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CHUMASH

Rishon with Rashi

Today in Chumash, we start learning the story of the Meraglim, the spies.

We learned last week that the Yidden came to a new place, called Rismah. There, Moshe Rabbeinu told the Yidden to get ready — soon they would be able to go to Eretz Yisroel! Most of the Shevatim (except Shevet Levi) asked Moshe to first send spies to go look at Eretz Yisroel. Moshe asked Hashem if he should send them.

Hashem told Moshe that he could send (“Shelach”) Meraglim, but that they might lose their chance to get Eretz Yisroel since they already don’t trust Hashem and might say not good things.

Moshe sent one important person from each Shevet. Here are their names:

Reuven: Shamua ben Zakur
Shimon: Shafat ben Chori
Yehudah: Kalev ben Yefuneh
Yissachar: Yigal ben Yosef
Efrayim: Hoshea bin Nun
Benyamin: Palti ben Rafu
Zevulun: Gadiel ben Sodi
Menasheh: Gadi ben Susi
Dan: Amiel ben Gemali
Asher: Sesur ben Michael
Naftali: Nachbi ben Vofsi
Gad: Geuel ben Machi

Moshe changed Hoshea’s name to Yehoshua, meaning that Hashem should save him from the plans of the spies.

Moshe Rabbeinu told the Meraglim to go figure out the easiest way to capture Eretz Yisroel. They should also bring back fruits so everyone can SEE that Eretz Yisroel was as special as Hashem had said it was!

 
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TEHILLIM

97 - 103

In Kapitel Kuf-Gimmel, the posuk says “Kerachem Av Al Banim, Richam Hashem Al Yereiav” — “The same way a father has Rachmanus on his children, Hashem has Rachmanus on those who have Yiras Shomayim.” Here is a story connected with these words:

Once when the Friediker Rebbe was a young boy, he was at a farbrengen with his father, the Rebbe Rashab. It was Sukkos, and the farbrengen was in the freezing cold Sukkah. The farbrengen went until very late, and the Frierdiker Rebbe fell asleep.

Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah (the Friediker Rebbe’s mother) came to take him into his warm bed, but the Rebbe Rashab said to let him stay! The Rebbetzin said, “It is cold for him! Doesn’t it say, ‘Kerachem Av Al Banim’ — ‘Hashem has Rachmanus on us like a FATHER has Rachmanus on his child’? Where is your Rachmanus for your son? It’s cold for him!”

The Rebbe Rashab answered, “Let him sleep close to Chassidim that are farbrenging, and that will keep him warm! This varemkeit (warmth) will stay with him for many generations.” (A farbrengen can make the neshama warm and full of chayus — and that feeling can last for a very long time!)

Many years later, the Friediker Rebbe told this story at a farbrengen with Chassidim. After the story, he said, “This is Mesirus Nefesh for Chinuch!”

 
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TANYA

Shaar Hayichud Veha'emunah Perek Zayin

Today we learn about Yichudah Ila’ah.

So far we learned about three midos of Hashem. Hashem is called by three names, which are connected to each of these midos.

- Havaya is Chesed
- Elokim is Gevura
- Ad-nay is Malchus

It is Sheim Havaya (Hashem’s Chesed) that make Hashem WANT to make a world for us. Sheim Elokim (Hashem’s Gevurah) is what makes Hashem hide the chayus so we can live. But Hashem actually MAKES the world (Yeish Me’Ayin) using Sheim Ad-nay, Malchus.

What is the world? The world is TIME and PLACE, that things take time, and that things take up space. This comes from the name of Hashem Ad-nay. The other names of Hashem are from a place in Kedusha where there is no such thing as “time” and “space”!

What happens when you have two names together? Both things happen! So when the name Ad-nay is together with the name Havaya, the time and place of the world is connected with what’s higher than time and place. That’s Yichuda Ila’ah!

A Yid’s neshama is able to connect to Hashem in a way of Yichuda Ila’ah, and even feel it in his avodah!

Imagine you are in your house, far away from New York, watching a video of a Farbrengen. You could feel like you are in 770, while the Farbrengen is happening — even though you are really in your house far away, and it isn’t Tof-Shin-Lamed-Ches anymore!

But really, in Ruchnius, it is ALWAYS Tof-Shin-Lamed-Ches — the chayus from that farbrengen is ALWAYS. So when you are watching that farbrengen and feel like you’re there — you really are! You are connecting to the Farbrengen in a way of Yichuda Ila’ah — connecting using the koach of Hashem that is HIGHER than time and place.

