Daily Chitas - Sunday Parshas Emor

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CHUMASH

Parshas Emor - Rishon with Rashi

In today’s Chumash we learn mitzvos that Hashem tells Moshe to tell the kohanim, mitzvos for a Kohen and a Kohen Gadol.

The first thing we learn about is about tumah that kohanim need to be careful with. The Torah tells us that the older kohanim need to make sure that the kohanim who are children also stay away from these kinds of tumah!

A kohen isn’t allowed to become tamei on purpose from someone who passed away (as long as someone else can take care of the Levayah and burying). This means that a kohen can’t go to a Levayah, or help bury someone, or go to a Beis Hachayim.

Only if it is someone in his very close family, he is allowed to go. Here are the relatives that he is allowed to become tomei for:

1) Wife
2) Mother
3) Father
4) Son
5) Daughter
6) Brother
7) Sister who isn’t married yet

Even though a kohen is allowed to become tomei if his wife passes away, this is only if he was allowed to marry her. If she was one of the kinds of women a kohen is not allowed to marry (like we will learn soon), he isn’t allowed to make himself tomei if she passes away.

Now the Torah tells us that a kohen needs to be careful with his body and not hurt it or make it look different like the goyim do. A kohen isn’t allowed to shave off his hair or beard, and he is not allowed to make himself bald or hurt himself to show that he is sad that someone passed away. Even though these are also mitzvos for all of the Yidden, the Torah says it again about Kohanim to teach us more about the mitzvah.

Now we learn that a kohen is holy, so he needs to be careful about who he marries. A kohen is not allowed to marry:

- A Zonah (someone who acted like she was married to somebody she’s not allowed to marry)
- A Chalalah (one kind of chalalah is a daughter of a kohen whose father married someone he’s not allowed to)
- A Gerusha (someone who got divorced)

The Beis Din needs to make sure that kohanim only marry who they are allowed to, and even if they already got married, the Beis Din forces the kohen to divorce the woman he wasn’t supposed to marry.

Here is a story about a kohen who wanted to marry a Gerusha, but was not allowed to:

Many years ago in Cracow, Poland, there lived a kohen named Shlomo Seligman. He was very rich and worked for the Polish prince in charge of Cracow.

Shlomo unfortunately was not interested in keeping the mitzvos, and called himself Sigmund instead of Shlomo.

Sigmund once met a Jewish woman who had gotten divorced. He decided that he liked her and wanted to get married to her.

Of course, the Rav of Cracow, Rabbi Yitzchak, told him that the Torah did not let!

Sigmund got very upset about this, and told the prince that the Rabbi could have found a way in halacha to make a chasunah for him, but he was being stubborn.

The prince sent a group of soldiers to bring the Rav to the marketplace, so he would be FORCED to make the chasunah.

Standing in the marketplace, in front of a crowd of Jews and non-Jews, the Rav begged Sigmund and the woman not to do something asur like this, and warned them that whatever happened would be their fault.

But they ignored the Rav’s words, and told him to make the chasunah. The Rav looked up at Shomayim and asked Hashem to help!

Suddenly, a hole opened up in the ground, and swallowed up Sigmund and the woman, like Korach was swallowed up in the Midbar!

Then the hole closed back up again, as if nothing had happened. The soldiers, who had just seen this miracle, put their swords into the ground around the place where the hole had been to mark where it was.

After seeing the hand of Hashem, and that what he had done was wrong, the prince apologized to the Rav. The Rav asked him to build a wall around that spot, which had become a kever for those two Yidden, so that kohanim would be able to walk in the marketplace.

We give kohanim special kavod, like getting the first Aliyah to the Torah and leading the bentching.

Even the children of the kohanim are expected to be on a higher level. If the married daughter of a kohen became a Zonah, she gets a stricter punishment than a regular woman.

A Kohen Gadol has a higher level of kedusha, so there are more things he needs to be careful with. He is not allowed to let his hair grow long the way an avel does, even if someone in his family passes away. He is also not allowed to become tamei even for someone in his close family. He has to keep doing his Avodah in the Beis Hamikdash, and can’t stop even if someone in his family passes away.

The Torah is also more strict about who a Kohen Gadol is not allowed to marry. He is not allowed to marry anyone a regular kohen can’t marry, and he also can’t marry an almanah (a widow). He is only allowed to marry someone who has never been married before.

For story, see “Korach of Cracow”, The Storyteller vol. 3, p. 257

TEHILLIM

49 - 54

The beginning of Kapitel Nun, in today’s Tehillim, speaks about Le’asid Lavo, the time when Moshiach comes.

The posuk says that then Hashem will say: אִסְפוּ לִי חֲסִידָי כֹּרְתֵי בְרִיתִי עֲלֵי זָבַח

This means, “Gather to me My righteous ones, the ones who made a bris with Me and brought a korban.”

Who made a bris with Hashem?

