| |
|
|
Moshe reviewed with the Yidden about more of their time in the Midbar. He reminded them about all of the nations they tried to pass through on their way to Eretz Yisroel.
Edom: The Yidden asked Edom (Eisav’s family) if they could go through their land. Edom didn’t want to let the Yidden pass through. Hashem told the Yidden not to fight with them, since He had promised Eisav that he could stay there until Moshiach comes. So they turned around and went to the land of Moav.
Moav: Hashem also told the Yidden not to fight with Moav, from the family of Lot. They were allowed to show they had weapons and scare them, since Moav wasn’t acting the way Hashem wanted.
It took a long time until the Yidden got to the next nation. The Yidden had to travel for 38 years! This way, all of the Yidden who came out of Mitzrayim would pass away, and only their children would go into Eretz Yisroel.
Ammon: Then the Yidden passed near Ammon, also from Lot’s family. To reward Lot’s daughter, the mother of the nation of Ammon, for her tznius, Hashem didn’t even let the Yidden scare them.
Emori: But the Yidden WOULD be allowed to fight with the Emori — where Sichon and Og were the kings. First the Yidden tried to ask them nicely if they could pass through their land, but Sichon said no. (IY”H tomorrow we will review what happened with Sichon in the end!)
|
| |
|
|
Today we say Tehillim for Yom Zayin, which is kapitelach Lamed-Tes to Mem-Gimmel.
In the end of Kapitel Mem-Alef, it says “Baruch Hashem Elokei Yisroel, Me’Haolam Ve’ad Ha’olom, Amen VeAmen!” “Blessed is Hashem, the Hashem of the Yidden, from one world to the other world — Amen and Amen!”
Chassidus explains what two worlds we are talking about!
There are two kinds of worlds that Hashem created: Hidden worlds, and worlds we can see. For example, there are some things that are easy for us to understand, and there are other things that are very hard for us to understand! (Like some parts of Torah.)
Baruch Hashem — to bentch Hashem! That means in this posuk to bring Hashem from a hidden world to a world we can see. One way we can do this is by helping someone understand a part of Torah or Yiddishkeit that is “hidden” for them, that they don’t know it yet! By teaching other Yidden about Torah and mitzvos, it brings Hashem from the hidden world to the world we CAN see!
|
| |
|
TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Gimmel
|
|
In Igeres Hakodesh, there are many letters where the Alter Rebbe encourages Chassidim to give a lot of tzedakah! In this letter, the Alter Rebbe explains how special tzedakah is and what happens when we give it!
The most important thing that happens we can’t see at all. Hashem “hides it away in a box” close to Him, and keeps that box closed until Moshiach comes.
There is something else that happens when we do this mitzvah, which is that after the neshama finishes its shlichus in this world, it gives the neshama the tools it needs to feel close to Hashem in Gan Eden.
Finally, there is a teeny bit of light that shines from the mitzvah in this world. That shine of Hashem’s chayus helps keep a Yid safe in the world, that nothing bad should happen in Gashmius OR Ruchnius.
When we understand this, we will never want to miss a chance to give Tzedakah!
|
| |
|
|
Today’s Hayom Yom tells us something about the Tanya that we just learned:
The first two letters in Igeres Hakodesh were written ten years apart from each other!
There is a sicha from the Frierdiker Rebbe that tells us the history of the letters we are learning now in Igeres Hakodesh. It shows us that the first letter is from when Chassidus Chabad just started, and the second letter is from a later time, when Chassidus Chabad had a big challenge and came out with hatzlacha!
The first letter was written in three sections: The first section was written by the Alter Rebbe when he already had Talmidim, but before he went to Mezritch to learn from the Maggid. There, he wrote about how important it is to learn Shas, in order to strengthen Emunah.
The second section of the letter was written after he came back from Mezritch, when he already knew the purpose of his neshama, which was to start Chassidus Chabad. Here already, the Alter Rebbe speaks about how important it is to work on Avodas HaTefillah.
The third section was written years later, when he already had Talmidim living in different places, and this letter was to make sure that the talmidim were davening properly, according to Chassidus Chabad.
The second letter in Igeres Hakodesh was written after Chassidus Chabad had a big challenge against it, and had hatzlacha! This letter was written after the Alter Rebbe came out of prison on Yud-Tes Kislev, which was when Chassidus Chabad proved that it would last!
|
| |
|
|
Even though it’s a mitzvah to let a Yid have longer to pay back money he owes, we are supposed to make sure a goy who doesn’t believe in Hashem pays back right away. (Since goyim do this to each other, they expect us to do the same. If we don’t, it would be a loss for a Yid’s money.) That is today’s mitzvah in Sefer Hamitzvos (Mitzvas Asei #142).
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Re’eh: אֶת הַנָּכְרִי תִּגֹּשׂ
|
| |
|
|
In today’s Rambam, we learn about not taking neshech, interest.
In Perek Daled, we start to learn about interest. What is interest? Let’s say Reuven asks Shimon to lend him $100, and Shimon tells Reuven he has to pay him back $105 instead of $100. Any time we want someone to pay us back more than what he borrowed, that’s interest and it’s asur. The Rambam says that this is a big aveirah, and someone who does it is like denying Hashem and Yetzias Mitzrayim!
In Perek Hey, we learn that it is a mitzvah to charge interest to a goy, but it’s a bigger mitzvah to lend another Yid without interest.
