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In today’s Chumash, Moshe Rabbeinu tells the Yidden how they should keep their connection to Hashem new and exciting!
Even though you are being given the mitzvos now, you shouldn’t ever get bored of them. You should feel excited, as if Hashem is giving you the mitzvah TODAY for the first time!
Hashem will reward you by giving you more and more chances to do mitzvos. For example, when a Yid will bring bikurim, Hashem willl give him a bracha that he should have fruits growing again next year, so he will need to do the mitzvah of bikurim again!
Moshe Rabbeinu also reminds the Yidden to serve Hashem, and only Hashem.
Hashem will reward the Yidden by choosing only them to be His special nation!
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Today’s Tehillim is kapitelach Pey-Gimmel to Pey-Zayin. For Elul we also say kapitelach Mem-Tes, Nun, and Nun-Alef.
Every single kapitel in today’s Tehillim has a special niggun which was made in honor of the Rebbe’s Yom Huledes! Can you find the niggun in each one?
In Kapitel Pey-Daled, the posuk says “Yeilchu Mechayil El Choyil, Yeiro’eh El Elokim BeTzion.” This means that people who trust in Hashem go from strength to strength, and they go before Hashem in Yerushalayim.
The Rebbe tells us that Yeilchu Meichayil El Choyil, when we are always doing better than before, brings Yeiro’eh El Elokim Betzion, that we will be able to go to the Beis Hamikdosh! When we keep trying to do better, every single day and every single hour, we will bring Moshiach!
Chassidus says that there is a new chayus from Hashem that comes into the world, not just every day, but every hour! When that chayus comes, we get more opportunities to grow in Yiddishkeit! We need to make sure to use that new energy to do more!
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Tes-Vov
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In this letter, the Alter Rebbe will help us understand the Eser Sefiros, by learning about our neshamos!
Hashem gave Yidden the greatest present. Do you know what it is?
The Torah!
Why is it so special? Because when we learn Torah, we learn how Hashem wants us to act.
But that’s not it — Torah also teaches us ABOUT Hashem. Of course we are Gashmiyus people and we can’t REALLY understand Ruchniyus’dike things until Moshiach comes and Hashem will let us SEE Elokus! Still, the more we know about Hashem, the more we will love Hashem and want to act only in a way that makes Hashem happy!
When we look outside at the beautiful things Hashem made, like the sky and the stars and the waterfalls and trees and birds... we can see how amazing Hashem’s creation is! But there are things we CAN’T see. Just like we can see the special things we do but can’t see our neshama inside of us, we KNOW that Hashem makes the world, but we can’t see that.
There is a part of Torah that teaches us about the things we can’t see, called Kabbalah. But for most people, it’s too hard to understand Kabbalah!
The Alter Rebbe started something called “Chassidus Chabad.” The word Chabad stands for three words (Chochma Bina Daas) that mean to understand. Chassidus Chabad teaches us how we can UNDERSTAND these things that we cannot see about Hashem.
One very important thing we learn about in Kabbalah is called the Eser Sefiros. When we understand the Eser Sefiros, we will understand these things a lot better! In this letter, the Alter Rebbe will help us understand the Eser Sefiros, by learning about OUR neshamos! Because our neshamos are part of Hashem, they also have the Eser Sefiros.
When we learn about our Neshama (which is much easier for us), we can understand Ruchnius things about Hashem and be excited to live the way Hashem wants us to, with a lot of chayus!
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In the Chumash of Friday in Parshas Ki Savo, we read “The Tochacha.” It is where Moshe tells the Yidden all of the not-good things that can happen to the Yidden if they chas veshalom don’t keep the mitzvos.
In today’s Hayom Yom, the Rebbe tells us that these Klalos, which seem like curses, really have hidden brachos inside of them!
The Alter Rebbe was the Baal Koreh in his shul in Liozna. Once, though, in the week of Parshas Ki Savo he was traveling, and someone else leined the Torah.
The Mitteler Rebbe, who wasn’t Bar Mitzvah yet, was in Shul. When he heard the Kriyas HaTorah, with the very scary words of the Tochacha, it made him feel very upset! He got so sick from hearing it, that the Alter Rebbe was worried that he wouldn’t be able to fast on Yom Kippur, a few weeks later!
