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CHUMASH
Parshas Tetzaveh - Chamishi with Rashi
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Hashem tells Moshe more details of how to get the Kohanim ready to work in the Mishkan during the Shivas Yemei Hamiluim, when the Mishkan will be first set up. (The Torah will tell us how this actually happened in the second half of Parshas Tzav.) We learned that Moshe Rabbeinu would need to bring three korbanos, a bull and two rams, and we started learning how these korbanos should be brought. Today we learn what Moshe should do with the second ram.
Moshe should bring the second ram as a korban, and put some of its blood on the ear, right thumb, and right big toe of the kohanim. The rest of the blood gets splashed onto the lower half of the Mizbeiach.
Then Moshe should take some of the blood from the Mizbeiach, together with the Shemen Hamishcha, and this should be sprinkled onto the kohanim and onto their clothes (Bigdei Kehuna).
Some parts of the korban, and one of each of the kinds of matzah should be taken and waved (like a lulav!) in all directions. Then they will be burned on the Mizbeiach.
Other parts of the korban, and the rest of the matzah, are for the kohanim to eat, but they need to stay inside the chatzer of the Mishkan!
This korban will also be a kapara for the Mizbeiach, in case some stolen things were used to build it, or to build other parts of the Mishkan.
Moshe should do this every day for the 7 days of Chanukas Hamishkan. Hashem tells Moshe that through the avodah done during these days, the kohanim will become appointed as kohanim to do the Avodah, and the Mizbeiach will become ready to be used.
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In the last posuk of Kapitel Nun, Dovid Hamelech says: “Zoveiach Todah Yechabdaneni” — “a person who brings a Korban is bringing Kavod to Hashem.”
Just like when we bring a korban to shecht it brings kavod for Hashem, shechting the Yetzer Hara also brings kavod for Hashem.
How do we bring our Yetzer Hara to be shechted as a korban?
Just like when we shecht an animal, the animal loses its chayus, when we shecht our Yetzer Hara, the Yetzer Hara loses its chayus too. Instead of getting excited about Gashmiyus things that we like or want (like computer games or nosh), we get excited about Kedusha things — like davening or doing mitzvos!
By getting excited about things for Avodas Hashem, and less excited about things for the Yetzer Hara, we are also bringing kavod to Hashem!
See Tehillas Menachem kapitel Nun
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed-Beis
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When the Alter Rebbe first wrote the Tanya (Mahadura Kama), it was different than the Tanya we have today! One very big difference is that this whole perek wasn’t there at all! The Alter Rebbe added it to the final version, and chose to put it right here, so it would be the 32nd perek. “Lamed-Beis” (32) is the Gematria of “Lev,” “heart.” Just like the heart sends the blood with chayus to all the parts of the body, this perek gives chayus to everything we learn in Tanya!
There are three kinds of love: Ahavas Hashem (love for Hashem), Ahavas HaTorah (love for Torah), and Ahavas Yisroel (love for another Yid). In the Yud Shevat farbrengen of Kabolas Hanesius, when the Rebbe officially accepted to be Rebbe, the Rebbe said that we need to make sure that our love for Hashem and the Torah BRINGS us to Ahavas Yisroel! In this perek, the Alter Rebbe shows us how to do that.
In the last three perakim, we have been learning about a hisbonenus with many parts. First we think thoughts that make us feel humble. Then we realize that even though as a person we may not have what to be so proud of, we have a neshama like every Yid has, and the neshama can come out of the Golus of the guf through Torah and mitzvos! Through learning Torah and doing mitzvos, we can even make the guf and Gashmius things we use more aidel, which is why Hashem put the neshama in the guf in the first place! That will bring us to decide to make it our life’s mission to connect our neshama with Hashem and elevate our guf and the Gashmius to kedusha through Torah and mitzvos!
When we think about OURSELVES this way, that the neshama is the main thing, we will look at another Yid the same way too! This is how we will be able to have true Ahavas Yisroel for EVERY SINGLE YID, no matter who!
How does seeing the neshama as the main thing bring us to love every Jew?
First, let’s think about why it’s hard to have Ahavas Yisroel: People look, sound, and act differently. Some people are tall and some are short, some are loud and some are quiet, some are smart and some are talented. Some people are mean, and some people are nice. There are people who like to play, others like to read. Some like to give presents, and some like to get presents! Different people like different kinds of things and we all have different personalities. That makes it very hard to love everyone the same!
But all these differences are only because of our guf. Our neshamos, though, are all the same — they are all a part of Hashem!
So if we are able to look at ourselves and see that the main thing is the neshama (through the hisbonenus we just learned), we will be able to look at every other Yid also in the same way! We will see that for them too, the main thing is the neshama! Then, there are no differences, and we can have Ve’ahavta Lereiacha Kamocha to every Yid equally, no matter how big or small they are!
In fact, this won’t only help us do ONE mitzvah (the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel) — if we can truly feel this way, that is the main point of the whole Torah and ALL of the mitzvos!
