Derech Eretz – Page 66 – Peninim on the Torah

כי תראה חמור שנאך רבץ תחת משאו וחדלת מעזב לו עזב תעזב עמו

If you see the donkey of someone you hate crouching under its burden, would you refrain from helping him? – You shall help repeatedly with him. (23:5)

Azov taazov imo; “You shall help repeatedly with him.” The Talmud Bava Metzia 32 uses imo, “with him” to teach an important lesson concerning helping one’s fellowman. It must be imo, with him. If the intended beneficiary of one’s assistance decides to sit back while he is being helped by others, he is not obliged to help him. We should reach out to those in need, but only when they are willing to work alongside, when they have exhausted every other means of income-generating endeavor. The Kli Yakar adds that this Chazal serves as a response to those aniyim, poor…

Home -> 5776 -> Mishpatim

והגישו אדניו אל הדלת... ורצע אדניו את אזנו במרצע ועבדו לעולם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Mishpatim, 5776

Then his master shall bring him to the door… and his master shall bore through his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. (21:6)

The Talmud Kiddushin 22b explains why the ear, as opposed to the other organs of the body, is bored. Hashem said, “The ear that heard My voice at Har Sinai, at the moment that I said, ‘For Me will Bnei Yisrael be slaves – and not slaves to slaves; yet, this person went ahead and acquired a (another) master for himself.’” This thief — who either was sold by the rabbinical court to repay his debt or sold himself out of poverty– was originally forced into servitude as a result of his predicament. He now seeks to extend his “working…

Home -> 5762 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5762

“Your sons and daughters will be given to another people – and your eyes will see and pine in vain for them… You will bear sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.” (28:32,41)

There seems to be a redundancy in these two tragic curses. We suggest that, unfortunately, they are two distinct curses, each one focusing on a different type of loss. In the former, the children are given over to another people. They might be living under the same roof as their parents, but their values are different. They are alienated from their people and instead are enchanted by the culture of another nation. In the latter curse, the children are no longer home; they have been taken captive by another nation. They are slaves to another people. In the first curse, the…

Home -> 5762 -> Ki Seitzei

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Seitzei, 5762

“If a man marries a woman… and it will be that she will not find favor in his eyes, for he found in her a matter of immorality, and he wrote her a bill of divorce.” (24:1)

According to the flow of the text, it is implied that she lost favor in his eyes and, therefore, he divorces her. Rashi adds that he should divorce her because of her immoral conduct. Even if he does not have witnesses to prove his allegations to the satisfaction of the court, the fact that she is guilty of immoral conduct should be reason enough for her to lose favor in his eyes. Horav Eliyahu Meir Bloch, z.l., derives an important lesson from Rashi. We are under the impression that “favor” is not dependent upon a person’s moral posture. If he is…

Home -> 5762 -> Re'eh

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Re'eh, 5762

“His requirement, whatever is lacking to him.” (15:8)

While we are not obligated to make the supplicant wealthy, we are enjoined to see to it that he receives his due in accordance with his needs. Everybody’s needs are different. One who had previously been wealthy and lost everything cannot subsist on the meager alms that would suffice for one who had always been poor. The Torah is probably the only ethical system that takes the poor man’s self-esteem – his present frame of mind – in account when it prescribes the manner in which we are to sustain him. We have to make a person feel good about himself…

Home -> 5762 -> Va'eschanan

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5762

“Honor your father and your mother, as Hashem, your G-d, commanded you, so that your days will be lengthened.” (5:16)

Rashi says that the commandment to honor one’s parents was first given at Marah. Does it really make a difference where Hashem first commanded Klal Yisrael in regard to this mitzvah? Perhaps this teaches us that our entire approach to the mitzvah of Kibbud Av v’Eim is wrong. There are those who think that we have an obligation to honor our parents out of a sense of gratitude for what they have done for us. They bring us into the world, clothe and feed us, arrange our education and provide for our basic material needs. This is not the Torah’s perspective…