The Avodah connected to Yichuda Ila’ah is when even in the world (which is created with the Sheim Ad-nay) we feel Hashem in a way of Havaya — feeling Hashem in a way that is HIGHER than time and place.

Sometimes when we daven, especially on a special day like Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Yud-Tes Kislev, Yud Shevat, or Gimmel Tammuz, we can feel connected to Hashem in a way that we forget we’re standing in shul, we forget how long we are standing for... we feel Hashem in a way that is HIGHER than time and place!

That’s feeling Yichuda Ila’ah.

 
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HAYOM YOM

Chof Sivan

Every Chossid serves Hashem in his own special way. The way he thinks, feels, and acts fits with his own special avodah.

When a Chossid goes into Yechidus for the first time, the Rebbe sees the avodah of his neshama. The words the Rebbe tells him help him understand what his avodah is supposed to be. For the rest of his life, he tries to think, feel, and act according to the Rebbe’s words!

There is something each of us can learn from this Hayom Yom:

The truth is that the Rebbe didn’t need to have a private Yechidus with someone in order to give him horaos. The Rebbe said many times to Chassidim who had questions, that he already answered them during the farbrengen.

In the later years, the Rebbe stopped private Yechidus with Chassidim, and started Yechidus Klalis, which was like a sicha said to a group of Chassidim. (For example, the Rebbe would have a yechidus for all of the Chasanim and Kallos getting married soon, or all the boys and girls about to become Bar or Bas Mitzvah.) In this sicha, the Rebbe would give horaos and brachos for each of those Chassidim. Many times the Rebbe would speak about how being together with other Chassidim in a group brings even more bracha for each Chossid!

Today there are many sichos and videos constantly being published or shared. When we watch them or learn them, we can find the special horaos the Rebbe is giving to us, to guide us in our shlichus to bring Moshiach.

 
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SEFER HAMITZVOS

Mitzvas Lo Saasei #245

Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #245) is not to rob another person. What’s the difference between stealing (geneivah) and robbing (gezeilah)? Stealing is when a person takes something in a secret way, and robbing is taking something away from another person by force. Both are asur, of course, but each is a separate mitzvah.

We learn this from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: לֹא תִגְזֹל

The halachos of this mitzvah are explained in Perakim Tes and Yud of Mesechta Bava Kama.

 
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RAMBAM

Hilchos Gezeilah VaAveidah

In today’s Rambam, we start to learn the halachos about how a robber pays back what he robbed.

Perek Alef teaches us what robbery is, and the general rule of how a robber pays back. We also learn that it is asur to be jealous of something someone has and try to get the other person to sell it. The Torah tells us that if someone does that, he will eventually rob!

Perek Beis explains what happens if the thing that was stolen changed after it was stolen, like if the robber stole a cow and it got bigger and fatter, or he stole raw stones and polished them into shining gems. Sometimes we say he needs to give it back, and other times he pays the owner back instead.

Perek Gimmel teaches us what happens if a robber stole something and broke it or lost it. In this kind of case, the robber has to pay back the amount it was worth. How much does he pay back if the price for that kind of thing changed from when he stole it? This perek also includes the halachos about other things which are called gezel, like using someone else’s things without permission.

 
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RAMBAM PEREK ECHOD

Hilchos Yibum V'Chalitzah - Perek Vov

Today we learn about who is NOT allowed to do yibum or chalitzah. For example, if the brother was already married to the yevama’s sister, he is not allowed to do yibum and marry her too, because then he would be marrying two sisters, which is asur!

 
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DARKEI HACHASSIDUS

Lebn Mit Der Tzeit

The Torah tells us what happened with the Meraglim and the mistake they made, so we will learn how we should behave.

Moshe Rabbeinu told them that they should find out about the land and the people who live there, so that the Yidden will be excited to go, and they’ll know how to conquer it.

But instead of learning HOW to fight Eretz Yisroel, they started trying to decide IF they should fight for Eretz Yisroel!

One of the things we can learn from this is that we need to know that when we have a mitzvah that we need to do, Hashem also gives us the koach to do it. Like the Chachomim say, “Eini Mevakesh Ela Lefi Kochan,” that Hashem only asks us to do things that we are able to do. Our shlichus is just to figure out the best way to do it.

When the Frierdiker Rebbe was in jail, he wanted to make sure he would have a chance to put on Tefillin. He knew that the guards might take them away, and wanted to put them on before that! The Frierdiker Rebbe thought about the following story that happened when he was a boy, which shows that Hashem helps us to be able to do mitzvos:

Once the Rebbe Rashab traveled with his family to Yalta, which he needed to go to for health reasons. On the way, they stopped in the open fields, so the horses could eat. There, the Rebbe Rashab found a little valley with big rocks, where he stood and davened Mincha.

