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In today’s Chumash, Avraham Avinu does Hashem’s mitzvah to make a bris. Sarai gets a new name, Sarah, and they are promised that they will have a special son, Yitzchak!
Hashem promised Avraham that the Yidden will follow Hashem, and He will be their Hashem! He will give them the special land of Eretz Yisroel, and be especially close to the Yidden that live there.
And what does Avraham have to do to deserve this? To have a Bris Milah himself, and for every Jewish boy who is born.
Hashem then gave Sarai a new name: Sarah! (Hashem took a letter Yud away from her name — later He would give that Yud to Hoshea, and he would be called Yehoshua!)
Sarah will also become young again, and she will have a baby even though she is almost 90 years old! Avraham laughed, he was so happy! What a neis to have a baby when he is almost 100 years old!
Avraham told Hashem that he doesn’t even deserve such a neis — he would be happy if Yishmael would be a Yerei Shomayim. Hashem said that still, Avraham would have a son, and should name him Yitzchak. Only Yitzchak’s children will be Hashem’s special nation.
But Avraham shouldn’t feel bad for Yishmael — Hashem will give him brachos and he will have many many children.
Then Hashem finished speaking to Avraham, and the Shechinah went back up.
Avraham asked his friends, Aner, Eshkol and Mamrei, if he should do a bris. He wanted them to also have a part of it, so everyone would know that he is making this deal with Hashem! Mamrei was the only one who said it was a good idea to do anything for Hashem, Who made such nissim for Avraham!
Avraham gave himself a bris when he was 99, and Yishmael had one when he was 13. Hashem helped Avraham to do his own bris, since he was afraid his hands would shake. Avraham also gave a bris to everyone else in his house.
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Today’s kapitelach are Samach to Samach-Hey.
In Kapitel Samach, the first of today’s Tehillim, we have a posuk that says “Lemaan Yeichaltzun Yedidecha, Hoshia Yemincha Va’aneini.” (We also say it by the end of Shmoneh Esrei.)
The pesukim before this one talk about how Hashem sometimes makes a person have a hard time so they can show that they ALWAYS believe in Hashem. This posuk tells us that really “Hashem does this so that He can save them, and will help with His right hand and answer.” Really, the whole time Hashem wants to save the person, but he wants them to show that they believe in Hashem all the time. Then everyone will know they deserve their brachos.
We see that even though sometimes things are hard, it’s because Hashem wants to give us later something even better.
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Chof-Vov
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We learned before that when we work hard to understand the halachos of the Torah properly, we are taking the Torah out of the Golus it is in — the kelipah of the questions and things that make it hard to understand.
When Moshiach will come, we won’t need to learn Torah for THAT reason, because there will be no more kelipah to hide the kedushah of the Torah! We will only need to learn the Chassidus that explains the halachos, to bring extra kedushah into the Torah. But we won’t need to take it out of Golus, since there will be no more bad in the world!
And what about the halachos? We will know them by just learning them once — we won’t need to review them all the time. Plus, we will understand them by knowing the Chassidus that we learn about them!
This ends this very long letter! We understand now that in the times of Golus, the Torah is also in Golus. We know that when we work hard to understand the halachos and discover new insights in the Torah we bring the Geulah sooner. And we know that when Moshiach comes we will spend all of our time just learning Chassidus!
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First, the Rebbe points out some corrections in the printed copy of Torah Ohr.
In today’s Hayom Yom, the Rebbe writes that the Rebbe Rashab wrote notes on the maamar “Posach Eliyahu” (which is in Torah Ohr of Parshas Vayeira).
The Rebbe in each generation helps the chassidim understand the maamorim which were taught by the Rebbes before him. A chossid by himself can’t properly understand what he should do in his Avodas Hashem just by learning the Chassidus of the Alter Rebbe. We can see from this that the Rebbe Rashab wanted to make sure that the Chassidim in his time could understand what this maamar means for them.
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SEFER HAMITZVOS
Mitzvas Asei #165, Lo Saasei #329, Asei #164, Lo Saasei #196
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Today we learn FOUR mitzvos about Yom Kippur!
