Emes – Page 16 – Peninim on the Torah

ויאמר ד' אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך

Hashem said to Avram, “Go for yourself from your land, from your relatives, and from your father’s house.” (12:1)

This is our introduction to Avraham Avinu: no biography; no family lineage; no prior history. Whatever we know about the first Patriarch is from Chazal. Even Moshe Rabbeinu’s birth and genealogy are recorded. Why not that of the father of our nation? Avraham’s father was Terach, an idolater, who was so committed to his pagan beliefs that he informed on his son to the evil Nimrod. Had Hashem not provided a miracle for Avraham, he would have been immolated in a fiery cauldron. Avraham’s wife, Sarah Imeinu, was Terach’s granddaughter, whom he had raised after the untimely death of her…

Home -> 5783 -> Lech Lecha

ויבא הפליט ויגד לאברם העברי

Sruly Schnair In Lech Lecha, 5783

Then there came the fugitive and told Avram, the Ivri. (14:13)

The term Ivri (translated as Hebrew, or “to one side”) is applied only to Avraham Avinu. It is written concerning him only once in the Torah, with regard to the fugitive whom Rashi teaches was none other than Og, the future king of Bashan, enemy of the Jewish People. Og hoped (or assumed) that nothing would stand in the way of Avraham rescuing Lot, who had been taken captive. Thus, he would be killed in the war. Once Avraham was out of the picture, Og would be free to marry his widow, Sarah Imeinu. Two questions are glaring. Why does…

Home -> 5783 -> Noach

אלה תולדות נח נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדורותיו

Sruly Schnair In Noach, 5783

These are the offspring of Noach – Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generation. (6:9)

A well-known debate exists among the sages concerning the term “generations” as it relates to Noach: Was he righteous only in the context of his generation, which was evil? Or, alternatively, even in his evil generation surrounded by moral corruption, he was able to remain righteous. Certainly, in the generation of Avraham Avinu, he would have been righteous. In other words, how would Noach have fared in Avraham’s generation, which was on a much higher plateau? The question is obvious: What provoked the sages, who viewed Noach in a less-than-favorable manner, to state: “Had he lived in the generation of…

Home -> 5783 -> Bereishis

ויאמר אלקים נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו

Sruly Schnair In Bereishis, 5783

And Elokim said, “Let us make Man in Our image, after Our likeness.” (1:26)

Chazal (Midrash) teach, “When Moshe Rabbeinu wrote the Torah (as dictated to him by Hashem), he came to this pasuk, “Let Us make…” which is written in the plural, thus implying the notion that there might chas v’shalom, Heaven forbid, be more than one Creator. Ribbono Shel Olam! Why did You give the heretics a pretext to suggest a plural of divinities?” Hashem replied, “Write… whoever wishes to err will do so regardless. Rather, let them learn from their Creator, Who (although He) created all, still consulted with the Ministering Angels.” Thus, Hashem taught us that, regardless of one’s greatness,…

Home -> V'zos HaBrachah -> 5783

ויאמר ד' מסיני בא... ממינו אש דת למו

Sruly Schnair In 5783, V'zos HaBrachah

He said: Hashem came from Sinai… from His right hand. He presented the fiery Torah to them. (33:2)

The Baal HaTurim comments that this pasuk begins with the letter vov (Va’yomer) and ends with the letter vov (lamo). This is by design, to allude that Moshe Rabbeinu blessed all twelve shevatim, tribes. (The numerical value of vov is six. Two vovim equal twelve.) The commentators question why the Baal HaTurim did not note this in the earlier pasuk, which also begins and ends with vov. This pasuk addresses Moshe’s blessing the Jewish People. It would have been more appropriate to underscore the dual vovim in a pasuk which speaks about blessing. The Zera Shimshon explains that the main…

Home -> Ha'azinu -> 5783

קל אמונה ואין עול

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Ha'azinu

A G-d of faith without iniquity. (32:4)

Horav Eliyahu Lopian, zl, explains the concept of ein avel, there is no iniquity. Hashem’s judgment is perfect. This means that absolutely everyone who is affected in some way in the ripple effect of the sinner’s punishment, himself deserves some form of punishment. Human judgment does not take the ramifications upon others into its verdict. If someone committed a crime – he must pay – regardless of who may suffer as a result of this verdict. A man is incarcerated for a crime that he unquestionably committed; a person is taken ill, and, as a result of his illness is…

