| |
|
CHUMASH
Parshas Bamidbar - Shishi with Rashi
|
|
Hashem tells Moshe to count all of the bechorim, the firstborns of the other Shevatim, who are at least 1 month old. He should make sure that there is someone from Shevet Levi working in the Mishkan instead of each bechor.
Hashem also tells Moshe that instead of the Yidden bringing their firstborn donkeys to Hashem, they should “trade” those donkeys for a lamb that will be given to Shevet Levi.
Now Moshe counted the firstborns, and found 22,273 bechorim.
We learned yesterday that there were 22,300 Leviim, but only 22,000 of them could work in the Mishkan instead of a bechor. That’s because 300 of the Leviim were bechorim themselves! That left 273 bechorim who didn’t have a Levi working instead of them.
So what should the extra 273 bechorim do? They should pay Shevet Levi 5 shekels (20 gera), the same amount that Yosef (who was Rachel’s bechor) was sold for.
How did Moshe decide WHICH bechorim need to pay? He made a goral (a lottery), with 22,273 pieces of paper, for the 22,273 bechorim. 22,000 of those papers said “Levi”, and 273 pieces of paper said “5 shekel.” Every bechor picked one piece of paper. If his paper said “Levi,” then someone from Shevet Levi would be working instead of him. If his paper said “5 shekel,” he needed to pay 5 shekel to Shevet Levi.
|
| |
|
|
In Kapitel Chof-Hey (25) it says “Zechor Rachamecha Hashem Vachasadech Ki Me’olam Heimah” — “Hashem, remember Your rachmonus and Your chesed, because they are forever.”
Chassidus explains that the word “meiolam” (forever) can also be translated as, “from the world.”
What does that mean? That the rachmonus and chesed of Hashem is something that is connected to the world.
The Rebbe Rashab teaches (in the Bar Mitzvah maamar) that we can understand this with a mashal:
If a person wants to be kind, he needs to have someone to be kind to! That’s why Avraham Avinu, whose life was full of kindness, was upset when he had no guests. He wasn’t able to do chesed! A person can’t be kind when he is by himself.
The same thing is true with Hashem: For Hashem to express His chesed, there has to be a world, which looks like it is separate from Hashem. This way, Hashem can show His kindness to the world.
We ask Hashem to remember His kindness to us, because that’s one of the reasons why Hashem made the world — to show us chesed!
|
| |
|
TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Nun-Gimmel
|
|
We said that “Hashra’as Hashechinah”, the Shechinah resting, is the way that we can feel Hashem. Of course Hashem is EVERYWHERE, but we can only feel Hashem in certain places (like in the Beis Hamikdash). We said that the Shechinah needs a “cover,” which is Torah. So in the time of the first Beis Hamikdash, the “cover” was the Luchos.
Before the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, King Yoshiyahu buried the Aron under the Beis Hamikdash so that the Goyim wouldn’t be able to touch it. So in the time of the second Beis Hamikdash, the Kodesh Hakodoshim was empty.
In the time of the second Beis Hamikdash, since there was no Aron and no Luchos, only a lower level of Hashem’s Shechinah was able to rest there. The Yidden couldn’t feel Hashem as much.
So how does the Shechinah come into the world after both Batei Mikdash were destroyed?
The Chachomim tell us that when we learn Torah, the Shechinah is with us! The Shechinah uses the Torah that we’re learning as a cover, so we can feel Hashem when we’re learning Torah!
(Still, this level of the Shechinah is even a lower level than the Shechinah that was felt in the second Beis Hamikdash. Since it comes from the lowest Ruchnius “world” — Asiyah, we can feel the Shechinah the most when we learn the parts of Torah that talk about doing the mitzvos (asiyas hamitzvos) — when we learn halacha.)
One wonderful way to learn halacha every day is to learn Rambam, like the Rebbe told us to!
|
| |
|
|
Today is forty-eight days of the Omer!
Since (like we learned yesterday in Hayom Yom), on Shavuos the Satan is confused like during the time of blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashana and during Yom Kippur, it is a very good time to work on doing better in learning Torah and serving Hashem with Yiras Shomayim!
Usually, the Satan tries to make things harder for Yidden to do the right thing. On Shavuos, he can’t make any trouble, so it’s the best time to make good hachlatos, especially in setting times to learn Torah.
|
| |
|
|
Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #236) is the same mitzvah again! If someone hurts another person, he has to pay that person money to make up for the 5 kinds of ways he hurt him — that he is worth less, that it hurt him a lot, for his doctor bills, for the time he couldn’t work, and because he was embarrassed.
|
| |
|
|
In today’s Rambam, we learn more halachos about being neighbors.
Perek Yud talks about how we need to be careful about bothering other people in a city. We can’t build something very smelly too close to a city, because everyone will be able to smell it!
Perek Yud-Alef teaches us about not bothering people who live close to us with smelly or noisy things, and what happens if we already built something very smelly or noisy: Do we need to stop using it?
Perek Yud-Beis teaches us the halachos of Ben Hametzer: If someone wants to sell a field, they first need to offer it to their next-door neighbor, because it will be the easiest for him to use it.
