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Moshe Rabbeinu is telling the Yidden on the day of Zayin Adar that they will make a promise to Hashem that they will keep the mitzvos.
But why do they need to promise that they will keep the mitzvos? Didn’t the Yidden already promise Hashem BEFORE that they will keep the Torah, by Har Sinai?
Even though EVERY Yid got the Torah, only the Yidden that actually were alive by Matan Torah made the promise. And even that promise was able to be broken, when the Yidden did aveiros, like when they did the Cheit Ha’egel right after Matan Torah.
This new promise is such a strong promise, it stays no matter WHAT the Yidden do! And, it’s not just for the Yidden standing here, it’s for their children and grandchildren for all times! All of the Yidden that will ever live are being directly connected to Hashem with this bris that is being made now with Moshe Rabbeinu on Zayin Adar.
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Today’s Tehillim is kapitelach Kuf-Ches through Kuf-Yud-Beis. We also say three kapitelach for Chodesh Elul: Samach-Zayin, Samach-Ches, and Samach-Tes.
In today’s Tehillim, we have a posuk that says “Reishis Chochma Yiras Hashem” — the beginning of Chochma (the first thing before we get the chochma of Torah) is to have Yiras Hashem.
A person could go to Yeshiva and learn a lot of Torah! Sometimes a person might think he is so smart, he is smarter than his teachers! He thinks he doesn’t need to listen to his parents or give them respect, because he knows so much!
That’s why we need to have Yiras Shomayim first, because this way, we can make sure that our learning Torah will only bring to GOOD things!
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Tes-Zayin
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The Alter Rebbe is writing a letter to Chassidim in a certain city that used to give a certain amount of money to Colel Chabad every year. Then parnasa got very hard for them, and they started to give less. The Alter Rebbe is explaining reasons why they shouldn’t do that:
Yesterday, we learned the first reason: The poor Yidden in Eretz Yisroel had no way of getting money on their own. Helping them with the things they NEED comes before getting the things the Yidden in this town liked to have for themselves.
Today, the Alter Rebbe gives us more reasons:
2) The Gemara says that someone who ONLY gives exactly the amount of money that halacha says to give, and no more, will Chas Veshalom need to take tzedakah himself in the end. So we should give MORE than what the halacha says to protect ourselves from this.
3) We always need Hashem’s rachmonus, and if we have rachmonus on other people even when it’s hard for us, Hashem will have rachmonus on us too in everything that we need.
4) All of us have done aveiros, and one way for Hashem to forgive us for them is by giving Tzedakah (like we learned in Igeres HaTeshuvah).
5) We believe that giving Tzedakah isn’t giving what WE have, it’s like lending money to Hashem, and Hashem will pay us back double!
6) The Gemara says that if your friends are doing a mitzvah and you don’t do it with them, it could bring not good things chas veshalom. Since all of the Anash communities were giving to this fund they shouldn’t be different.
The Alter Rebbe tells the Chassidim that if they will give the same amount of Tzedakah that they gave before, they will get lots of brachos from Hashem!
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In today’s Hayom Yom, we see that learning Torah needs to come along with having good midos!
When the Alter Rebbe’s son Moshe was a boy, he was learning a Gemara where it was saying special things about the different Chachomim.
R’ Shimon ben Yochai said something special about his teacher R’ Akiva: “Learn from my midos, because they are only a tiny part of the midos of my teacher!”
When R’ Moshe was learning this, he was not sure about something: Rashi explains that “midos” means the Torah he learned from his teacher, but R’ Moshe also knew that “midos” means “midos” — how we act and feel!
The Alter Rebbe came in and said with a niggun, “The whole Torah is all Midos Tovos. Even though there are some things that seem like Hashem is being strict with us, really that’s also good midos, to make us better. So BOTH things are right — the word “Midos” means Torah and also midos! You can’t have good midos without Torah, and you can’t have Torah unless you have good midos.”
The same thing happened with the Tzemach Tzedek too, when he was a boy! He was also learning Gemara and had this question, and the Alter Rebbe said the same thing.
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We just started Rambam again from the very beginning! Today’s Sefer Hamitzvos gives us the rules the Rambam used to decide which mitzvos are counted in the 613 mitzvos. The way the Sefer Hamitzvos is set up is that we finish the hakdama over a few days.
Today we will learn the next six rules of how to decide if something is counted as a mitzvah:
4) We only count mitzvos that are said in a specific way, not things like “do everything Hashem tells you to.”
5) Sometimes there is a reason the Torah tells us to do a mitzvah — even if it sounds like it might be its own mitzvah, we don’t count the reason.
6) If a mitzvah says BOTH that we should and we shouldn’t do a certain thing (like “rest on Shabbos” and “don’t work on Shabbos”) those are counted as two mitzvos.
7) The different ways we sometimes have to do a mitzvah aren’t counted as separate mitzvos (like the different ways to bring a Korban Chatas).
8) Not every time that the Torah says “Lo” (no) does it mean it’s a mitzvah not to do a certain thing! Sometimes the Torah is just giving a warning.
