Commitment – Page 29 – Peninim on the Torah

“Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood.” (6:14)

The Torah recounts the construction of two “structures” the Ark and the Mishkan. In a lecture to a group of students, Horav Yitzchak Hutner, zl, commented that these two structures can serve as metaphors to describe the disparity between Jewish education during pre-World War II Europe and its parallel in contemporary society. The Mishkan was an edifice dedicated to spiritual ascendancy. All the people who resided in proximity of the Mishkan were “spiritually correct.” They were not exposed to harmful environmental influences which were antithetical to their faith in Hashem and His Torah. Their commitment to the Almighty was not…

Home -> 5757 -> Naso

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Naso, 5757

Any man whose wife shall go astray and commit treachery against him. (5:12)

Rashi comments that the Torah specifically employs the word tisteh with a sin as opposed to a samach– to describe the woman’s going astray in being unfaithful to her husband. The word tisteh is connected to the word shtus, which means foolishness. Hence, Chazal say that one who commits an act of adultery or becomes a partner in an immoral relationship has “lost his mind”. As Chazal describes it, “A spirit of foolishness has entered his mind.” They cite the pasuk in Mishlei, 6:32, “He who has illicit relations with a woman lacks a heart.” In his commentary on Pirkei…

Home -> 5757 -> Metzora

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Metzora, 5757

And for the person being purified there shall be taken two live, clean birds, cedarwood, crimson thread and hyssop. (14:4)

The root of lashon hora is arrogance. The arrogant person feels he can talk about others with disdain. Haughtiness breeds contempt for all people, other than the slanderer himself. During the process of purification, the metzora goes through a penance which entails his commitment to change his deeds. The three items that accompany his korban symbolize sin and its teshuvah. Cedarwood, which grows tall and wide, symbolizes haughtiness. The crimson thread is dyed with a dye that is derived from a lowly creature. The hyssop is a lowly bush. Both of these latter items allude to the metzora’s newfound humility….

Home -> Ki Sisa -> 5757

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5757, Ki Sisa

“And the people saw that Moshe delayed in descending the mountain, and the people congregated around Aharon and said to him, ‘Rise up, make for us gods that will go before us….This is your god, O’ Yisrael, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.” (32:1,4)

Klal Yisrael’s reaction to Moshe Rabbeinu’s apparent delay returning from Har Sinai has concerned Chazal. The commentators attempt to explain Klal Yisrael’s ingratitude. Chazal compare the revelation at Har Sinai to a wedding between Hashem Yisborach and Knesses Yisrael. Does such an exalted relationship deteriorate simply as a result of lateness? Why were the people so impatient? Do we expect patience only of others but not of ourselves? The consensus of opinion is that either a misunderstanding existed regarding the time of Moshe’s return, or, as Chazal relate, the Satan “showed” Bnei Yisrael that Moshe’s body was being carried in…

Home -> 5757 -> Ki Seitzei

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Seitzei, 5757

And your camp shall be holy, so that He will not see a shameful thing among you and turn away from behind you. (23:15)

Klal Yisrael lives in exile among the nations of the world, who at any given moment can react to us in any manner. True, democracies and governments are supposedly governed by people dedicated to upholding law and order. This was presumably also the situation prior to World War II, when so many of our people were brutally murdered in the most heinous manner. We must confront the fact that we are in exile. We have only one source of salvation–Hashem. He – and only He – protects us, not permitting our antagonists to hurt us. Why does Hashem…

Home -> 5757 -> Ki Seitzei

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Seitzei, 5757

An Amoni or Moavi shall not enter the congregation of Hashem….because of the fact that they did not greet you with bread and water on the road when you were leaving Egypt. (23:4,5)

