Commitment – Page 40 – Peninim on the Torah

כי דור תהפכת המה בנים לא אמן בם

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

It hurts much more when the troublemaker is “ours.” We read about someone who has committed an act of dishonesty; we are angered. “What kind of person is that? Who could act in such a reprehensible manner?” When the culprit is someone young, we wonder what kind of parents he had; what kind of home he came from; what type of upbringing he had. When the culprit is one of our own – when it is one’s own child, there is anger, hurt, humiliation, and then all of the questions that we would have asked of others we ask ourselves:…

Home -> 5774 -> Eikev

ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Eikev, 5774

You shall cut away the barrier of your heart. (10:16)

Metaphorically, the heart represents the seat of a human being’s passion and emotion. When one loses his moral compass and begins to fall prey to his base desires, this moral weakness is described figuratively as a dulled heart, ensconced in a layer of dross which prevents it from connecting spiritually. In other words, the person’s ability to perceive and be inspired spiritually is hampered by this encumbrance. The only way to resuscitate the heart spiritually is to “cut away” the layer that dulls the person’s spiritual impulses, preventing him from growing in the manner of becoming a Torah Jew. What…

Home -> Devarim -> 5774

איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5774, Devarim

How can I bear myself your trouble, your burden and your arguments. (1:12)

Moshe Rabbeinu seems to be complaining about his difficult workload. Clearly, this cannot be the case. The word, “difficult,” was not in our quintessential leader’s lexicon. Rather, he was expressing his disappointment at the sorry state of affairs. When the people accepted a tiered system of justice, with the addition of many judges to assist Moshe, they did so because they perceived that they would receive personal benefit from the new approach to justice. Moshe was unimpeachable. He had always rendered the halachah in accordance with the law. Furthermore, he was the paradigm of integrity. Thus, whoever presented a case…

Home -> 5774 -> Chukas

זאת חקת התורה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chukas, 5774

This is the chok/statute/decree of the Torah. (19:8)

The term chok is used to describe a mitzvah which, for all intents and purposes, seems inexplicable. While Hashem certainly has a rationale for this mitzvah, our little finite minds have difficulty understanding that which is infinite. We are instructed to serve Hashem out of love and awe – not because it makes sense, it seems the right thing to do, or we understand it. We serve Hashem because He is the Almighty, and, on Har Sinai we accepted to be His People, with a resounding declaration of Naase v’Nishma, “We will do and we will listen,” thereby affirming our…

Home -> 5774 -> Chayei Sarah

ויבא אברהם לספד לשרה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chayei Sarah, 5774

And Avraham came to eulogize Sarah. (23:2)

The Midrash notes the word va’yavo, “And (Avraham) came.” “From where did he come,” the Midrash asks. “He came from the burial of Terach, his father, but did not the passing of Terach precede Sarah Imeinu’s death by two years? We must say that he came from Har HaMoriah.” The Midrash is obviously enigmatic. When Avraham left Har HaMoriah, he returned to Beer Sheva. If this is the case, Avraham Avinu was “coming” from Beer Sheva. Ramban explains that vayavo does not refer to Avraham’s physical act of coming, but rather, the place which inspired his eulogy of Sarah. Therefore,…

Home -> 5774 -> Beha'alosecha

ויאמרו האנשים ההמה... למה נגרע לבלתי הקריב את קרבן ד' במועדו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Beha'alosecha, 5774

Those men said to him… Why should we be diminished by not offering Hashem’s offering at the appointed time? (9:7)

A group of people, who due to their being in a state of tumah, ritual impurity, were ineligible to bring the Korban Pesach, presented themselves before Moshe Rabbeinu, asking for a dispensation of some sort. Their desire to offer the Korban Pesach was so intense that they appealed to Moshe to somehow, someway, help them experience this milestone event. As a result of their burning desire to perform the mitzvah, Hashem made them agents through whom He revealed the mitzvah of celebrating Pesach Sheni, the Second Pesach. Essentially, it was to be viewed as a makeup Pesach. This is the…

Home -> Bamidbar -> 5774

פקד את בני לוי לבית אבתם... כל זכר מבן חדש ומעלה תפקדם. ויפקד אתם משה על פי ד'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5774, Bamidbar

