Chumash Books

How to use these books:

The following points will tell you what this commentary does and does not do:

1. We tried to present the main themes of each parsha, and not to use the parsha as a spring board for other lessons.
2. The experienced reader will be able to understand the subject by reading the English on top fairly quickly, and gain easy access to more information through the Meforshim quoted in the footnotes.
3. A lot of extra information was quoted in full in the footnotes. However, for a full understanding, the original Pirusch needs to be consulted.
4. We gave the approach of the major Meforshim wherever we were able to identify this. We used approximately 20 primary sources (Chazal and Meforshim) and we frequently quoted another 20. However where we saw the need, we used other Meforshim as well. In some essays, the Meforshim we used were primarily not Meforshei HaChumash.
5. The essays are generally between eight to ten pages, with a one to two page summary at the beginning. They do not represent polished droshas for the following reasons:
   • They have too much information in them.
   • They were written for an experienced reader.
   • They lack midrashim, stories and other elements required to bring the subject alive.
   • They require an application to contemporary circumstances.

בראשית is the book of Creation. This includes the creation of all the nations and the birth of the Jewish nation in the form of the Avos, who were the spiritual source for all people. The Avos are a part of the book of Creation because they set up the patterns of history which were to repeat themselves throughout the period of This World.

Adam and Chava, Kayin and Hevel, Noach and the Mabul, all show that man must fulfill his purpose or be accountable before G-d.

There is a principle that ãøê àøõ ÷ãîä ìúåøä. The Torah therefore begins with a whole book and a half before it gets to the first Mitzvah, as a lesson to the Jewish nation to illustrate the power of harmonizing their character with His Will. Hence it is the character of the Avos, in particular their kindness and uprightness, even to those who were despicable to them, which is highlighted. We will deal with an overview of Bereishis in greater depth below.

ספר שמות deals with the birth of the Jewish people, their purpose and mandate, which is the Torah. It ends with the Mishkan, which is the way of permanently maintaining the Sinai experience, i.e. the resting of the Shechinah in the midst of the Jewish people. The Mishkan is like a portable Sinai. Since it was essential that there be a Torah-keeping people for the purpose of the world to be fulfilled, ñôø ùîåú is really the completion of íôø áøàùéú. It leads to a higher understanding of HaSh-m, from an understanding of His Hashgacha (áøàùéú) to an understanding of His éçåã.

ספר ויקרא gives us the means to keep the Mishkan (and later the Beis HaMikdash) once we have it. The Korbanos ensure that should we lapse, we are able to get a Kaparah through the Korbanos. It is an expression of our understanding of HaSh-m’s éçåã.

According to the Ramban, ñôø áîãáø completes the issue of ñôø åé÷øà, i.e. of preserving the Kavod HaShechina in the Mishkan, and brings us îöååú äùòä that are not ðåäâ ìãåøåú, amongst them issues pertaining to Klal Yisrael’s imminent entry to Eretz Yisroel. The Maharal tells us that ñôø áîãáø teaches us HaSh-m’s Hashgacha, both His äùâçä ëììéú over the whole nation, as well as His äùâçä ôøèéú over each and every one of us. Therefore, the book begins with the Degalim and how HaSh-m led Bnei Yisrael using the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, with this pattern going right through until the end of the Book.

The most perplexing of the Five Books is ñôø ãáøéí. Tosfos say that it is called îùðä úåøä because it is a repeat of the previous books. However, this is difficult to comprehend due to the fact that there are over 70 new Mitzvos contained therein. In his introduction to Devarim, the Ramban painstakingly shows why all those Mitzvos appear as they do in Devarim.

ספר דברים emphasizes our ultimate purpose, which will be achieved with the Geula Asida, the underlying message of Sefer Devarim. Therefore, Devarim is a completion of the Torah and the Jewish people.

Sefer Devarim also serves as the transition between the Written Torah, the Torah outside of us, and the Oral Torah, the Torah that exists inside of ourselves. The Maharal explains that the giving of the Torah has two dimensions. There is the dimension of the Torah as reflected in The Giver, and there is the dimension of the Torah as reflected in the reciever. This is as a result of the vast difference between the Giver (G-d) and the receiver (Man). The covenant of the Torah requires that both these sides be connected to the Torah, that the Torah reflect both the giver as well as the receiver. For it is the very essence of a covenant that it be a connection between the two parties. Therefore, it is natural that the two ends of the Bris relate to each one of the parties. Thus, the first four books are the Torah reflected in the Giver, followed by ñôø ãáøéí which reflects the receiver. As a result, it is said by Moshe in the first, and not the third, person.

We will consider each Sefer in greater depth at the beginning of each Sefer (pdf downloads).

• Bereishis Vol. 1
• Bereishis Vol. 2
• Shemos
• Shemos Vol. 2
• Vayikra
• Bamidbar
• Devarim Vol. 1
• Devarim Vol. 2