This posuk is talking about the Yidden at the time of Matan Torah, who later became the Dor Hamidbar. Like it says at the end of Parshas Mishpatim, before the Torah was given, they brought korbanos and made a bris with Hashem. They made a bris (a promise) with Hashem that whatever happens, Hashem’s love for them and their love for Hashem will stay — they will always stay connected.

In Mesechta Sanhedrin, R’ Elazar brings this posuk as a proof about Techiyas Hameisim. R’ Elazar says that we see from here that these Yidden have a chelek in Olam Haba. It shows that EVERYONE from that dor, even the Meraglim and Korach and his group, who did things that were not appropriate, will all have Techiyas Hameisim and have a part in Olam Haba! Since they were also part of this bris at the time of Matan Torah, Hashem’s love for them will always stay. There is an argument in the Gemara about this, but what R’ Elazar said became the halacha.

The Rebbe tells us that we can learn a very important lesson from this in Ahavas Yisroel! Even if we see someone who looks as low as Korach, making machlokes with others, we need to remember that EVERY Yid, even Korach, has a part in Olam Haba! Hashem gives each Yid a chelek in Olam Haba because they are all “Neitzer Mata’ai, Maasei Yadai Lehispa’er” — Hashem is proud of every Yid and loves every Yid no matter what happens! This will help us have Ahavas Yisroel for every Yid and help bring them closer to Hashem!

See Farbrengen Yud-Beis Tammuz and Tes-Vov Tammuz Tof-Shin-Lamed-Tes

TANYA

Likutei Amarim Perek Mem-Vov

Now we are starting a new Perek in Tanya. We are going to learn about an even EASIER way to bring out our love for Hashem, so that the Torah and mitzvos we do will be Lishma, and nothing will distract us from doing what Hashem wants us to do! This new way will be very easy for us to understand and connect with! It is going to be explained to us over the next four perakim.

This Ahava is called the Ahava of Kamayim Hapanim Lepanim, which comes from thinking about the love that Hashem has for us. This will automatically make us feel a love to Hashem in return.

Did you ever stand by a lake or river and look inside? It’s just like a mirror — you can see yourself!

Shlomo Hamelech tells us in Mishlei, “Kamayim Hapanim LePanim, Kein Leiv Ha’Adam La’Adam.” “Just like water reflects a face, a heart reflects what is in another person’s heart.” Our heart is ALSO like looking in water — the way we feel about other people is the way they will feel about us. When we love someone else, they will love us too.

(In Mishlei, Shlomo Hamelech teaches us lessons for life. The lesson here is that if we are in a fight with someone, knowing this can help us fix things up! If we love the other person, the way Hashem set up the world is that they will feel it too and stop fighting with us. But here in Tanya we see that this is also true of our love for Hashem!)

Let’s close our eyes and imagine a very very poor person, who is all alone. He doesn’t even have a house, he just sits in the garbage dump, all by himself.

Now imagine that a great king hears about this person. He calls his officers to bring his royal carriage, and goes by himself down to the garbage dump! He brings that poor man into the palace, into the rooms that NOBODY is allowed to go into! The king hugs the poor man, and kisses him, and tells him that he loves him!

Can you imagine how much the poor person will love the king? Even if he isn’t a very emotional person, who doesn’t seem to get excited about things, he will still feel a very strong love for the king!

Soon we’re going to learn how this is a mashal — that really WE are like the poor person in the story! When we think about how this is true about how Hashem shows His love for every Yid, it will bring out OUR love for Hashem!

HAYOM YOM

Tes Iyar

Today is twenty-four days of the Omer!

The Baal Shem Tov said:

Everything we see or hear can help us in our Avodas Hashem!

This is what Avodah is all about — to get used to trying to understand how each thing that comes into our life will help our Avodas Hashem.

In a sicha to the girls of Camp Emunah after they came back from camp, the Rebbe explained one of the horaos in Avodas Hashem we can learn from something in children’s lives — playing! The Rebbe pointed out that we see that when little girls play, one of their main games is playing house and with dolls.

Even though they are very young and don’t really think about their shlichus in the world, they are already practicing for it! When they get older, Hashem will IY”H give them a home and children to take care of. Now, with the game they like to play, they are already learning how to do their shlichus in the future, and make their home a home that will be the way Hashem wants!

See Likutei Sichos chelek Yud-Daled p. 196

SEFER HAMITZVOS

Shiur #272 - Mitzvas Lo Saasei #252

Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #252) is the same as yesterday’s — to be extra careful not to say things that can make a Ger feel bad.

We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: וְגֵר לֹא תוֹנֶה

RAMBAM

Hilchos Mechirah

In today’s Rambam, we learn more about buying and selling the Torah way. Buying and selling need to be very exact so that we stay far away from cheating!

In Perek Chof-Ches, we learn about the size of a field when we are selling it. Do rocks in the field count for part of the measurement?