Did you know that the malochim argued that they are the “Ben Hametzer” when Hashem wanted to give the Torah to the Yidden? They said that the Torah is from Shomayim, and they are from Shomayim. So THEY are the “next-door neighbors” to the Torah, and Hashem has to offer it to them first! We will learn more halachos tomorrow in Rambam that Moshe used to explain to them that the Torah really belongs to the Yidden who live in this world!
|
| |
|
|
The Rambam explains how the container with the Mei Nidah can become tomei, and what happens if something falls into the Mei Nidah. Sometimes it can become tomei.
|
| |
|
|
We learned in today’s Hayom Yom that Shavuos is a good time to do work on learning Torah better.
The Rebbe tells us that Shavuos is a good time to remind ourselves and other people how important it is to learn Chitas and make good hachlatos so it will happen.
The parts of Chitas are especially connected to Shavuos!
Chumash: from Moshe Rabbeinu, who gave us the Torah
Tehillim: from Dovid Hamelech, whose Yartzeit is on Shavuos
Tanya: explains the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, whose yartzeit is also on Shavuos!
|
| |
|
▼ Jump to Coloring Books & Downloads ▼
|
| |
|
|
Did you wonder why we talk so much about davening? It’s only one mitzvah!
There are some mitzvos that aren’t JUST one of the 613 mitzvos, but they help ALL of the mitzvos!
Learning Torah is like that. “Talmud Meivi Lidei Maaseh” — when you learn, it makes you DO more. So it’s not just a mitzvah to learn Torah, but learning Torah helps us do all of the other mitzvos!
Davening is also a mitzvah like that. It isn’t only a mitzvah on its own, but it makes a difference to all of the other mitzvos.
In Likutei Torah, the Alter Rebbe calls davening the Chut Hashedra, the spine of the mitzvos. The spine is the long bone in a person’s back, that holds up the whole body and gives it strength so the person can move and walk. Our davening is what gives all of the mitzvos chayus and strength!
When we work on our davening, we are making ALL of our mitzvos stronger so we can do them with chayus!
See Likutei Sichos vol. 20 p. 409
|
| |
|
|
There are six constant mitzvos, “Mitzvos Temidiyos,” that we are supposed to keep ALL the time.
The first three of these mitzvos are about believing and knowing about Hashem. The fourth mitzvah is to LOVE Hashem.
Loving Hashem means feeling that we WANT to be connected to Hashem.
The only way to be able to always do mitzvos with a real chayus is to realize that we love Hashem, and want to be connected to Him! The only way to be close to Hashem is by doing His mitzvos, so we will want to do them all in the best way.
How do we feel this way? It’s all in the posuk! We learn the mitzvah of loving Hashem from the posuk, “Ve’ahavta Es Hashem Elokecha,” “and you should love Hashem.” It continues, “Vehayu Hadvarim Ha’eileh, Asher Anochim Metzaveh Es’chem Hayom, Al Levavecha.” “You should keep these words I am commanding you today on your heart.”
This is HOW we can love Hashem: When we remember these words that Moshe Rabbeinu told the Yidden — about how Hashem is the chayus of every Yid, and how much He loves them!
We are taught how to keep this mitzvah in the first chelek of Tanya, and in more detail throughout Chassidus.
~
Here are links to two Halacha Newsletters, to review the halachos for Shavuos: Badatz of Crown Heights and Rabbi Shmuel Lesches of Melbourne
|
|
לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
|
| |
|
|
The Navi Yeshaya tells us that when Moshiach comes, Hashem will gather together all of the Yidden and bring them back to Eretz Yisroel to serve Hashem in the Beis Hamikdash. The Navi tells us that this means EVERY Yid — even those who are “Ovdim Be’eretz Ashur,” lost in the land of Ashur, “Vehanidachim Be’eretz Mitzrayim,” and those who are pushed away in Mitzrayim.
The Alter Rebbe explains in Likutei Torah that this is talking about two kinds of Yidden who are very far from Yiddishkeit:
Ovdim Be’Eretz Ashur — Hashem will bring back even Yidden who are lost in the land of “Ashur,” like the word “Ashrei.” These Yidden feel happy and lucky even in Golus, since they have many taavos and Gashmius things to enjoy. Even though they don’t even realize what’s wrong with Golus, Hashem will bring them to come close to Yiddishkeit!
Nidachim Be’Eretz Mitzrayim — Hashem will bring back Yidden who are pushed away in the land of “Mitzrayim,” in a place of Meitzarim, being stuck. These are Yidden who feel too busy for Yiddishkeit! They are stuck in a place where they don’t have time or don’t want to serve Hashem. These Yidden, too, will come back when Moshiach comes.
All of us together will bow to Hashem in the Beis Hamikdash — “Veyishtachavu LaHashem BeHar Hakodesh BiYerushalayim!”
See Migolah L’Geulah p. 252; Likutei Torah Rosh Hashana 60a
|
| |
|
|
|
לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק
נפטר ב' מנחם אב ה'תשע"ג
|
| |
Give children around the world the gift of Kids Chitas!
KidsChitas.org/sponsor
|
| |
|