Count the sons of Levi according to their father’s household… every male from one month of age and up shall you count them. Moshe counted them according to the word of Hashem. (3:15,16)

Perhaps the infants of Shevet Levi were precocious, but they certainly did not perform the service in the Sanctuary at the age of thirty-days old. Horav Moshe Feinstein, zl, explains that the members of other tribes were occupied with guarding and working the land. Thus, they were unable to devote as much time to their children’s education as were the Leviim. Therefore, they were counted when they reached the age of twenty years. When they were still young, it was difficult to know if they would achieve the spiritual level required to represent the nation. At age twenty, the way…

Home -> Bamidbar -> 5774

שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל למשפחתם לבית אבתם במספר שמות

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5774, Bamidbar

Take a census of the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael, according to their families, according to their fathers’ household, by number of the names. (1:2)

What is the significance of the counting of the people by their names? Ramban explains this practically. It was a great honor to be presented before Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon HaKohen and state one’s name as a form of introduction. In his commentary to Sefer Shemos 1:1, Sforno explains the delineation of the individual names of each of the sons of Yaakov Avinu, while the names of the rest of the seventy members of the family which descended to Egypt are not detailed. Those who are mentioned were worthy to be named, for each one was worthy of his name,…

Home -> 5774 -> Balak

כי מראש צרים אראנו ומגבעות אשורנו הן עם לבדד ישכן ובגוים לא יתחשב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Balak, 5774

“For from its origins, I see it rocklike, and from hills do I view it. Behold! It is a nation that will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the nations.” (23:9)

Rashi explains Bilaam’s description of Klal Yisrael as a nation whose origins are firmly entrenched and established as rocks and hills – the rocks allude to the Patriarchs and the hills to the Matriarchs. The nation’s loyalty to their illustrious forebears protects them, allowing them to remain firm and resolute in their commitment to Hashem. In his Simchas HaTorah, Horav Simchah Shepps, zl, observes that here Bilaam is revealing the secret of Klal Yisrael’s invincibility, their ability to withstand the tremendous external pressures and challenges that have beset them from their earliest moments as a nation. Their roots herald back…

Home -> Vayikra -> 5759

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5759, Vayikra

When a person offers a meal-offering to Hashem…and the Kohen shall cause its memorial portion to go up in smoke on the altar, a fire offering, a satisfying aroma to Hashem. (2:1,2)

Rashi notes the use of the word “nefesh,” soul, in reference to the Korban Minchah. Indeed, the Torah uses this word only in regard to the Korban Minchah. A meal-offering is the most inexpensive of all korbanos. It is the korban of choice for the poor man who seeks to donate whatever he can put together as a korban. Hashem recognizes the source of this korban – the nefesh – of the person who gave so much of himself, because he had nothing else to give. The “azkarah,” remembrance — which consists of the scoop of the offering — is…

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כי דור תהפכת המה בנים לא אמן בם

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

ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם

You shall cut away the barrier of your heart. (10:16)

איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם

How can I bear myself your trouble, your burden and your arguments. (1:12)

זאת חקת התורה

This is the chok/statute/decree of the Torah. (19:8)

ויבא אברהם לספד לשרה

And Avraham came to eulogize Sarah. (23:2)

ויאמרו האנשים ההמה... למה נגרע לבלתי הקריב את קרבן ד' במועדו

Those men said to him… Why should we be diminished by not offering Hashem’s offering at the appointed time? (9:7)

פקד את בני לוי לבית אבתם... כל זכר מבן חדש ומעלה תפקדם. ויפקד אתם משה על פי ד'

Count the sons of Levi according to their father’s household… every male from one month of age and up shall you count them. Moshe counted them according to the word of Hashem. (3:15,16)

שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל למשפחתם לבית אבתם במספר שמות

Take a census of the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael, according to their families, according to their fathers’ household, by number of the names. (1:2)

כי מראש צרים אראנו ומגבעות אשורנו הן עם לבדד ישכן ובגוים לא יתחשב

“For from its origins, I see it rocklike, and from hills do I view it. Behold! It is a nation that will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the nations.” (23:9)

When a person offers a meal-offering to Hashem…and the Kohen shall cause its memorial portion to go up in smoke on the altar, a fire offering, a satisfying aroma to Hashem. (2:1,2)

YEARS

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