The character flaw which Moav exhibited was sufficient reason for the Torah to exclude them from Klal Yisrael. We must address how this negative trait was manifest in descendants of Lot, Avraham Avinu’s nephew. Lot was a person who risked his life to fulfill the mitzvah of hachnasas orchim, hospitality to the wayfarer/stranger. His daughter died as a result of his commitment. Their family exemplified a conviction to chesed, kindness to others. How then did they become so degenerate that several generations later the family served as the paradigm of those who lack chesed? Meilitz Yosher explains that the primary…

Home -> 5757 -> Ki Seitzei

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Seitzei, 5757

You shall surely send away the mother…so that it will be good for you and you will prolong your days. (22:7)

Hashem grants success and longevity in response to the performance of the mitzvah of Shiluach Ha’kein, sending away the mother bird. Only the mitzvah of honoring one’s parents effects comparable reward. Why does the Torah single out these two mitzvos for such a significant reward? Also, what is the relationship between these two seemingly disparate mitzvos? Honoring one’s parents is a difficult mitzvah to perform correctly, while Shiluach Ha’kein is a simple task. Horav Zalmen Sorotzkin, zl, comments that actually a strong parallel exists between these mitzvos which accounts for the similarity of the reward. One must set the mother…

Home -> 5757 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5757

And you shall take of the first of every fruit of the ground….and you shall put it in a basket…and you shall come to the Kohen. (26:2,3)

The Torah begins the parsha with the details of the Bikkurim offering. The Jew brought the first of his fruits to the Kohen, symbolically stating that he dedicated all that he had to the service of Hashem. In the Mishnah Bikkurim 3:6, Chazal describe the pomp and joy that accompanied this offering. “The wealthy would bring their fruits in baskets made of gold; the poor in baskets made of cane.” The Kohen took not only the fruits, but also the baskets. The Yerushalmi explains that the basket served an interesting function. In the event the fruits became tamei, ritually unclean,…

Home -> Ha'azinu -> 5757

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5757, Ha'azinu

The Rock–Perfect is His work, for all His paths are justice. (32:4)

Hashem’s judgment is meticulous and fair. Our inability to comprehend His justice is not a reason to disdain those areas of Heavenly justice to which we do not relate well. Hashem has reasons for every Heavenly act and decree. Most are not within our scope of comprehension. Therefore, we need emunah, faith. We are to trust in Hashem that everything He does is good–even though we do not necessarily understand His decree. Life is all part of one great continuum. Everyone has his “day in court.” We are not on this world long enough to see or comprehend everything…

Home -> 5757 -> Eikev

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5757

You shall teach them to your children to discuss them. (11:19)

Rashi comments that Chazal have inferred from this pasuk that when a child begins to talk, his father should converse with him in lashon hakodesh, Hebrew, and should begin to teach him Torah. If he does not teach him Torah, it is viewed as if he had ______ buried him. This is implied by the juxtaposition to the next pasuk, in which the Torah states, “In order to prolong your days and the days of your children.” The mitzvah of limud haTorah takes on a new perspective when it applies to a father’s obligation to educate his children. A father…

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“Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood.” (6:14)

Any man whose wife shall go astray and commit treachery against him. (5:12)

And for the person being purified there shall be taken two live, clean birds, cedarwood, crimson thread and hyssop. (14:4)

“And the people saw that Moshe delayed in descending the mountain, and the people congregated around Aharon and said to him, ‘Rise up, make for us gods that will go before us….This is your god, O’ Yisrael, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.” (32:1,4)

And your camp shall be holy, so that He will not see a shameful thing among you and turn away from behind you. (23:15)

An Amoni or Moavi shall not enter the congregation of Hashem….because of the fact that they did not greet you with bread and water on the road when you were leaving Egypt. (23:4,5)

You shall surely send away the mother…so that it will be good for you and you will prolong your days. (22:7)

And you shall take of the first of every fruit of the ground….and you shall put it in a basket…and you shall come to the Kohen. (26:2,3)

The Rock–Perfect is His work, for all His paths are justice. (32:4)

You shall teach them to your children to discuss them. (11:19)

YEARS

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