In Perek Chof-Tes, we learn about certain people who are not considered responsible enough to buy or sell. For example, a child is usually not allowed to buy or sell. But in some cases, a child over 6 years old is allowed to buy and sell if he needs the money, if the Beis Din first makes sure he understands what he is doing.

Perek Lamed teaches us about a shliach (messenger) buying something for someone else, and also about what happens if someone buys or sells on Shabbos: It is an aveira, and the Beis Din punishes them, but what they sold still stays sold.

RAMBAM PEREK ECHOD

Hilchos Sanhedrin - Perek Yud-Daled

Perek Yud-Daled has more halachos about a person who is chayav misa, deserves to be killed. One halacha tells us that we need to be very patient, and not try to pasken quickly if someone deserves to be killed! If a Beis Din kills one person every seven years, we say that they are a bloodthirsty court.

INYANA D'YOMA

Sefiras Haomer

During this week in Sefiras Haomer, we are working on the midah of Netzach.

What is Netzach?

Sometimes a person can be very excited about davening! They may have gotten a new siddur, or won a prize for davening nicely.

A person may be very excited about giving tzedakah, after hearing a story about how special the mitzvah of tzedakah is.

A person can feel very close to their parents, like after not seeing them for a long time, and want to do something to make them happy.

When we do something because we feel a love and excitement for what we are doing, we are using the midah of Chesed and Ahava.

But what happens after we use the new siddur for a month, or forget the beautiful story about tzedakah, or we see our parents every day? We don’t feel as excited about what we are doing, and we don’t enjoy doing it as much. But we know that these mitzvos are what we SHOULD do. We should be davening, we should be giving tzedakah, and we should be having Kibud Av Va’em — and so we do it.

That’s using our midah of Netzach! We do the same things as when we were able to do it with our Chesed (when we were excited to do it) even when we aren’t interested anymore. We have Netzach, victory! Even though we may want to read a book or play a game, we do what we know is right… we have victory over the Yetzer Hara.

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TEFILLAH

Bareich Aleinu

In Shemoneh Esrei, the bracha that we say to ask Hashem for parnasa is “Bareich Aleinu.”

(If you look at the translation of this bracha, you will see that it is all about rain and growing things. That’s because it used to be that everyone’s parnasa was connected to farming, which needed rain.)

It says in Hayom Yom that when we ask Hashem to bring bracha on all that we grow, we should have in mind the matzah for Pesach, the esrog for Sukkos, and the wine for Kiddush. When the wheat, esrogim, and grapes grow well, we can do these mitzvos in the nicest way. When the reason we ask for parnasa is to do mitzvos properly, Hashem will surely bentch us with plenty of parnasa.

HALACHOS HATZRICHOS

Exceptions to Muktza

Things that are not meant to be used on Shabbos are muktza, and we are not allowed to move them.

There are some times when the Chachomim took away their gezeira of muktza. One time is when leaving the muktza where it is will be a sakana for people.

For example, broken glass is muktza, since it usually can’t be used for anything.

But if glass breaks on the table or where people walk, someone could get hurt! Because of this, the Chachomim didn’t make it counted as muktza, and we are allowed to clean it up in the regular way.

See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Shin-Ches se’if Chof-Ches

לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי

GEULAH U'MOSHIACH

The End of Avodah Zarah

The Navi Yeshaya said many nevuos about what will happen in the times of the Geulah!

One of the nevuos is about people who have lots of gaavah, who serve Avodah Zarah. When the days of Moshiach will come, they won’t feel proud anymore — they will be very embarrassed! They will throw away all of their Avodah Zarah and run to hide from the glory of Hashem that will be seen in the world.

The posuk says:

לָבוֹא בְּנִקְרוֹת הַצֻּרִים וּבִסְעִפֵי הַסְּלָעִים מִפְּנֵי פַּחַד ה׳ וּמֵהֲדַר גְּאוֹנוֹ בְּקוּמוֹ לַעֲרֹץ הָאָרֶץ

The posuk before tells us that everybody who has Avodah Zarah will throw it away when they run to hide!

Lavo Benikros Hatzurim — They will run to hide in the holes of the rocks

Uv’se’ifei Hasela’im — And in the caves of the cliffs

Mipnei Pachad Hashem — From the fear of Hashem

Umeihadar Ge’ono — And from Hashem’s great glory

Bekumo La’arotz Ha’aretz — When Hashem gets up to punish the Resha’im in the world.

The Alter Rebbe brings this posuk at the end of Perek Lamed-Vov in Tanya, where he speaks about the time of the Geulah. The Alter Rebbe says that from the light of Hashem that will shine on the Yidden through Torah, the darkness of the world will also become light! The goyim will leave whatever wrong things they are doing, and come to the light of Hashem.

See Yeshayahu perek Beis, posuk Chof-Alef, Tanya Perek Lamed-Vov

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