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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5785

ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קדש

Sruly Schnair
In 5785, Vayakhel

On six days, work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you. (35:2)

Of the seven days of the week, Shabbos stands out as kodesh, holy, consecrated for Hashem. Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 11:8) relates a dialogue that ensued between Shabbos and Hashem: “Shabbos said before Hashem, ‘All of the days of the week have a zug/mate, but I have no mate.’ Hashem replied, ‘Knesses Yisrael will be your mate!’” Simply put, each day of the week is matched with another day (Sunday/ Monday, Tuesday/ Wednesday, Thursday/ Friday), making three matches, leaving Shabbos as the odd day out. Others explain that each day of the week has as its mate the various entities which…

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Home -> Vayakhel -> 5785

קחו מאתכם תרומה לד' כל נדיב לבו יביאה את תרומת ד' זהב וכסף ונחושת

Sruly Schnair
In 5785, Vayakhel

Take from yourselves a portion for Hashem; everyone whose heart motivates him shall bring it, as a gift for Hashem: gold, silver, copper. (35:5)

Chazal (Shemos Rabbah 49:2) teach that zahav, gold, kesef, silver; and nechoshes, copper – all allude to the Avos, three Patriarchs. The connotation of the pasuk (based upon Chazal’s interpretation) is that the Shechinah rests His Divine Presence in the Mishkan in the merit of the three Avos. Gold alludes to Avraham, whose faith was put to a test when he was flung into a furnace – a process which is used to refine gold. Silver represents Yitzchak, who was purified when he was bound upon the Altar. Unlike gold, which is heated in a furnace to test its quality,…

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Home -> 5785 -> Tetzaveh

תרשיש ושהם וישפה

Sruly Schnair
In Tetzaveh, 5785

Tarshish, Shoham and Yashfeh. (28:20)

Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 71:5) teach that the yashfeh was the stone of Binyamin.  Being the son of Rachel Imeinu, who remained silent when her sister took her place on the night that she was to be married, he symbolizes silence. Thus, he is represented by the yashfeh stone, which stands for yeish peh, there is mouth; something can be said, but he remained in control and was silent. As a result of Rachel Imeinu’s commitment to the middah, attribute, of shetikah, her two sons personified the maintenance of self-control in speech.  Indeed, although Binyamin was well aware that Yosef has…

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Home -> 5785 -> Terumah

ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם

Sruly Schnair
In Terumah, 5785

They shall make for Me a Sanctuary/Mikdash, and I will dwell among them (Shemos 25:8)

The language is striking. The Torah should have written V’Shachanti b’socho, “within it.” Rather, it writes, V’Shachanti b’socham, “within them,” which implies that Hashem will reside within them—within the hearts of each and every individual. The Alshich HaKadosh explains that the physical Mishkan was a model and a standard for how, and in what form one should create a space/Sanctuary within his own heart for the Shechinah to reside. The idea that each Jew will create a Mishkan within himself is inspiring and profound. It is also frightening. The inspiration profoundly comes from the realization of what Hashem feels we…

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Home -> 5785 -> Mishpatim

וכי יכה איש את עבדו או את אמתו בשבט ומת תחת ידו נקם ינקם

Sruly Schnair
In Mishpatim, 5785

If a man shall strike his slave or his maidservant with the rod, and he shall die under his hand, He shall surely be avenged. (21:20)

The Torah addresses a very sad situation in which a Jewish master strikes his non-Jewish slave with such force that he kills him.  The master is liable for the death penalty; Nakeim yinakeim, “He shall surely be avenged.”  It is sad for a number of reasons.  First, a Jew is to be executed for a violent act of murder.  Second, is the fact that we can have among us a person of such low character that he can kill another human being – for whatever reason.  This pasuk obviously does not apply to the normal ben Torah, observant Jew, whose…

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Home -> 5785 -> Vaeira

הם המדברים אל פרעה ... הוא משה ואהרן

Sruly Schnair
In Vaeira, 5785

These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh … this was Moshe and Aharon. (6:27)

Prior to relating Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon HaKohen’s visit to Pharaoh for what was to be the beginning of the end of the Jewish enslavement, the Torah digresses and offers a brief genealogical backdrop.  The Torah begins by introducing Levi ben Yaakov, the Patriarch of the Levite families.  This is followed by a detailed list of his children and grandchildren, and it concludes with Moshe and Aharon who came before Pharaoh demanding that he release the Jews.  Rashi is bothered by the superfluous ending to the family history.  He explains that the Torah intimates that Hu Moshe v’Aharon mi’techilah v’ad…

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Home -> Shemos -> 5785

וימררו את חייהם בעבדה קשה בחמר ובלבנים

Sruly Schnair
In 5785, Shemos

They embittered their lives with hard work, with mortar and with bricks. (1:14)

The Zohar HaKadosh explains chomer, mortar, and leveinim, bricks, differently than the standard translation.  Chomer is reference to kal v’chomer (light and heavy; a principle of determining halachah. It means that what applies in a less important – light – case will surely apply in a more important – heavy – one.  The phrase has come to mean an inescapable conclusion).  Leveinim refers to libun halachah, the process of thoroughly analyzing, clarifying and elucidating halachah.  (The word libun means whitening or purification, symbolizing the effort expended to refine and clarify a halachic issue until it becomes clear, so that it…

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Home -> Vayechi -> 5785

ואני נתתי לך שכם אחד על אחיך אשר לקחתי מיד האמורי בחרבי ובקשתי

Sruly Schnair
In 5785, Vayechi

As for me, I have given you, Shechem, one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the Emori with my sword and with my bow. (48:22)

Yaakov Avinu awarded Yosef an extra portion of land: Shechem. This was bequeathed to him for taking the initiative to inter Yaakov Avinu’s remains in Eretz Yisrael. To protect Shimon and Levi, who had gone to Shechem to retrieve their sister, Dinah, and to avenge the family’s honor, the Patriarch took up arms, preparing to battle the Emori. Hashem provided the Patriarch with a miracle, so that he would emerge triumphant. Sword and bow are figurative terms for the spiritual weaponry that our Patriarch employed. This teaches us that true strength is not physical in nature, but rather, spiritual strength…

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Home -> Vayigash -> 5785

ויעל לקראת ישראל אביו.....וירא אליו

Sruly Schnair
In 5785, Vayigash

And he (Yosef) went up to meet his father…..He appeared before him. (46:29)

Yaakov Avinu could not wait to see his long-lost son, Yosef. Yosef had left home a boy, and now he was viceroy over the people of Egypt. He went from challenge to travail and emerged as righteous as when he left home. The image of his father had kept him holy. Now, after all this time, after all the tzaros, troubles, that Yosef had endured, he was finally going to embrace his father. This would be the script as presented by a secular author, a playwright who seeks to capture the drama of this face-to-face interaction between father and son….

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Home -> Mikeitz -> 5785

וישלח פרעה ויקרא את יוסף ויריצהו מן הבור

Sruly Schnair
In 5785, Mikeitz

So Pharaoh sent and summoned Yosef, and they rushed him from the dungeon. (41:14)

Regardless of the circumstances surrounding one’s eis tzarah, period of trouble, when the designated time for geulah, redemption/deliverance, arrives, he will not spend one extra moment in travail.    Yosef was incarcerated with no immediate hope for release, but, when the Heavenly-appointed time for his liberation was reached, he was rushed out of prison.  Likewise, explains the Chafetz Chaim, when the time for Klal Yisrael’s redemption from exile arrives, we will immediately be freed.  Nothing will impede our release. Two types of redemption exist: collective redemption; and personal redemption.  We must remember that, however bleak things may appear, this darkness will…

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