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Home -> 5785 -> Balak

וירא את הקיני... ויאמר איתן מישבך

Sruly Schnair
In Balak, 5785

He saw the Keini… and said, “Strong is your dwelling.” (24:21)

Rashi explains that Bilaam saw the future sons of Yisro (one of Yisro’s seven names was Keini) and was surprised at the distinction they had earned. He intimated (Midrash Tanchuma), “I wonder from where you (Yisro) became worthy of this (extraordinary honor and spiritual nachas). Were you not with me at the time we (Bilaam, Yisro, Iyov) gave advice to Pharaoh (on how to address the ‘Jewish problem’)? Yet, you have settled in the stronghold and citadel of Yisrael.” Apparently, Bilaam conveniently forgot that when he advised Pharaoh to kill the Jews, Yisro picked himself up and fled Egypt. Later…

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Home -> 5785 -> Chukas

זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל

Sruly Schnair
In Chukas, 5785

This is the teaching regarding a man who would die in a tent. (19:14)

Chazal famously derive a deeper, homiletic l miskayeim esson from this pasuk. The Gemorah (Berachos 63b), states: Ein divrei Torah ela b’mi she’meimis atzmo aleha, “The words of Torah are upheld only by one who ‘kills’ himself over it.” This metaphor refers to the self-sacrifice one must be willing to expend for the sake of Torah study. Meimis atzmo aleha means dedication, diligence, abnegating comforts and worldly pleasures, all for the purpose of Torah study, its understanding and internalization. True growth requires a form of self-sacrifice, whereby one “kills” his personal desires in pursuit of spiritual achievement. Famous Torah scholars…

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Home -> 5785 -> Beha'alosecha

ויאמרו האנשים ההמה אליו אנחנו טמאים לנפש אדם למה נגרע לבלתי הקריב את קרבן ד' במועדו

Sruly Schnair
In Beha'alosecha, 5785

Those men said to him, “We are contaminated through a human corpse. Why should we be diminished by not offering Hashem’s korban in its appointed time?” (9:7)

These men had become ritually contaminated, a status which precludes them from participating in the Korban Pesach. This was an epic spiritual experience from which they did not want to be excluded. So intense was their desire to participate, they petitioned Moshe Rabbeinu to somehow include them. In recognition of their nobility and unparalleled sheifah, aspiration/yearning for this mitzvah, Hashem appointed them to be the medium through whom He would reveal the new mitzvah of Pesach Sheini, which would be offered one month after the appointed time for Pesach. The normal course of the Torah was to issue mitzvos through…

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Home -> 5785 -> Naso

ואחר ישתה הנזיר יין

Sruly Schnair
In Naso, 5785

Afterward the Nazir may drink wine. (6:20)

A fundamental principle of spiritual growth is: Inspiration is fleeting, but what truly matters is how we internalize the experience/inspiration and allow it to shape our actions over time. A person may attend a powerful shiur or shmuess, ethical discourse in which the speaker’s oratory is remarkable. The listener is overcome with emotion and experiences a personal wake-up call that shakes him to his core. How long does it last before his emotion dissipates? We have all been there. If a few days pass and business proceeds as usual, it is an indication that the inspiration was like the passing…

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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….

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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…

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Home -> 5785 -> Acharei Mos

כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם מכל חטאתיכם לפני ד' תטהרו

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5785

For on this day He shall provide atonement for you to cleanse yourself; from all your sins before Hashem shall you be cleansed. (16:30)

In Pachad Yitzchak, Yom Kippur 1, Horav Yitzchak Hutner, zl, cites Rabbeinu Yonah (Shaar 2:14) who writes: “It is a positive mitzvah of the Torah for a person to awaken his spirit to return/perform teshuvah on Yom Kippur.” He quotes the above pasuk which intimates that it is a specific mitzvah to perform teshuvah on Yom Kippur (exclusive of the mitzvah to repent from one’s sins at all times). The Rosh Yeshivah wonders wherein lies the difference between teshuvah all year and teshuvah on Yom Kippur. He explains that the mitzvah to repent all year/all of the time, whenever one…

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Home -> 5785 -> Acharei Mos

כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם מכל חטאתיכם

Sruly Schnair
In Acharei Mos, 5785

For on this day he shall provide atonement for you; to cleanse you from all your sins. (16:30)

While the following well-known story takes place on Yom Kippur, it is not a Yom Kippur story – but, rather, a story of teshuvah, repentance and redemption. Hashem’s mercy is infinite. Regardless of how far one has distanced himself from Hashem; regardless of the gravity of his transgressions, the shaarei teshuvah, gates of repentance, are never locked. Indeed, even the most sinful individual can ascend to great heights following sincere repentance. A single moment of sincere teshuvah can transform a life of egregious error. Chazal (Avodah Zarah 17a) relate the story of Elazar ben Dordaya, who lived a life of…

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Home -> 5785 -> Metzora

וביום השביעי ימול בשר ערלתו

Sruly Schnair
In Metzora, 5785

On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (12:3)

No nation has suffered that which the Jewish people have experienced from its very infancy. Hashem has used adversity as the crucible for tempering our spiritual growth – and it has succeeded. The Jewish people have manifested incredible religious commitment, continuing to grow by leaps and bounds in their spiritual devotion, Torah study, and mitzvah performance. Nonetheless, a major portion of our people do not even know what it means to be Jewish. They are biologically Jewish, but, unfortunately, they are unaware of the uniquely Jewish spiritual persona that defines us. Many of them, although they do not practice religiously,…

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Home -> Pekudei -> 5785

ומשחת אותם כאשר משחת את אביהם

Sruly Schnair
In 5785, Pekudei

You shall anoint them as you had anointed their father. (40:15)

The present anointment of the Kohanim prepared them to transmit the Kehunah to their children as well. The Kehunah now was to remain in the family eternally. We have studied the previous meshichos, anointments, in which the Mishkan, its vessels, the Mizbayach, Aharon HaKohen, and now his sons were anointed. It never mentioned kaasher moshachta es avihem. Why did Hashem instruct Moshe to anoint Aharon’s sons in a manner similar to the way he anointed Aharon? Why should this anointment be different? The Meshech Chochmah explains that Moshe Rabbeinu was considered to be a Kohen; thus, he had the power…

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