Parshas Devarim: Giving Tochacha With the Backstory — A Vort from Rav Shimshon Pincus

Rabbi Liff brings a striking insight from Rav Shimshon Pincus on Parshas Devarim: rebuke can never be given in a vacuum. Just as Moshe Rabbeinu recalls Klal Yisrael's failures only through hints, out of regard for their honor, the Torah names each place of sin together with the merit hidden inside it — Bamidbar, the Arvos Moav, the Yam Suf, the man. True tochacha is always tempered by the backstory, by seeing the good in the one you are rebuking.