Emes – Page 80 – Peninim on the Torah

ויתפלל אברהם אל האלקים וירפא אלקים את אבימלך... וד' פקד את שרה

Avraham prayed to G-d, and G-d healed Avimelech… Hashem remembered Sarah. (20:17) (21:1)

Rashi notes the juxtaposition of Sarah Imeinu’s conception and giving birth to Yitzchak Avinu upon Avraham Avinu’s prayer on behalf of Avimelech. He explains that the Torah put this passage (Sarah’s conception and giving birth) next to the incident of Avimelech to teach that whoever seeks mercy by praying for his friend, while he himself (the individual praying) needs that same thing (for which he is praying on behalf of his friend), he (the one praying), is answered first. Avimelech was in need – Avraham prayed for him; thus, he was answered by Hashem – before Avimelech. Imagine two people…

Home -> Vayechi -> 5775

אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך שים נא ידך תחת ירכי ועשית עמדי חסד ואמת

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Vayechi

If I have found favor in your eyes, please place your hand under my thigh and do kindness and truth with me. (47:29)

Placing one’s hand beneath the thigh was the means of taking an oath. Yaakov Avinu insisted on an oath, because he knew that Yosef would be under intense political pressure to bury him in Egypt. He now had a reason to justify his actions, having made a promise to his father, which he was obligated to keep. Horav Yehudah Asaad, zl, renders this episode homiletically, thereby teaching us a practical and inspiring lesson. Rav Assad begins by defining the words and underlying implied homiletical meaning of: yerech, thigh; yad, hand; chesed, kindness; emes, truth. In Devarim 15:8, the Torah addresses…

Home -> 5775 -> Va'eschanan

ומשלם לשנאיו על פניו להאבידו לא יאחר לשנאו אל פניו ישלם לו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5775

But He repays each of His enemies to his face to make him perish; He will not delay for His enemy to his face He will repay him. (7:10)

Rashi explains that even the wicked who act appropriately and carry out good deeds will be rewarded. Hashem does not deprive anyone of his rightful reward. There is one difference, however; the wicked will be rewarded in this world. Olam Habba, the World To Come, is not their domain. They will not access their reward in the Eternal World. Their reward will be received in the here and now. The righteous, however, will enjoy the deep-rooted spiritual pleasure that is Olam Habba. Why should the rasha, wicked person, not receive his reward in Olam Habba? Is it reserved only for…

Home -> 5775 -> Va'eschanan

ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Va'eschanan, 5775

You shall teach them thoroughly to your children and you shall speak of them. (6:7)

Rashi teaches that banecha, your sons, eilu ha’talmidim, applies equally to one’s talmidim, students. In Nitzotzos, Rav Yitzchak Herskowitz, Shlita, relates a story he heard from a Rosh Yeshivah, who is one of today’s more successful marbitzei Torah, disseminators of Torah, in Eretz Yisrael. Apparently, Torah was not always this individual’s primary interest. As a young, teenage student attending Yeshivas Ohr Yisrael in Petach Tikvah, he was involved in a lot of things, most of which were not Torah-related. Running with a group of like-minded students, he presented a constant challenge for the patience of the yeshivah’s Mashgiach, ethical supervisor….

Home -> 5775 -> Tzav

ואש המזבח תוקד בו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tzav, 5775

And the fire of the Altar should be kept aflame on it. (6:2)

The fire of one’s avodas Hashem, service to the Almighty, should burn passionately bo, “within him.” In other words, he should do nothing during his service to Hashem that in any way offends, takes advantage of, or imposes upon someone else. The well-known Chazal (Sukkah 28) relates the level of intensity evinced by the Torah-study of the Tanna, Yonasan ben Uziel. His intensity was to the extent that when he studied Torah, birds flying over the roof of his house would be burned. The Sfas Emes was presented with the Chazal accompanied by the following question: If this was the…

Home -> 5775 -> Toldos

ויתרוצצו הבנים בקרבה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Toldos, 5775

The children agitated within her. (25:22)

Rashi cites Chazal who explain that the word Vayisrotzetzu, “And they (the children) agitated” is derived from the word rotz, to run. When Rivkah Imeinu passed the Yeshivah of Shem and Eivar, Yaakov “ran” and struggled to go forth; and when she passed a house of idol worship, Eisav “ran” to go out. Each child had a certain proclivity representative of the cosmic forces within Creation – forces that are not connected to normal personality development, but transcend it. Yaakov Avinu gravitated towards the bais hamedrash, while Eisav was more comfortable in the house of idol worship. As they grew…

