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When there are two parshios together, we always connect the two parshios in the Chumash of Yom Revi’i. So today we finish Parshas Matos and start Parshas Masei.
In yesterday’s Chumash, we learned that the Shevatim of Reuven and Gad asked if they could live in the lands of the Emori, but they would fight at the head of all of the Yidden to capture Eretz Yisroel! Today we see how Moshe answered them. We also review the 42 places the Yidden camped in the Midbar.
Moshe Rabbeinu agrees with the compromise: Moshe told the Yidden from Shevet Reuven and Gad that if they do what they said, and fight in front of the Yidden to capture the rest of Eretz Yisroel, then they can have land on the other side of the Yarden. If they don’t, they will be punished by Hashem! Reuven and Gad promised to do that — they will leave their families and animals in Gilad, and come with the rest of the Yidden to fight. So Moshe gave them the land that used to be Sichon’s.
Menasheh also is given land on the other side of the Yarden: Moshe Rabbeinu gave the land of Og to two of the families of Menasheh, even though they hadn’t asked to live there. By splitting up the Shevet everyone could see that this WAS going to be part of Eretz Yisroel, since Shevet Menasheh loved Eretz Yisroel even more than the other Shevatim!
Shevet Gad and Reuven made the cities in Sichon’s land into cities and places for their animals. They changed the names of the cities to show that now they belonged to the Yidden! Shevet Menasheh also captured some more cities, which later also became part of Eretz Yisrael!
Now we start learning Parshas Masei!
We review the travels of the Yidden: The Yidden are about to go in to Eretz Yisroel! So we review the places the Yidden went in the Midbar — 42 stops.
The Torah tells us all of the places the Yidden went through in the Midbar, starting from when the Yidden left Mitzrayim, from Raamses and traveled to Sukkos. The last place they traveled to was Arvos Moav, near the Yarden!
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Today’s kapitelach are Kuf-Lamed-Hey until Kuf-Lamed-Tes.
Kapitel Kuf-Lamed-Tes (139) is a very special kapitel. It teaches a person how to serve Hashem — there is no other kapitel that does this in such a special way!
One of the things that Dovid Hamelech says is about how Hashem created Adam HaRishon — “Achor VaKedem Tzartani” — “You created me last and first.”
What does that mean? How can Adam be created last AND first at the same time?!
We will soon learn in Tanya that you can have two opposite things together if they are for different reasons!
The Alter Rebbe explains in Likutei Torah that “Achor” (last) means that he is created on the LAST day of Creation, and he is the lowest madreiga, because he can do an aveira — going AGAINST what Hashem wants. Only a person can do an aveira!
But he is FIRST because he has a neshama, which no other creation has! And even his Guf is also very close and precious to Hashem.
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TANYA
Igeres Hateshuvah Perek Yud-Alef
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We said that a person should do Teshuvah Tata’ah and Teshuvah Ila’ah at different times, because they make us have different feelings. Teshuvah Tata’ah makes a person feel serious, and Teshuvah Ila’ah makes us feel besimcha! So we usually do Teshuvah Tata’ah at night, and Teshuvah Ila’ah in davening in the morning.
Today the Alter Rebbe tells us that really we can feel both kinds of Teshuvah AT THE SAME TIME in davening, even though they are different feelings! Since they come for two different reasons, we won’t be confused.
Teshuvah Tata’ah comes because we have rachmanus for what our aveiros did, and Teshuvah Ila’ah is because we are so happy that we can still become so close to Hashem!
Here is a story that shows us how we can feel both ways at the same time:
One time Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was learning with his son R’ Elazar. They were learning secrets of the Torah about the Churban of the Beis Hamikdash. When R’ Elazar heard these secrets, he felt happy and sad! He was sad because the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, but he was happy to hear these secrets from Hashem’s holy Torah.
The same way, we can also feel Teshuvah Tata’ah and Teshuvah Ila’ah at the same time!
Another thing that makes it possible to feel BOTH is that when we are sure that Hashem forgives us for what we did wrong, we aren’t so sad, even with Teshuvah Tata’ah! We are happy that even though aveiros can bring Golus, Hashem forgives us anyway, and promises us that by doing teshuvah we will bring the Geulah. This way BOTH kinds of teshuvah make us happy, and we can feel them both in davening at the same time!
