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CHUMASH
Parshas Naso - Shishi with Rashi
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Yesterday we started to learn about the presents that the Nesiim brought on the day the Mishkan was set up. We learned the presents of the first five Nesiim.
Today we learn the rest of the presents that the Nesiim brought for Chanukas Hamzbeiach:
Here is the order they brought their korbanos:
Vov Nisan — Nasi for Shevet Gad: Eliasaf ben De’uel
Zayin Nisan (Shabbos) — Nasi for Shevet Efrayim: Elishama ben Amihud
Ches Nisan — Nasi for Shevet Menashe: Gamliel ben Pedahtzur
Tes Nisan — Nasi for Shevet Binyamin: Avidan ben Gidoni
Yud Nisan — Nasi for Shevet Dan: Achiezer ben Amishadai
Yud-Alef Nisan — Nasi for Shevet Asher: Pagiel ben Ochran
Yud-Beis Nisan — Nasi for Shevet Naftali: Achira ben Einan
Even though all of their presents were exactly the same, the Torah tells us every detail of the present of each Nasi! This is because they had different kavanos when they brought these things.
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In today’s Tehillim there is a posuk, “Nosata LeReiacha Neis Lehisnoses Mipnei Koshet Sela” — “You give those who have Yiras Shomayim a sign to hold up for the sake of truth.”
The word Neis can mean a few different things:
Neis — a sign
Neis — a miracle
Neis can be like the word Nisayon — a test
Do you know what a nisayon is? Chassidus explains that Hashem sometimes makes a person THINK that there is something in the way, that doesn’t let him do what Hashem wants. But it could be that what is stopping us isn’t even real!
For example, a person could think that if he does a mitzvah, someone will get angry at him — but it’s not even true! Hashem can make a person FEEL that way to test him, to see if the mitzvah is important enough to him that he will do it even though there is something making him scared.
Since a person needs to use a very strong part of his neshama to be able to do this mitzvah and not to be afraid, he becomes a stronger and better Yid.
In fact that is the very reason why Hashem gives a Yid a nisayon: To make the person the best Yid he can possibly be!
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TANYA
Shaar Hayichud Veha'emunah Perek Gimmel
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Yesterday, the Alter Rebbe told us how everything in the world is really the chayus of Hashem, and there is nothing else — but Hashem doesn’t let us see the world that way.
Today the Alter Rebbe gives us a mashal to understand this, from the way the rays of the sun are inside of the sun:
High up in the sky, there is a huge sun. It is so fiery and bright, its rays shine all the way here on earth!
We don’t have the actual sun in the world, but the rays of the sun reach us all the way down here. They make the world bright during the day, and make the moon shine at night. They warm up the world so we can live comfortably and plants and animals can grow. For us, the rays of the sun are very important.
But inside the sun itself, the rays are not needed at all. The sun is there, shining in its full strength! The rays are still there, but they are not counted as something separate and important. There, they aren’t special at all!
Tomorrow, the Alter Rebbe will explain what this mashal teaches us.
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When we learn Chassidus, our minds gets excited! We want to become a better Yid and act like Hashem wants.
Usually when we think a lot we don’t get excited, but Chassidus helps us use our minds to get EXCITED about our connection with Hashem and Yiddishkeit!
When Moshiach comes there will be Techiyas Hameisim. People who are not alive will get chayus from Hashem and become alive.
Similarly, when we learn Chassidus and get excited about Hashem, that is a little bit like Techiyas Hameisim. It makes our sechel, which usually does not have much chayus, get chayus and become full of life!
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There are 3 mitzvos in today’s Sefer Hamitzvos:
1) (Mitzvas Asei #235) A non-Jewish slave works for a Yid forever, unless the Yid hurts him in certain ways.
We learn this from a posuk in Parshas Behar: לְעֹלָם בָּהֶם תַּעֲבֹדוּ
The halachos of this mitzvah are explained in Mesechta Kiddushin and Mesechta Gittin.
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #254) If a non-Jewish slave runs away to Eretz Yisroel, he becomes free and becomes a ger. It is asur to give him back to whoever bought him. Instead, the amount of money he is worth needs to be paid to the person who owned him before, and he doesn’t go back to being a slave.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Ki Seitzei: לֹא תַסְגִּיר עֶבֶד אֶל אֲדֹנָיו
The dinim of this mitzvah are also explained in Mesechta Kiddushin and Mesechta Gittin.
3) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #255) It is asur to say anything mean to a non-Jewish slave who ran away to Eretz Yisroel and became a Yid.
We learn this mitzvah from the next posuk in Parshas Ki Seitzei: עִמְּךָ יֵשֵׁב בְּקִרְבְּךָ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר ... בַּטּוֹב לוֹ לֹא תּוֹנֶנּוּ
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more of the halachos of the shtar (document) that the master gives to his servant to make him free.