We see this in a story from the Gemara, about Hillel Hazakein:
Once a goy came to Hillel and asked to become a Yid — but he said that he is only willing to learn about Yiddishkeit while standing on one foot. So Hillel told him, “Things you don’t like other people to do to you, you shouldn’t do to other people. That’s the whole Torah. Everything else just explains it. Now go learn the rest.”
Hillel was saying that the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel is the whole Torah!
Why?
The whole point of the Torah is to make our neshama stronger than our Guf, and to connect it to Hashem!
When we do Ahavas Yisroel after going through this whole hisbonenus, which brings us to feel that a person’s neshama is really the main thing, we are doing the whole point of Torah!
When Yidden have achdus with each other, then Hashem also wants to have achdus with us! This way, Hashem’s Shechinah can be felt among the Yidden.
And this is also the point of the whole Torah!
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The Hayom Yom was first written for a Shana Me’uberes, a year with TWO Adars. This year is a Shana Peshuta, with only ONE Adar. We don’t want to miss any Hayom Yoms, so we learn TWO Hayom Yoms every day of Adar!
Tes Adar Alef
The Frierdiker Rebbe came to America on Tes Adar Beis 5700. This Hayom Yom talks about a mivtza that the Frierdiker Rebbe started when he came to America, to make the air pure with words of Torah — Taharas Ho’Avir.
What do you think about when you are walking outside?
We shouldn’t go out in the street without a plan of what we’re going to think about, and just think about whatever comes into our mind. When we walk in the street we should be thinking TORAH, like Tanya or Mishnayos!
If we are sitting around somewhere where we can use a sefer, we should also have a plan — to say words of Torah, like Chumash or Tehillim (which are usually said from inside a sefer).
Especially nowadays, when there isn’t as much Torah in the streets as there used to be, it is even more special when we think or say words of Torah there!
Tes Adar Sheini
Nusach Chabad: When we say Borei Nefashos, we should be careful to say “KOIL Mah Shebarasa” (with a cholam), and not “KOL Mah Shebarasa” (with a komatz).
A chossid wants to be mekushar to the Rebbe.
How can he do it?
It’s not enough to just to see the Rebbe’s face (or to see videos or pictures). To have proper hiskashrus, we need to learn and understand the Rebbe’s Chassidus!
On Tes Adar, the Frierdiker Rebbe arrived in America. You can imagine how excited the Chassidim were to see the Frierdiker Rebbe, many of them for the first time ever!
In today’s Hayom Yom, we see that this excitement is not enough to be hiskashrus by itself. Chassidim also need to study and understand the Rebbe’s Chassidus in order to be mekushar.
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #99) is about the Tumah of Niddah. This is a kind of tumah that a woman can have.
Even though this kind of tumah, and some of the other kinds of tumah we will learn about, are kept in certain ways nowadays, in these halachos we are learning about how someone with these kinds of tumah makes other people or things tomei. These halachos are only kept when there is a Beis Hamikdash.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Metamei Mishkav U'Moshav
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In today’s Rambam, we start learning a new set of halachos — about people who can make something tomei in a different way than the kinds of tumah we learned before, like Tumas Meis or Tumas Tzoraas. These people have a certain kind of tumah that come from their body.
Perek Alef: The Rambam teaches us what can make a person tomei enough to make other things Tomei by sitting down or lying down on them. (Those things will become an Av HaTumah — that’s is the strongest kind of tumah, which can make other things Tomei more easily.)
Perek Beis: Now we explain the halachos about things that come from a person with these kinds of Tumah — like their blood or the spit in their mouth. This can be also counted as an Av HaTumah.
Perek Gimmel: This perek teaches us when another person can get this kind of Tumah too, from them. We also learn about when a woman finds out that she was Tomei — sometimes we say that she was probably Tomei the day before too, and just didn’t find out until now. So everything she touched since yesterday is Tomei too!
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In Perek Tes we learn when someone is allowed to buy something in advance. Many times it is asur to sell something that didn’t grow yet, because we might end up charging more than it’s really worth, and we don’t know how much it will be worth yet, until we see how much people are paying in the marketplace. The Rambam tells us the halachos about when we can buy something in advance without being a problem of ribbis.
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“America Iz Nisht Andersh!” Today is the day that the Frierdiker Rebbe arrived in America, to live there. (The Frierdiker Rebbe came for a visit before.)
At that time, the Yidden in America had a very hard time being frum.
The first thing the Frierdiker Rebbe said was, “America Iz Nisht Andersh!” We shouldn’t think that America is different, that Torah is Chas Veshalom not the same here. The Torah and the mitzvos are the same for every time and for every place!
The Frierdiker Rebbe asked Rabbi Hodakov to come with him on the boat from Poland to America. On the boat, the Frierdiker Rebbe told Rabbi Hodakov that he should write up a plan what they would do to build Yiddishkeit in America, before they even get there.