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A while back in Hayom Yom, we learned how important it is to live in a place with healthy air. If someone is R”L sick, many times they will try to go to a place with better air, so they will become healthier.
In Ruchnius, we also need to have clean air. The air becomes cleaner by us saying words of Torah wherever we go. This way we can feel that we live in a Ruchniusdike atmosphere.
Today the Rebbe tells us that each of the Rebbeim had certain maamorim that they would say over every two or three years just for this reason — to make the Ruchnius air better!
Here are those maamorim:
Alter Rebbe: Heichaltzu (from this week’s parsha, Parshas Matos! It is printed in Likutei Torah, with footnotes from the Tzemach Tzedek)
Mitteler Rebbe: Yafa Sha’ah Achas (it’s in the Mitteler Rebbe’s sefer Derech Chayim, explained in the first 10 perakim)
Tzemach Tzedek: Mah Tovu (in Likutei Torah, which we learned in Parshas Balak — it’s about Teshuvah)
Rebbe Maharash: Mi Chamocha BaEilim
Rebbe Rashab: Veyadaata Hayom (it was said in “Moskove Nun-Zayin” — in Moscow. It talks about the koach a Yid has to overcome nisyonos!)
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Today we are starting a new sefer in Rambam, called Sefer Mishpatim! The first set of halachos in this sefer is called Hilchos S’chirus, which talks about a “shomer” and a worker.
Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #243) is that we need to follow the halachos about a Shomer Sachar and a Socher, someone who is responsible to take care of something that belongs to someone else with payment. Either they paid to use something (Socher), or they were paid to take care of it (Shomer Sachar).
Even though there are four kinds of Shomer, there are only three mitzvos, because two of them have the same halacha, as we learn today!
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: כִּי יִתֵּן אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ חֲמוֹר אוֹ שׁוֹר אוֹ שֶׂה וְגוֹ׳
The dinim of this mitzvah are explained in Perek Vov and Perek Tes of Mesechta Bava Kama, Perek Gimmel and Perek Vov of Mesechta Bava Metziah, and Perek Ches of Mesechta Shevuos.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn about being a shomer:
In Perek Alef, the Rambam explains what a shomer is. “Shomer” means guard — it’s a person who is “guarding” (is in charge of taking care of) something for another person. Of course you have to be very careful with something that isn’t yours!
There are four kinds of Shomrim:
1) Shomer Chinam: Someone who isn’t paid to take care of something (like a friend who asks, “Will you watch this for me?”)
2) Shomer Sachar: A person who is paid to take care of something
3) Shoel: A person who borrows something
4) Socher: A person who pays someone else to use his thing (renting)
One halacha is that if you borrow something, you can’t just lend it to someone else — even if it’s a Sefer Torah and you are lending it for a mitzvah!
Perek Beis: This perek teaches us about who can be a shomer. It has to be a person who is allowed to do business according to Torah, because the halachos of shomer and regular business share many of the same halachos. The Rambam tells us that just like with buying something, there has to be a kinyan, to show that the shomer started taking care of it.
In Perek Gimmel, we learn what happens if the thing you were watching got lost or broken. If it happened because you weren’t careful, even a shomer chinam has to pay for it!
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Chassidus teaches the ruchniyus meaning of these halachos, how a neshama is given to the person to watch. The different kinds of shomer are different ways the person has responsibility to take care that the neshama should be successful in its shlichus in the world.
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The Rambam teaches us the halachos of cheilev, the pieces of fat from an animal that we are not allowed to eat. We need to take out these pieces of fat, along with certain veins that are asur because of eating blood. (The person who does this job is called a “Menaker.”)
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Just like the Yidden needed Moshe AND Aharon to come out of Mitzrayim, we need Torah and mitzvos (the inyan of Moshe), and ALSO Tefillah (the inyan of Aharon) to get the Geulah!
In this week’s Chassidishe Parsha (the maamarim of this week’s parsha in Likutei Torah), there are a few maamarim explaining the 42 travels (masa’os) of the Yidden.
The Yidden had to travel 42 times to get from Mitzrayim to Eretz Yisroel. Chassidus teaches us that we also have 42 travels — from Golus to Geulah!