Home -> 5775 -> Toldos

ויעתר יצחק לד' לנוכח אשתו כי עקרה היא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Toldos, 5775

Yitzchak entreated Hashem opposite his wife, because she was barren. (25:21)

Rashi interprets the word va’yeetar to mean that Yitzchak Avinu prayed abundantly for Rivkah. He never felt “I prayed enough.” He finished one prayer; he immediately began to pray again. The first prayer was not accepted; perhaps the next one would be accepted. The fact that, according to the laws of nature, it was biologically impossible for Rivkah Imeinu to conceive, he, nonetheless, understood that his function was to daven, the rest was up to Hashem to decide. The ratzon HaBorei, will of the Almighty, is that we daven. If we care enough about an issue, then we cannot give…

Home -> 5775 -> Terumah

ועשית שנים כרובים זהב... ונועדתי לך שם ודברתי אתך מעל הכפרת מבין שני הכרובים אשר על ארון העדות

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Terumah, 5775

You shall make two Keruvim of gold… It is there that I will set My meetings with you, and I will speak with you from atop the Cover, from between the Keruvim that are on the Aron HaEidus. (25:18,22)

It is interesting to note the change in the spelling of the word “two.” At first, the Keruvim are referred to as shnayim Keruvim, while later on they are called shnei Keruvim. Rabbeinu Bachya distinguishes between shnayim which means “two,” but does not denote anything more than a quantity of subjects or items. Shnayim is not used when the “two” are of equal status, such as: Shnei Luchos HaEidus, Two Tablets of Testimony, which were the same; shnei seirim, two he-goats, used for the Yom Kippur service, which were also similar to one another. The Keruvim, however, were male and…

Home -> 5775 -> Shoftim

מי האיש הירא ורך הלבב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5775

Who is the man who is fearful and fainthearted? (20:8)

Prior to selecting those individuals who were to represent the nation in war, we find the Kohen Gadol asking all those who had just made family commitments– a new wife; a new house; a new vineyard– to leave the circle and return home. The Kohen left the scene, and the officers took charge. According to Rabbi Yosi HaGelili, the last declaration, which exhorted he who was afraid to leave, focuses on a person who is not as much a coward as he is afraid of dying. He is fearful of the impact that his sins will make on his successful…

Home -> 5775 -> Shoftim

לא תקים לך מצבה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Shoftim, 5775

And you shall not erect for yourself a pillar. (16:22)

It is forbidden to set up a single stone for worship – even if it is in order to worship the true G-d, Hashem. He has despised these stones ever since the pagans decided to employ them as a means for their own worship. Only an altar comprised of numerous stones or of earth creates the proper modality of worship. Horav Levi Yitzchak, zl, m’Berditchev, renders this prohibition homiletically as referring to the most common form of worship: self-worship. Chazal state (Pirkei Avos 4), “This world is compared to a vestibule before Olam Habba, the World to Come.” Our world…

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ויתפלל אברהם אל האלקים וירפא אלקים את אבימלך... וד' פקד את שרה

Avraham prayed to G-d, and G-d healed Avimelech… Hashem remembered Sarah. (20:17) (21:1)

אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך שים נא ידך תחת ירכי ועשית עמדי חסד ואמת

If I have found favor in your eyes, please place your hand under my thigh and do kindness and truth with me. (47:29)

ומשלם לשנאיו על פניו להאבידו לא יאחר לשנאו אל פניו ישלם לו

But He repays each of His enemies to his face to make him perish; He will not delay for His enemy to his face He will repay him. (7:10)

ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם

You shall teach them thoroughly to your children and you shall speak of them. (6:7)

ואש המזבח תוקד בו

And the fire of the Altar should be kept aflame on it. (6:2)

ויתרוצצו הבנים בקרבה

The children agitated within her. (25:22)

ויעתר יצחק לד' לנוכח אשתו כי עקרה היא

Yitzchak entreated Hashem opposite his wife, because she was barren. (25:21)

ועשית שנים כרובים זהב... ונועדתי לך שם ודברתי אתך מעל הכפרת מבין שני הכרובים אשר על ארון העדות

You shall make two Keruvim of gold… It is there that I will set My meetings with you, and I will speak with you from atop the Cover, from between the Keruvim that are on the Aron HaEidus. (25:18,22)

מי האיש הירא ורך הלבב

Who is the man who is fearful and fainthearted? (20:8)

לא תקים לך מצבה

And you shall not erect for yourself a pillar. (16:22)

YEARS

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