Home -> Devarim -> 5762

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5762, Devarim

“These are the words that Moshe spoke to all Yisrael.” (1:1)

Rebuke is far from simple. It is difficult for the one who renders the admonishment and difficult for he who is being reproached. In his commentary to Sefer Mishlei 9:8, the Gaon M’Vilna writes that tochachah, rebuke, is like a mirror that presents an individual with a clear picture of his real self. He can either look at the image and accept what it shows, or he can ignore the image and go about his business as usual. The Sefas Emes says that the word tochachah has its root in the word toch, which means inside. The purpose of rebuke is…

Home -> Devarim -> 5762

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5762, Devarim

“These are the words that Moshe spoke to all Yisrael.” (1:1)

At the end of the fortieth year of their sojourn in the wilderness, Moshe Rabbeinu is about to take leave of the flock that he had nurtured. He commenced his rebuke on Rosh Chodesh Shevat and culminated his words on the day that he died – the seventh of Adar. The Sifri comments that Moshe purposely decided to admonish the people close to the time when he was leaving this world. He learned this practice from Yaakov Avinu, who also chided his sons prior to his death. Chazal suggest four reasons why one might leave rebuke until the end – close…

Home -> 5762 -> Korach

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Korach, 5762

“They stood/arose before Moshe.” (16:2)

Targum Yonasan adds, V’kamu b’chutzpah, “They arose with insolence.” How does the pasuk imply that they acted with chutzpah, impudence, towards Moshe Rabbeinu? On the contrary, the pasuk clearly states that they arose for him. Maharitz gives a pragmatic explanation, one that teaches us a profound lesson of the definition of chutzpah. He explains that knowing that Moshe was coming, they arose before he came, so that they would not have to get up for him. They refused to demonstrate any derech eretz, respect, for Moshe, so they were already standing when Moshe came. This is considered standing up with chutzpah….

Home -> 5762 -> Shelach

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shelach, 5762

“They brought forth an evil report on the land that they had spied… ‘it is a land that devours its inhabitants…we were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes.’” (13:32-33)

The spies returned from their mission and spread malicious lies about Eretz Yisrael. They said the land was made for huge and robust people, not for ordinary people like the Jews. They failed to realize that they were the beneficiaries of Hashem’s favor. Wherever they went, they noticed funerals going on. Rather than realize that Hashem was sparing them by engaging the Canaanites in funeral preparations, they were quick to charge that it was a land that devours its inhabitants. They felt especially insignificant in the eyes of the giants that lived there. This statement was especially slanderous and pure conjecture….

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Back to Home -> Mishpatim ->

כי תראה חמור שנאך רבץ תחת משאו וחדלת מעזב לו עזב תעזב עמו

If you see the donkey of someone you hate crouching under its burden, would you refrain from helping him? – You shall help repeatedly with him. (23:5)

והגישו אדניו אל הדלת... ורצע אדניו את אזנו במרצע ועבדו לעולם

Then his master shall bring him to the door… and his master shall bore through his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. (21:6)

“Your sons and daughters will be given to another people – and your eyes will see and pine in vain for them… You will bear sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.” (28:32,41)

“If a man marries a woman… and it will be that she will not find favor in his eyes, for he found in her a matter of immorality, and he wrote her a bill of divorce.” (24:1)

“His requirement, whatever is lacking to him.” (15:8)

“Honor your father and your mother, as Hashem, your G-d, commanded you, so that your days will be lengthened.” (5:16)

“These are the words that Moshe spoke to all Yisrael.” (1:1)

“These are the words that Moshe spoke to all Yisrael.” (1:1)

“They stood/arose before Moshe.” (16:2)

“They brought forth an evil report on the land that they had spied… ‘it is a land that devours its inhabitants…we were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes.’” (13:32-33)

YEARS

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

You have Successfully Subscribed!