Rabbi Hodakov wrote up a plan, and based on that plan, Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch, Machneh Yisroel, and Kehos were founded. The Frierdiker Rebbe gave these mosdos over to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe used these mosdos to spread Yiddishkeit all over the world!
The Frierdiker Rebbe specifically did not want to wait until they got to America and then figure out what to do. The Frierdiker Rebbe wanted it planned in advance! One lesson we can learn from this is that we shouldn’t wait until we get older to decide how we’ll live. While we are children, we should get the proper Chinuch and make decisions about how to do things right for the rest of our lives!
(For more details of this story, see Early Years, published by JEM, page 264)
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In Shulchan Aruch, it says there is one general kavana in davening that we need to have, even if we aren’t able to think about the meaning of the words or about deeper meanings in tefillah. This is to remember that we are davening to Hashem! “Da Lifnei Mi Ata Omeid” “Know Who you are standing before” — that we are standing before Hashem.
There are only two places in davening where we MUST know the meaning of the words:
1) The first posuk of Shema — a Yid knows that there is nothing aside for Hashem
2) The first bracha of Shmoneh Esrei — we ask Hashem to accept our tefillos in the zechus of the Avos.
A good way to be able to have the general kavana of “Da Lifnei Mi Ata Omeid” all the time is to daven from a siddur! This way we won’t be as easily distracted by things going on around us.
This is the reason why there are halachos in Shulchan Aruch about not having pictures and images in shul, because they can make it harder for people to concentrate in davening.
The Rebbe davened the entire davening from the siddur (with very few exceptions), even though he obviously knew the whole davening by heart. The Rebbe said that he kept this minhag, as he also saw by the Frierdiker Rebbe.
See sicha of Yud-Gimmel Tishrei, 5743 - Toras Menachem 5743, vol. 1, p. 143 and on
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Today we will learn about one of the four mitzvos of Purim, Shalach Manos.
At the end of the Megillah, we read how Mordechai sent out letters to the Yidden, telling them how to celebrate the neis that happened. One of the things to do is to send gifts of food from one person to another.
The meforshim give many reasons to explain why we do this mitzvah. One of the basic reasons is to bring friendship and closeness between Yidden. That’s why boys give to boys, and girls give to girls — it is appropriate that boys be friends with boys, and girls be friends with girls! (Matanos L’evyonim is different, because we are giving money to help a person in need, not to build a friendship. That’s why we can give Matanos L’evyonim to either men or women.)
The words of the Megillah that teach us about Shalach Manos are “Mishloach Manos Ish Le’Rei’eihu,” “to send portions of food from a person to his friend.” From each one of these words we learn some of the details of the mitzvah.
Mishloach — Because it says the word “to send,” we learn that it should be sent through a shliach. However, it is not NECESSARY to use a messenger to fulfill the mitzvah.
Manos — Because it says “portions” (not portion), we learn that it has to be more than one type of food. Manos also means portions of food that are ready to eat, and not something that needs to be cooked or prepared. It is best that each portion be at least a kezayis.
Ish Le’Rei’eihu — Because it says to his friend (not friends), we learn that it is enough to give Shalach Manos to one friend. But we are taught, “Kol Hamarbeh Harei Zeh Meshubach” — someone who gives to more people, and brings more friendship, is praised! (Still, giving more Matanos L’evyonim is even MORE important, as we learned yesterday.)
Women also need to keep this mitzvah, and we should teach even small children to do it too!
The Rebbe pointed out that this is a very easy mitzvah! It’s an excellent opportunity to make sure as many people as possible — men, women, and children — do this mitzvah. On Mivtzoyim, we shouldn’t just give people Shalach Manos, we should make sure that they give to a friend and bring more friendship. A practical way to do this is to have people trade a meal or a Shalach Manos package.
(See Shevach Hamo’adim p. 151-152, and Halachos Uminhagei Chabad, p. 150-151)
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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 Chumash, we are learning about the Shivas Yemei Hamiluim, the Chanukas HaMishkan.
The Gemara asks a question about a detail of how the avodah was done on these days. Then the Gemara asks, why does it matter, if the Chanukas Hamishkan already happened? Why do we need to know about a detail that was not written in the Torah?
The Gemara answers, because we need to know for L’asid Lavo! When the Beis Hamikdash will be rebuilt, we need to know exactly how things should be done!
But, the Gemara continues to ask, we still don’t need to worry about that detail now, because Moshe and Aharon will be there with us! They will tell us exactly what needs to be done during the Chanukas Beis Hamikdash.
From this question of the Gemara, we see that Moshe and Aharon will be there at the Chanukas Beis Hamikdash Hashlishi! Even though the Beis Hamikdash will be built BEFORE Techiyas Hameisim, certain tzadikim will have Techiyas Hameisim before then, and Moshe and Aharon will be there to show us what we need to do!
See Gemara Yoma 5b
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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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