9) Even if a mitzvah is said a bunch of times in the Torah, it’s still just one mitzvah.
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In today’s Rambam, we are counting the mitzvos! Today we say a list of all 365 Mitzvos Lo Saasei (the mitzvos that are about the things Hashem asks us NOT to do).
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In this perek we learn more halachos about a Nazir.
There are three things that are Asur for a Nazir:
1) He is not allowed to eat anything that comes from grapes
2) He is not allowed to cut his hair
1) He is not allowed to make himself Tamei from a dead person
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Today is the yartzeit of the Rebbe’s grandfather, R’ Meir Shlomo Yanovsky, the father of Rebbetzin Chana, who was a Rav in Nikolayev. The Rebbe would say Kaddish on this day in 770 during all three tefilos.
The achdus of Yidden can be in two ways:
1) We all feel like one, because we are all Yidden.
2) We all feel different, because we are different! Each of us has an important job — one Yid is a Rav, another is a melamed, another is a businessman. Some of us are parents, or children, or grandparents.
Even though that doesn’t sound like achdus, the truth is that it is the complete achdus! Hashem gave each of us a mission, and only when we each do it right, Bnei Yisrael becomes one and complete. That’s what Moshe Rabbeinu was telling the Yidden at the beginning of this week’s parsha: When we all stand together (leaders, wood-choppers, and water-carriers, each of you with your own responsibilities) we have achdus — we are all taking care of our job for the Yiddishe nation!
The meforshim also explain that “today” (“You are all standing here today” — “Atem Netzavim Hayom”) can be talking about Rosh Hashana! On Rosh Hashana, when we stand with Achdus, we are all ready to stand together to get Hashem’s bracha for a good year!
Each of us makes sure to take care of our own important job, while remembering that we’re all part of one big job of Klal Yisroel together: to bring the Geulah!
See Likutei Torah parshas Netzavim and Likutei Sichos chelek Daled
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TEFILLAH
What We Daven for On Rosh Hashana
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In the Rosh Hashana davening, we ask Hashem, “Rule over the whole world!” We crown Hashem as our King, and say that we are ready to be His loyal subjects, ready to do whatever He asks from us with true Kabolas Ol. But also in the Rosh Hashana davening, we ask over and over that Hashem should judge us for a good year, and give us all of the Gashmius things we need.
So are we davening for Hashem to be our King, or for us to have a good year? Is this about Hashem or about us?
The Baal Shem Tov taught an explanation on the posuk from Tehillim, “Re’eivim Gam Tzemei’im, Nafsham Bahem Tis’ataf!” “When a person is hungry and thirsty, it is because their neshama wants something!” When we feel like we need something Gashmius’dik, it can be because we really want the kedusha hiding inside of it.
In order to run Hashem’s world properly, we need to use the kedusha that is hiding in the Gashmius! We won’t be able to show that the world is Hashem’s without using the world to serve Him. So on Rosh Hashana, we ask Hashem for a good year where we can SHOW that Hashem is our King!
That is also the REAL reason why we are asking for a good and sweet year — so we can truly crown Hashem as our King.
See Likutei Sichos chelek 19, sicha for Rosh Hashana - Vov Tishrei
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It is our minhag that after davening on the first night of Rosh Hashana, we wish each other personally, “Leshana Tova Tikaseiv Veseichaseim!” “You should be written and sealed for a good year!” (For a girl, we say “Leshana Tova Tikaseivi Veseichaseimi.”)
After Chatzos on the second day of Rosh Hashana, Hashem has already written each of us down for a good year. So we start wishing each other, “Chasima Ugmar Chasima Tova!” “You should be signed and sealed for good!”
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Tof-Kuf-Pey-Beis, se’if Yud-Zayin
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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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Malachi is the last sefer of the Neviim.
Who was Malachi? The Gemara says that this Navi might have been Mordechai Hatzadik, or Ezra. The Abarbanel says that he was an actual person with this name. He says that Malachi was the last of the Neviim, who lived after the second Beis Hamikdash was built.
The last perek of Sefer Malachi is a beautiful nevuah about Moshiach!
The Navi says that Hashem will give us the Beis Hamikdash and accept our korbanos with all of the nisim we had during the first Beis Hamikdash:
וְעָרְבָה לַה׳ מִנְחַת יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלִָם כִּימֵי עוֹלָם וּכְשָׁנִים קַדְמֹנִיּוֹת
Ve’arva LaHashem Minchas Yehudah VeYerushalayim — The korbanos of the Yidden will be sweet to Hashem
Kimei Olam Ucheshanim Kadmonios — Like they used to be!
This posuk is also part of davening:
In Korbanos in the morning, we say the pesukim that talk about the Korban Tomid and the Ketores, and the halachos about how the Ketores is made. When we do this, Hashem counts it as if we are actually bringing the Korban Tomid and the Ketores!
After finishing, we say this posuk. We are asking Hashem that not only should it be counted as if we are bringing the Tomid and the Ketores, but that we should actually be able to bring them for Hashem to enjoy!
See Malachi perek Gimmel posuk Daled
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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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