1) (Mitzvas Asei #165) We need to rest from doing melacha on Yom Kippur.
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #329) We are not allowed to work on Yom Kippur. The dinim of this mitzvah are explained in Mesechta Beitzah, Megillah, and other places.
3) (Mitzvas Asei #164) We need to do things that aren’t comfortable for our body on Yom Kippur — the inuyim (no eating or drinking, no baths, no shmearing creams, no leather shoes, and married people have to act differently).
4) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #196) We are not allowed to eat on Yom Kippur. The dinim of this mitzvah are explained in the end of Mesechta Yoma.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn all three perakim of “Shevisas Asor” — resting on the tenth day of Tishrei, which is Yom Kippur!
One thing the Rambam says is that a kid that isn’t nine years old yet shouldn’t fast on Yom Kippur because it might bring to a sakana. After turning nine, kids can practice by fasting for an hour longer than they are used to waiting before they eat.
Even kids shouldn’t wear leather shoes on Yom Kippur, even though they are allowed to eat and drink.
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In this perek, we learn when terumah can NOT become botul. For example, if terumah that became tomei got mixed with other fruit, the whole mixture can’t be eaten.
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When we go to school, we learn Alef-Beis, Chumash, and Gemara. When we listen in class and get good marks on our tests, that means we are good students and good chassidim, right? Well, that’s part of it, but it’s not all!
The Rebbe teaches us that a Chossid is someone who doesn’t just daven and learn like a chossid, but someone who talks and plays with his friends like a chossid, who eats and drinks and walks around like a chossid! He speaks to other people the way a chossid should, with eidelkeit, and rechenen mit a tzveiten (sensitivity to others). Only when we live ALL THE TIME the way Chassidus teaches us, can we really be Chassidim.
The Rebbe tells us how Avraham Avinu, who we live with in this week’s parsha, was the first example of how to live this way!
From a letter of the Rebbe
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The first half of Vayevarech Dovid is the words of Dovid Hamelech to the Yidden before he passed away. This was before the Beis Hamikdash was built, since it would only be built when Shlomo Hamelech was the king.
The second half of this paragraph, starting from the words “Vivarchu Sheim Kevodecha,” was written many years later. After the Churban of the first Beis Hamikdash, the Yidden were sent into Golus. Years passed, and they started to come back to Eretz Yisroel, hoping to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash.
The Navi Nechemyah ben Chachalyah gathered together the Yidden. He told them to do a full teshuvah and return to Hashem with a full heart. He asked them to stand up and bentch Hashem, the Creator of the entire world.
Vecharos — One of the great things Hashem did was to make a bris with Avraham Avinu. Hashem chose his children to be His special nation, and took them out of Mitzrayim with great miracles!
These words of Nechemyah lead us into the next part of davening, where we describe those great miracles, especially of Kriyas Yam Suf.
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When we get ready to make Kiddush, we fill up our becher with wine. Not only do we fill it up to the top, we pour even more, so the wine overflows!
The Gemara says that overflowing the cup is a siman bracha, a sign of bracha.
But, the Alter Rebbe says, we need to be careful not to spill wine on the floor. That isn’t kavod for the wine of Kiddush.
Because of this, we put a plate under our becher, so that the wine will pour into a keili and not onto the floor.
See Toras Menachem 5742, vol. 3, p. 1692, Shulchan Menachem vol. 2 p. 65
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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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In this week’s parsha, Hashem promises Avraham that his children will get the WHOLE Eretz Yisroel, all 10 lands.
But first, the Yidden will need to go through a Golus of 400 years — Golus Mitzrayim.
Really, we won’t get the WHOLE Eretz Yisroel until Moshiach comes. So why does Hashem’s promise only talk about the Geulah from Mitzrayim?
The Maharal brings from the Medrash that the Torah uses the word “vegam” (“and also”) to hint to us that there will be more Golus after that one. Golus Mitzrayim was the main Golus, and every other Golus comes from it. Hashem was telling Avraham about EVERY Golus that would happen, and promised that at the end we would leave even this last Golus “Birchush Gadol,” with great riches!
Gevuros Hashem perek Tes, Yalkut Moshiach U’Geulah p. 259
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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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