Someone asked the Mitteler Rebbe why he got so upset when he heard the Tochacha. It wasn’t his first time hearing it — we lein this parsha every year!
The Mitteler Rebbe answered, “When my father (the Alter Rebbe) leins the Tochacha, I don’t hear not good things — I hear the brachos hiding inside!”
In Chassidus, the Alter Rebbe teaches us the pnimius — the way things REALLY are, even though we don’t see them that way. When we learn Chassidus, we will be able to see how EVERYTHING is really a bracha!
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We are now on the last set of halachos in Rambam! These perakim talk about the mitzvos of kings, and later we will learn about the greatest king of all, Moshiach!
In today’s Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn 5 mitzvos — 2 for all of the Yidden, and 3 mitzvos especially for kings!
1) (Mitzvas Asei #173) The Yidden need to choose a king who will lead them. They need to have a lot of kavod for him, even more kavod than they have for a Navi! If the king tells them to do anything that is not against Torah, they NEED to do it. If someone doesn’t listen to the king, he is called a Mored Bemalchus and he deserves to be killed.
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #362) We are not allowed to choose a Ger for any official jobs, like a judge or a king. For kings, it is even more specific — Hashem says that the kings will come from the family of Dovid Hamelech.
3) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #364) A king can’t marry too many women. In those days, people were allowed to have more than one wife, but a king can’t have more than 18. If he gets married to more wives than that, he gets malkos.
4) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #363) A king isn’t allowed to collect horses. He is only allowed to have what he needs for the army, and only one horse for himself! He can’t have extra horses to run in front of him for honor or respect.
5) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #365) A king shouldn’t have too much money for himself. He shouldn’t have more than he needs to spend for his chariots or his servants. But he IS allowed to collect a lot of money to take care of the needs of Yidden.
The Torah tells us the reasons for these last three mitzvos. But the Torah doesn’t always tell us a reason for mitzvos, since if we would know the reasons, we might skip the mitzvah because we think the reason doesn’t apply to us. But even when we know the reason, we don’t understand the REAL reason — only Hashem does! So no matter what, we should do the mitzvos the way Hashem tells us to, whether we know why or not!
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In Perek Alef, the Rambam tells us that there are 3 mitzvos the Yidden have to keep when they come into Eretz Yisroel — in order! First, they have to make a Jewish king, then they have to get rid of Amalek, and then they have to build the Beis Hamikdash.
We learn who can be a Jewish king — only a man, who is not a Ger, who never had a job that might make people think he isn’t important.
Perek Beis teaches us about the kavod of a king. Nobody is allowed to use his things, and he needs to always dress beautifully. He should sit on a throne in his palace, and wear a crown.
The king needs to be very humble! He should take care of every Yid, like a shepherd who takes care of every sheep.
In Perek Gimmel, we learn the mitzvos for a king (which we learned in Sefer Hamitzvos). A king also has a special mitzvah to carry a Sefer Torah with him wherever he goes! Even if he can’t hold it (like when he’s sleeping or eating) it needs to be right there near him. He also has to be careful not to do anything that makes him forget about the Sefer Torah or his special job of taking care of the Yidden.
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We learn about how a father or husband can take away a promise. One interesting halacha is that a father can take away ANY promise, but a husband can only take away a promise that will bother or annoy him or her or make it hard to stay married to his wife. We also learn that he can only take away the promise on the day he hears it — otherwise, the promise stays.
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From Chai Elul, there are twelve days until Rosh Hashana. The Rebbeim tell us that each of these 12 days match up to one of the twelve months of the year that we should do teshuvah for!
So on Chai Elul we look back at Chodesh Tishrei, on Yud-Tes Elul we look back at Chodesh Cheshvan, and so on.
How do we do teshuvah for that month?
We think back to what happened during that month of the year. That way we can think about anything that happened during that month and make good hachlatos that this month in the coming year will be better. We should think about the hachlatos we made during that month, and see if we are keeping up with what we decided to do.
