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In today’s Chumash, Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu to remind the Yidden about the korbanos of Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres. SUKKOS: There are many korbanos on Sukkos! We bring 2 rams, 13 lambs, and a goat every day, but a different number of bulls. (Can you figure out the pattern?) Day #1: Bring 13 bulls, 2 rams, and 13 lambs, AND a goat for a Chatas SHMINI ATZERES: (like the Korbanos of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur) 1 bull, 1 ram, and 7 lambs AND a goat for a Chatas. Each animal brought for a Korban Olah also needs a Mincha with fine flour (soles) and oil, and a Nesech (wine). For each lamb (Keves) : 1/10 eifah of flour mixed with 1/4 hin of oil, and 1/4 hin of wine Rashi explains that the numbers of Korbanos we bring on Sukkos remind us of different things in our history! Moshe reminded the Yidden about all of these Korbanos, just like Hashem told him to. |
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The kapitelach in today’s Tehillim are the ones used in Hallel! We also have the Rebbe and Rebbetzin’s kapitelach! One of the pesukim is “Rom Al Kol Goyim Hashem,” which means that “Hashem is higher than the nations.” Chassidus explains that the posuk also tells us what the Goyim say: They think that Hashem is high, but that Hashem is too great to deal with the world after creating it. They think Hashem leaves it to the forces of nature to make the world keep running. Of course, Yidden know that Hashem didn’t just create the world, but Hashem creates the world every second and takes care of every single little thing with Hashgacha Protis. |
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What we learned until now is called Teshuvah Tata’ah, the lower level of Teshuvah. Now once Hashem “blew away the clouds” of our aveiros with Teshuvah Tata’ah, we are ready for the higher level of Teshuvah, Teshuvah Ila’ah. What is that? The neshama becomes connected to Hashem in a much higher way from this Teshuvah. We said before that our neshama comes from a very strong chayus of Hashem. This chayus is like when a person blows — it takes a lot of chayus, and it comes from very deep inside! Our neshama has a chayus that is very strong, from very close to Hashem. But there is something even closer than that! When someone blows, they blow the air outside of themselves, so it can go further away. But imagine the air that a person is ABOUT to blow: That is coming from very deep inside, with the same strong chayus, but it doesn’t go further away from the person at all! That is a mashal for how close a person is to Hashem when he does Teshuvah Ila’ah. Because the Yid was separated from Hashem before, now he feels an EXTRA chayus inside of himself to learn Torah and do mitzvos. Did you ever lose a toy that you really liked? It probably made you very sad! But what happens when you find it again? You are SO excited, and you like it even MORE now, you take better care of it and you play with it more than you ever did before! This extra chayus which is in the Teshuvah Ila’ah is what makes a Baal Teshuvah so special — in a way even more special than Tzadikim! The Rebbe would eat the Seudos of Yom Tov in the Frierdiker Rebbe’s home while Rebbetzin Nechama Dina, the Friediker Rebbe’s Rebbetzin, was still alive. The Rebbe’s brother-in-law the Rashag would be there, and other chassidim too. Around the time of one Yom Tov, the Rebbe had been speaking at farbrengens about how a Yid doesn’t have to do TWO steps, first Teshuvah Tata’ah and then Teshuvah Ila’ah, but we can go RIGHT to Teshuvah Ila’ah. The Rashag asked the Rebbe about this, and the Rebbe said that this is a special hora’ah for our time. We have the koach now to go STRAIGHT to the second level of Teshuvah! We don’t even have to think about how sad we are about what happened from the aveira, we can right away feel that we want to become closer to Hashem by learning Torah and doing mitzvos with an extra special chayus! In the next two perakim we will learn more about how to do Teshuvah Ila’ah in the three areas of Avodas Hashem: Torah, Avodah, and Gemilus Chasadim. |
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There is a level of chossid called a Pnimi. Here the Rebbe shares a quote from the Tzemach Tzedek about how a Pnimi acts: A Pnimi doesn’t ask for brachos to make his avodah easier. He doesn’t want any shortcuts! He is ready to do Avodah, and is ready that it should be hard! |
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Some mitzvos are not too complicated. They can be explained in a few Mishnas or a few pages of Gemara or less. The Rambam gathers them and puts them in a few halachos or a few perakim. Then there are other mitzvos that have many, many details! We need to know how to keep the mitzvah in all kinds of situations, and every situation has its own halachos. There can be a whole mesechta of the Gemara or more explaining this mitzvah, and many sets of halachos in Rambam to show us just how to do it! Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #245), is one of those kinds of mitzvos. If you are going to do any kind of business, you need to follow the Torah’s rules about how to do it. We are learning these sets of halachos right now in Rambam. That’s why we keep reviewing this mitzvah over and over! |