We can learn a lot about how to do our avodah to get to Geulah from seeing how the Yidden traveled in the Midbar.
One of the things it says in the Torah is that these travels were done “Beyad Moshe Ve’Aharon” — they were led by Moshe and Aharon. Why does the Torah need to say this? We already know that Moshe and Aharon were leading the Yidden during their time in the Midbar! Why do we have to specifically say their names here?
The Torah is teaching us that when we go on our own “masa’os” to bring the Geulah, we need to make sure that we are going along with Moshe and Aharon!
Moshe Rabbeinu is the one who gave us the Torah. So going with Moshe means bringing Torah and mitzvos with us — following the way Hashem taught us to act.
So that sounds perfect! Do we really need anything else to get to Geulah?
Yes. The Torah teaches us that we need to go along with Aharon too.
Who is Aharon Hakohen? Aharon is the one who spoke to the Yidden and got them excited to keep the Torah. He helped them love each other and helped them love Hashem. When we go with Aharon, that means getting ourselves excited to do what Hashem wants!
And how do we do that? By davening.
When we wake up in the morning, our neshama is asleep. So only our body is awake, and it’s only thinking about what it wants and needs and likes. But we wake it up by davening! We remind ourselves that really, the whole world is made for HASHEM, and we’re ready to do whatever Hashem wants! We ask Hashem for the things we need to do what Hashem asks us to do.
And then, with Moshe and Aharon leading us, we are ready to travel straight to the Geulah!
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We just said the bracha of Hamaavir Sheinah, that Hashem removed the sleep from our eyes so that we are refreshed and ready for another day.
But a day can be ANY kind of day. Some people spend their day kvetching, or looking only for fun and games, or looking for trouble. Hashem didn’t take away our sleepiness for us to do that!
In the next paragraph, that starts with the words Vihi Ratzon, we ask Hashem that today be the RIGHT kind of day! We ask Hashem that our day should be the kind that brings nachas to Hashem and makes other people happy. It should be full of Torah and mitzvos, and we shouldn’t get distracted today by the tricks of the Yetzer Hara. Then we finish the bracha the way we started, by thanking Hashem for His kindness in taking away our sleepiness and giving us kochos for a GREAT day! We say, “Hagomel Chasadim Tovim Le’amo Yisrael,” that Hashem does goodness and kindness to His nation, the Yidden.
In the next paragraph, Yehi Ratzon, we also ask Hashem that our day should be protected from troubles and hardships which can keep us from acting the way a Yid should.
The words of these paragraphs come from private tefillos that Chachomim of the Gemara used to say at the end of Shemoneh Esrei.
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The paragraph of Vihi Ratzon, which ends off with a bracha, is really connected to the bracha before, “Hamaavir Sheinah.” This is called a “Bracha Arucha,” a long bracha.
Since both brachos are connected, we don’t say amen until after finishing the whole thing. So we don’t say Amen when we hear someone say Hamaavir Sheina; we only answer Amen at the end of “Hagomel Chasadim Tovim Le’amo Yisrael.”
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לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
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Perakim Lamed-Ches and Lamed-Tes of Yechezkel speak about the war of Gog and Magog, a war that will happen when Moshiach comes.
The Rambam says that this war will happen in the beginning of the times of Moshiach, and that Eliyahu Hanavi will come before that.
Who is Gog? Who is Magog? What kind of war is this?
Some Chachomim say it is a Ruchnius’dike war, others say it is a Gashmius’dike war. Some say that Gog and Magog are the names of nations, and others say that it is between two people.
The Rambam writes that this is one of the things that we don’t know.
In many parts of Torah, the Chachomim have a kabbalah — they heard an explanation from their teachers, who heard it from their teachers, who heard it from Moshe Rabbeinu. But with Milchemes Gog Umagog, along with other things that will happen when Moshiach comes, there is no kabbalah. The Chachomim know only what it says in the Neviim.
Even though Yechezkel has many pesukim about this war, they are not written in a clear way. That’s why there are so many different opinions about this war. When Moshiach comes, we will understand what everything meant!
See Yechezkel 38 and 39; Rambam Hilchos Melachim perek Yud-Beis halacha beis
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לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק
נפטר ב' מנחם אב ה'תשע"ג
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