Home -> 5782 -> Ki Savo

וענית ואמרת לפני ד' אלקיך

Sruly Schnair In Ki Savo, 5782

Then you shall call out and say before Hashem, your G-d. (26:5)

Bikkurim, offering the first fruits to the Kohen, symbolizes the Jew dedicating everything in his possession to Hashem. (Incidentally, our greatest possession is “ourselves.” Thus, we should keep in mind that we should wholly dedicate to Hashem, all of “ourselves”.) As part of the Bikkurim ritual, the one who brings the first fruits makes a declaration recording our history and salvation from such ignominious scoundrels as Lavan – who attempted to uproot the very underpinnings of our people by destroying Yaakov Avinu – to Pharaoh, the despot who enslaved us for over two centuries. He relates how we prayed, cried,…

Home -> 5782 -> Shoftim

שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך ... ושפטו את העם משפט צדק ...צדק, צדק תרדף

Sruly Schnair In Shoftim, 5782

Judges and officers shall you appoint… and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment… righteous, righteous shall you pursue. (16:18,20)

We are enjoined to establish a justice system in which righteousness is the criterion by which justice is determined and by which reward and punishment is to be meted out. While justice is a concept ingrained in all humanity, the Jewish religion places a premium on justice and considers it the foundation of our existence. Hashem is the Ultimate Judge, the Arbiter who determines what is right and what is wrong. A society that adheres to rewarding good and punishing bad is a just society. A society which disregards good and bad is corrupt. Justice is the lodestar by which…

Home -> 5782 -> Shoftim

מקרב אחיך תשים עליך מלך לא תוכל לתת עליך איש נכרי אשר לא אחיך הוא

Sruly Schnair In Shoftim, 5782

From among your brethren shall you set a king over yourself, you cannot place over yourself a foreign man who is not your brother. (17:15)

The Sefer HaChinuch writes that we may not establish one who is not m’zera Yisrael (having the blood DNA of the seed of Yisrael) over us as a king. This applies even if the person is a ger tzedek, righteous convert. The shoresh ha’mitzvah, root of the mitzvah, is due to the fact that zera Yisrael are rachmanim, merciful. It is critical that he show mercy to all Jews and not impose upon them a heavy yoke which they are unable to bear. He should love truth, justice and righteousness, which are qualities that descendants of Avraham Avinu possess. The…

Home -> 5782 -> Re'eh

אחרי ד' אלקיכם תלכו

Sruly Schnair In Re'eh, 5782

Hashem, your G-d, shall you follow. (13:5)

When the Chafetz Chaim, zl, met the Gerrer Rebbe, zl (Imrei Emes), at the first Knessiah Gedolah, he asked him about what appeared to be an inconsistency in Rashi’s commentary concerning the definition of the word acharei. In the above pasuk, Rashi does not view acharei as having any “geographical” impact, while, in 11:30, Acharei derech ma’vo ha’shemesh.” “Far, in the direction of the sunset,” Rashi explains the pasuk does have geographical impact: “Wherever acharei is used, it is muflag, it implies a considerable distance in time and space.” The Chafetz Chaim asked, “According to Rashi’s explanation, how are we…

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Back to Home -> Lech Lecha ->

ויאמר ד' אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך

Hashem said to Avram, “Go for yourself from your land, from your relatives, and from your father’s house.” (12:1)

ויבא הפליט ויגד לאברם העברי

Then there came the fugitive and told Avram, the Ivri. (14:13)

אלה תולדות נח נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדורותיו

These are the offspring of Noach – Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generation. (6:9)

ויאמר אלקים נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו

And Elokim said, “Let us make Man in Our image, after Our likeness.” (1:26)

ויאמר ד' מסיני בא... ממינו אש דת למו

He said: Hashem came from Sinai… from His right hand. He presented the fiery Torah to them. (33:2)

קל אמונה ואין עול

A G-d of faith without iniquity. (32:4)

וענית ואמרת לפני ד' אלקיך

Then you shall call out and say before Hashem, your G-d. (26:5)

שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך ... ושפטו את העם משפט צדק ...צדק, צדק תרדף

Judges and officers shall you appoint… and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment… righteous, righteous shall you pursue. (16:18,20)

מקרב אחיך תשים עליך מלך לא תוכל לתת עליך איש נכרי אשר לא אחיך הוא

From among your brethren shall you set a king over yourself, you cannot place over yourself a foreign man who is not your brother. (17:15)

אחרי ד' אלקיכם תלכו

Hashem, your G-d, shall you follow. (13:5)

YEARS

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