So pick a time for the next 12 days, maybe before Kriyas Shema She’al Hamitah, to think back to that month and make sure that next year will be even better!
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The ten days of Rosh Hashana through Yom Kippur are very important days. During this time, called the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, Hashem decides about what the year will be like for the whole world!
During the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, Hashem shows us that He is the King of the entire world.
When we speak to Hashem in davening in these special days, we say some things differently to show that we are speaking to Hashem as King, and we ask Him to bentch us with a good year.
In the third and eleventh brachos of Shemoneh Esrei, we change how we speak about Hashem:
- Usually, we say “HaKel Hakadosh,” the holy Aibishter. During the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, we say “HaMelech HaKadosh,” the holy King.
- At the end of the bracha of “Hoshiva Shofteinu,” we usually say “Melech Ohev Tzedakah Umishpat,” that Hashem is a King Who loves tzedakah and justice. During the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, we say “HaMelech Hamishpat,” the King Who judges fairly.
In the first and last two brachos of Shemoneh Esrei, we add 4 pieces to davening asking for a good year:
1) Zochreinu Lechaim (in the first bracha)
2) Mi Chamocha (in the second bracha)
3) Uchesov (in Modim)
4) Uvesefer Chaim (in Sim Shalom)
Like a person usually does when asking, we ask for something smaller first, then for something bigger. In the first two lines, we ask Hashem to remember us for life. Then in the next two lines, we ask for more — that Hashem should write us down for a GOOD life.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Tof-Kuf-Pey-Beis
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The changes we make in Shemoneh Esrei during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah are very important. Hashem’s relationship to the world is different during this time, and we need to show that when we speak to Him privately in davening. Hashem is always the King of the world, but now that inyan is the MAIN way we connect to Him.
If a person forgets to say HaMelech Hakadosh (the holy King) instead of HaKeil Hakadosh (the holy Aibishter), he needs to go back and say the bracha again. But because the first three brachos of Shemoneh Esrei are all connected, like one long bracha of praising Hashem, he needs to go back to the beginning of the whole Shemoneh Esrei. (If he remembers right away, before a few seconds pass, he can just say the right words then.)
If a person wasn’t paying attention, he probably said it the way he is used to davening, with HaKeil Hakadosh. If he can’t remember if he said it right, the halacha is that he probably didn’t. He also needs to go back to the beginning of Shemoneh Esrei.
Forgetting Hamelech Hamishpat has a different halacha. Since even during the year we speak about Hashem as a Melech (Melech Ohev Tzedakah Umishpat), if a person forgets to say the words Hamelech Hamishpat instead, he doesn’t need to go back. Still, because there are some opinions that we shouldn’t mention tzedakah during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, it is best for him to daven another Shemoneh Esrei afterwards as a nedavah (a present to Hashem).
All the other lines in Shemoneh Esrei were added by the Geonim, after the times of the Gemara. If a person forgot to add them, he doesn’t need to go back. But if he remembers before finishing the bracha they are said in, he can say them in the place he remembers.
See Shevach Hamoadim Kitzur Hilchos Yomim Noraim siman Vov
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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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When Moshiach comes, EVERYONE in the world will serve Hashem. But still, the Yidden will be Hashem’s special nation! The world will be full of brachos, but there will be special brachos just for the Yidden!
וְנִלְווּ גוֹיִם רַבִּים אֶל ה׳ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וְהָיוּ לִי לְעָם וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְתוֹכֵךְ וְיָדַעַתְּ כִּי ה׳ צְבָאוֹת שְׁלָחַנִי אֵלָיִךְ
Venilvu Goyim Rabim El Hashem — And many nations will join the Yidden in serving Hashem
Bayom Hahu — On that day of Geulah.
But, Hashem says:
Vehayu Li Le’am — “The Yidden will always be My special nation
Veshachanti Vesocheich — And I will rest only among you.”
Veyadat — And you will know
Ki Hashem Tzva’os Shelachani Eilecha — That Hashem sent the Navi with special nevuos for the Yidden!
See Zechariah perek Beis posuk Tes-Vov
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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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