The Frierdiker Rebbe was then a young boy, and he really wanted to watch the wagon driver take care of the four big horses. But he was worrying about the new Melamed he would have in Yalta, since he wasn’t sure he would be as good as his melamed at home. He was also worried about his father’s health, and felt that if he acted good, his father would have koach and also be able to learn with him. So he sat down on a rock and chazered the part of the siddur he was learning, the kapitel of “HaShomayim Mesaprim Kevod Keil” from the Shabbos davening.

When they sat down to eat, his father the Rebbe Rashab pointed to a faraway mountain, that looked like it was split on the top, with some space in between. The Rebbe Rashab told him that once he had traveled with his brother, the Raza. They went to daven Shacharis up there on the mountain. There, they saw that it wasn’t just a split on the mountain, it was the opening of a big cave where there were rocks to sit on.

The Rebbe Rashab explained that Hashem made the world in a way that every Yid can do the mitzvos. Since a Yid might be traveling far away and need to daven, and we aren’t allowed to daven in an open field, Hashem made caves like this one to daven in.

This is also what we need to know from the story of the Meraglim: If Hashem gives us a shlichus to do, the first thing we need to know is that we ARE able to do it — our shlichus is just to figure out the best way to make it happen!

See Likutei Sichos Chelek Yud-Gimmel, Parshas Shelach alef, Reshimas Hamaaser

 

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TEFILLAH

How Davening Changes Our Day

The Alter Rebbe explains the words of the Chachomim: “Hamispalel Tzorich Sheyihiyeh Libo Lemaala Ve’einav Lematah” — a person who is davening has to have his heart above and his eyes below!

The Alter Rebbe says it means that even when a Yid feels close and connected to Hashem, he still needs to remember the way he is during the regular things he does after davening.

The Rebbe teaches us what this means practically — that a person can’t walk away from davening only feeling inspired and Ruchniyus’dik. We ALSO need to use the time of davening to make general hachlatos for the day about how we should act in our “regular” work, like eating and exercise and playing and working.

Then, later in the day, we can think about what we’re doing, and if we’re acting the way we decided we would during davening.

Sichas Tes-Vov Shevat, 5739

 
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HALACHOS HATZRICHOS

Saying Amen to Birchos Hashachar

When we hear another person say a bracha, we say Amen — EXCEPT if the bracha is part of a longer bracha. For example, the bracha of Asher Yatzar is a long bracha. It starts with the words “Boruch Ata Hashem,” but there’s another bracha at the end. With this kind of bracha, we only say Amen at the end.

Another long bracha in Birchos Hashachar is “Hamaavir Sheina.” This bracha is a part of the paragraph “Vihi Ratzon” that comes right after it. If we hear someone say the bracha of Hamaavir Sheina, we shouldn’t answer Amen (like we do in the other brachos of Birchos Hashachar), until they end off the bracha with the words “Hagomel Chasadim Tovim Le’amo Yisroel.”

At the end of Birchos Hashachar, we say Birchos HaTorah. There is an opinion that the bracha of Al Divrei Sorah is part of a long bracha, together with the paragraph of Veha’arev Na. According to the Alter Rebbe, though, they are two separate brachos, so we should answer Amen to each.

See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Mem-Vov

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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GEULAH U'MOSHIACH

Techiyas Hameisim

After the histalkus of the Frierdiker Rebbe, the Rebbe spoke about our emunah in Techiyas Hameisim. The Rebbe said that soon there will be “Hakitzu Veranenu Shochnei Afar,” that the Frierdiker Rebbe will have Techiyas Hameisim and take the Yidden out of Golus.

People asked the Rebbe, isn’t that the wrong order? It says in seforim that first Moshiach comes, and then afterwards is Techiyas Hameisim! How can we say that the Frierdiker Rebbe will take the Yidden out of Golus?

The Rebbe answered that in general that is true. Here is the order of how things happen:

1) Moshiach comes.

2) The Beis Hamikdash is built.

3) All of the Yidden are gathered back into Eretz Yisroel — Kibbutz Galuyos.

4) Techiyas Hameisim — all of the Yidden who passed away will come back to life.

But still, it is written that for certain tzadikim, they will have Techiyas Hameisim before. That is how a Chossid has Emunah that even after his Rebbe’s histalkus, the Rebbe will take the Yidden out of Golus!

See Likutei Sichos vol. 2 p. 517

 
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