Did you know that even WORDS can be interest? If someone gives you a loan, you have to be careful about thanking him — because those words can make him feel good, and that will be like giving him interest! You also can’t do him any extra favors because of the loan.
Perek Vov: Sometimes when a person borrows money, he gives a Mashkon to show that he will pay it back. If the Mashkon is something that a person could benefit from, like a field that grows fruit, or a house that a person can live in, it can be interest if the person eats the fruit or lives there. This perek teaches how to be careful about this kind of interest!
|
| |
|
|
This perek teaches what happens if something asur gets mixed into something that is not asur.
For example, let’s say you have a big pot of chicken soup cooking on the stove, when your baby brother comes into the kitchen. He takes his bottle of milk and throws it on the floor. It opens, and the milk splashes all over the kitchen! Is it still okay to eat the chicken soup, since some milk splashed inside? The answer is yes, because it is botul. There is SO MUCH chicken soup, and SO LITTLE milk that it doesn’t make the food non-kosher.
|
| |
|
|
The Rebbe teaches us that Zayin Av is a day when we need to work even harder to bring the Geulah.
The Gemara tells us that on Zayin Av, the Goyim came into the Beis Hamikdash to make the Churban.
Why does the Gemara tell us this?
It isn’t just to tell us a story, or to help write a history book. It definitely isn’t written to make us feel bad by telling us sad things!
The Gemara is a part of Torah, and the purpose of Torah is to teach us how we should act. So if the Gemara tells us about Zayin Av, it must be because we need to know it in order to do something because of it!
We learned before that especially during the Three Weeks, we need to learn extra Torah and give more tzedakah in order to bring the Geulah. When the Nine Days start, we work even harder, making siyumim and being even more careful with Ahavas Yisroel. On Zayin Av, the Gemara says, the Churban was already starting. This is a message to us that today, we need to put in even MORE effort to bring the Geulah! We should take on new hachlatos and do something MORE to change the Golus into Geulah!
One year, in a sicha from Zayin Menachem Av, the Rebbe said that especially today we need to beg Hashem extra hard to bring Moshiach! We should add in Achdus by learning Torah and giving Tzedakah together with other Yidden.
See sicha Zayin Menachem Av Tof-Shin-Mem-Tes
|
| |
|
▼ Jump to Coloring Books & Downloads ▼
|
| |
|
|
In Mah Tovu and Adon Olam, we show how davening is a special time and place for our neshama to approach Hashem.
In davening, we are going to ask Hashem for many things. But what zechus do we deserve it with?
The next part of davening is the Akeidah, where we remind Hashem about the zechus of the Avos, Avraham and Yitzchak. The Mesiras Nefesh they had is a tremendous zechus for all of the Yidden!
The story of the Akeidah also helps us with another part of davening. When we daven, we are making ourselves more aidel, so we can feel kedusha more. We are working on making our neshamos stronger and overcoming the Yetzer Hara. With the koach of Mesiras Nefesh that we have inside of us, from the Avos, we will be able to win over our Yetzer Hara!
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman alef
|
| |
|
|
Learning Torah makes a Yid happy! Like it says in the posuk, “Pekudei Hashem Yesharim, Mesamchei Lev” — “Hashem’s laws are upright, they make a person happy!”
Usually, that’s a wonderful thing, to be happy all of the time!
But on Tisha B’Av, we are mourning for the Beis Hamikdash. Getting involved in happy Torah learning will make us forget our sadness about the Churban.
Still, we have a mitzvah to learn Torah all the time. So what should we do?
We should learn parts of Torah that talk about the Churban, so we won’t forget about it. We learn Eicha, or Iyov, or part of the Gemara Gittin.
Reading books or newspapers just because we enjoy them is not allowed. It will also keep a person from remembering that he is sad about the Churban. We are only allowed to read and study about the Churban or other sad times for Yidden.
See also Piskei Teshuvos vol. 6, p. 106
|
|
לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
|
| |
|
|
There are two opinions about who will build the third Beis Hamikdash. Will it be Moshiach who tells the Yidden to build it, or will it come down from Shomayim?
The Rebbe gives a few explanations to show us that BOTH are true! Here is another explanation:
We learn about how the third Beis Hamikdash will be built from the Navi Yechezkel. Hashem gave Yechezkel a nevuah where a malach showed him around the third Beis Hamikdash, measuring all the different parts so he would know exactly how it should look!
But some parts of this nevuah are hard for us to understand. The Rambam tells us that Yechezkel’s words are “aino mefurash umevuar,” they are not explained fully. That means that we can’t just follow Yechezkel’s instructions and build the Beis Hamikdash Hashlishi.
But there are many parts that we DO understand! Some of these parts were already built once before according to Yechezkel, in the second Beis Hamikdash. We know exactly how they should look, and we can follow the Navi’s instructions to build them just right!
The Rebbe says that these are the parts of the Beis Hamikdash that Moshiach will tell us to build. We will build whatever we can understand.
And then what about the rest, the parts that aren’t so clear?
Hashem will send down all the rest of the Beis Hamikdash from Shomayim, and we will have the complete Beis Hamikdash Hashlishi, which will last forever!
|
| |
|
|
|
לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק
נפטר ב' מנחם אב ה'תשע"ג
|
| |
Give children around the world the gift of Kids Chitas!
KidsChitas.org/sponsor
|
| |
|