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more about partners (“shutfim”) and the halachos for them: Perek Ches teaches us about partners who share an animal or a field, and only one of them does all of the work. How should they split up the money? In Perek Tes, the Rambam tells us about a special shevuah — promise — which is for partners. They both work hard in the business so they think that there is nothing wrong if they take something from it without asking the other partner. So there is this promise they need to make in Beis Din in certain cases and it makes them remember that even though they are partners they need to act honestly in their business. Finally, in Perek Yud, the last Perek, the Rambam tells us many halachos about what the Beis Din should do when partners take each other to Beis Din. All of these halachos help us keep the mitzvah of doing business the way the Torah teaches, which has been the mitzvah for so many days! |
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In this perek, we learn the halachos about foods that come FROM a non-kosher animal. Usually, food that comes from a non-kosher animal is not kosher. So milk from a non-kosher animal is not kosher, and eggs from a non-kosher bird aren’t kosher. But here’s one thing that comes from a non-kosher animal that we CAN eat: Honey! The Rambam explains that really the honey doesn’t come FROM the bees — the bees collect herbs or pollen from flowers and store it for later by making it into honey. |
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During the Three Weeks, we add in learning Torah (especially halacha) and in tzedakah and Gemilus Chassadim, to speed up the Geulah. We see this in the posuk “Tzion Bemishpat Tipadeh Veshaveha BeTzedaka” — that Yerushalayim will be redeemed through learning Torah (mishpat) and giving tzedakah! To do these right, we need to also work on our Tefillah, where we make our connection to Hashem stronger, which helps us to learn Torah and give tzedakah properly. Here is a story about how we should think about giving tzedakah and helping others: One time the Rebbe Rashab told his son, the Frierdiker Rebbe, to travel to a place and help a certain businessman there. When the Frierdiker Rebbe came back, he told his father what had happened. “I did everything you told me to do. I did the favor for the businessman in the best possible way.” The Rebbe Rashab answered, “You are making a mistake. You did the favor to yourself, not to that person! For that person, Hashem did him a favor, by sending a shliach to help him. But what you did helped yourself much more. “Like the Medrash says, ‘Yoser MiMah SheBaal HaBayis Oseh Im Ha’Oni, Ha’Oni Oseh Im Baal HaBayis.’ ‘More than the rich person does for the poor person (by giving him tzedakah), the poor person is doing for the rich person (by giving him the chance to do a mitzvah)’.” See Igros Kodesh of the Frierdiker Rebbe, vol. 4 p. 46 |
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The first thing we said in the morning was Modeh Ani, thanking Hashem for returning our neshama. But since we said Modeh Ani before washing Negel Vasser, we weren’t able to say this as a bracha, with Hashem’s name. Now that we made our body clean (by washing out our mouth and using the bathroom) and washed our hands as a preparation for davening, we are able to say Hashem’s holy name. We said the bracha of Al Netilas Yodayim, and thanked Hashem for our healthy body in Asher Yatzar. Now we are able to properly thank Hashem for giving us a healthy neshama, with the bracha of Elokai Neshama! In Elokai Neshama, we use different expressions about how our neshama was given to us. Chassidus explains that these correspond to the different olamos (Ruchnius’dike levels, called “worlds”) that the neshama goes through before coming into the Gashmius’dike world. In this bracha, the Chachomim also remind us about Techiyas Hameisim! We hinted to it in Modeh Ani, with the words “Raba Emunasecha,” saying that Hashem is faithful and will give back our neshama at Techiyas Hameisim. Here, we say it clearly, that Hashem will take away our neshama, but return it again when Moshiach comes. This keeps our emunah in Techiyas Hameisim strong! |
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When children are very young, we start teaching them to say Modeh Ani as soon as they wake up. And even for children that are too young to talk, it is a minhag that mothers say Modeh Ani FOR them! See sicha of Parshas Vayeishev, 5749 |
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לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ |
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Nowadays, we are all tomei. We can’t do anything about most of this tumah, because we don’t have the ashes of the Parah Adumah! But when Moshiach comes, Hashem will make us all tahor! וְזָרַקְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם מַיִם טְהוֹרִים וּטְהַרְתֶּם מִכֹּל טֻמְאוֹתֵיכֶם וּמִכָּל גִּלּוּלֵיכֶם אֲטַהֵר אֶתְכֶם Vezarakti Aleichem Mayim Tehorim — I will sprinkle on you the water of the Parah Adumah U’Tehartem — And you will become tahor! Mikol Tumoseichem Umikol Giluleichem — From all of your tumah and from all of your Avodah Zarah Ataher Es’chem — I will make you pure. See Yechezkel perek Lamed-Vov posuk Chof-Hey |
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לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק |
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