packages. One of these drivers was an observant Jew, by the name of Yoska, who would first participate in the vasikin, sunrise, minyan, and then he was off to work. As time passed, Yoska’s aged horse left this world. Lacking the funds to…

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הקם תקים עמו

You shall surely stand them up with him (22:4)

אלה מסעי בני ישראל אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים... ויכתב משה את מוציא הם למסעיהם על פי ד' ואלה מסעיהם למוצאיהם

These are the journeys of Bnei Yisrael, who went forth from the land of Egypt… Moshe wrote their goings for the according to their journeys, according to the bidding of Hashem, and these were the journeys according to their goings forth. (33:1,2)

לכן אמור הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום

Therefore, say: “Behold! I give him My covenant of peace.” (25:12)

והאיש משה ענו מאד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה

Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth. (12:3)

פר אחד בן בקר איל אחד כבש אחד בן שנתו לעולה

One young bull, one ram, one sheep in its first year for an elevation-offering. (7:21)

וידבר ד' אל משה במדבר סיני

Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai. (1:1)

ואמרת אליהם קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני אלקיכם

And say to them: “You shall be holy, for holy am I, Hashem, Your G-d. (19:2)

עשה את כל אשר צוה ד' את משה

Did everything as Hashem commanded Moshe. (38:22)

וחנתי את אחן ורחמתי את אשר ארחם

I shall show favor when I choose to show favor, and I shall show mercy when I choose to show mercy. (33:19)

ויהי חשך אפלה בכל ארץ מצרים ... לא ראו איש את אחיו ולא קמו איש מתחתיו

And there was a darkness of gloom throughout the land of Egypt…No man could see his brother nor could anyone rise from his place. (10:22,23)

YEARS

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