In Perek Zayin, we learn that if many servants are going free, each servant needs his own shtar to say that he is free. We also learn that the master has to say that he owns NOTHING that belongs to the servant! If he writes that the servant is free, but he still has to polish the master’s shoes, the shtar isn’t good.
Perek Ches teaches us that if a Jew sells a slave to a non-Jew, he gets a knas (fine) that he has to pay up to 10 times as much as the slave is worth to set him free!
There are also other things that the master can do that will set his slave free. For example if he puts tefillin on his slave, that shows that he doesn’t consider him a servant anymore, and he goes free! But if he taught him Torah that’s not a proof that he doesn’t consider him a servant.
We also learn the last two mitzvos of a slave that escapes to Eretz Yisroel, not to send him back, and to treat him well.
Finally, in Perek Tes, the Rambam teaches us a very important lesson in our lives. Although we are allowed to be strict and make our non Jewish slave work hard, a Yid should have rachmanus. The chachomim would give from all of their food and drink to their slaves and feed them first. Hashem has rachmanus on those who have rachmanus on others.
With that we finish the halachos of avadim (slaves), and the whole sefer, Sefer Kinyan!
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This perek teaches us about when a sign of Tzoraas might not be considered Tzoraas, for example, the bottom of a person’s foot.
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Today is the day that the Rebbe’s parents got married, in the year Tof-Reish-Samach!
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We are in the Yemei Tashlumin of Shavuos, the days that a person was still allowed to bring his Shavuos korbanos if he didn’t have a chance yet. The Rebbe teaches that during these days, until Yud-Beis Sivan, we can still make up for things connected to Shavuos.
Today we will learn something from a Shavuos maamar!
In the year Tof-Shin-Mem-Vov, Kehos was working on publishing seforim of maamarim of the Mitteler Rebbe. The night before Shavuos, the Rebbe had a farbrengen, as was the Rebbe’s minhag for many years. During the farbrengen, the Rebbe chazered one of the maamarim of the Mitteler Rebbe that would be printed in that sefer! The Rebbe asked that this maamar of the Mitteler Rebbe should be printed as a booklet in time for Shavuos so that chassidim could learn it.
We can see from here, and from other times, that the Rebbe would be very excited whenever new maamarim of the Rebbeim were printed!
This year, before Shavuos, a few maamarim of the Alter Rebbe were printed for the first time! And through Hashgacha Protis, one of the maamarim printed this year was the exact maamar that the Mitteler Rebbe’s maamar was based on!
This maamar, called “Lehovin Inyan Omer Se’orim U’Shtei Halechem,” explains the Ruchnius reason why the Korban Omer had to be brought on Pesach, and the Korban Shtei Halechem was brought on Shavuos.
The Korban Omer was made of barley, which is a food animals usually eat. The Shtei Halechem was made of wheat, a food that people usually eat!
We see in halacha that a person is not supposed to eat before feeding his animal. We see the same thing with the korbanos — first we bring the “animal” korban, the Korban Omer, and only afterwards we can bring the Shtei Halechem, the “people” korban.
That is because in avodah, we first need to work on the animal part of us, our Nefesh Habehamis. We do this during Sefiras Ha’omer, where we work on our midos and try to make ourselves more aidel. Only after we do this are we a keili to learn Torah, which is compared to bread, a people food.
This is why the Korban Omer had to be brought on Pesach, BEFORE the Shtei Halechem which is brought on Shavuos: Because first we need to make ourselves more aidel, the Ruchnius inyan of the Korban Omer, so that we will be a keili for the kedusha of the Torah, the Ruchnius inyan of the Shtei Halechem!
See farbrengen Erev Shavuos Tof-Shin-Mem-Vov
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TEFILLAH
Modeh Ani Brings Ahavas Yisroel
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There are many ways to help ourselves have Ahavas Yisroel.
We can learn about Ahavas Yisroel. When we remember what we learned, it will keep us inspired to act with Ahavas Yisroel for a few days! Or we could daven, and think about how the neshama is the main thing. That will help us feel Ahavas Yisroel!
But we can’t just have Ahavas Yisroel after learning, or after davening. We need to have Ahavas Yisroel ALL the time! So what should we do?
The Rebbe tells us that the answer is in Modeh Ani, which we say the FIRST thing when we wake up in the morning!
The main reason why it’s hard to have Ahavas Yisroel is because people think differently, and that’s why they act differently.
One person thinks it’s more important to give tzedakah to schools, and another person thinks it’s more important to give money for Hachnosas Kallah. One person thinks that we should have more farbrengens, and another person thinks we should learn more sichos.
It can be hard to have Ahavas Yisroel when someone is not being careful with something we think is very important!
But when we say the words of Modeh Ani, we see how to have Ahavas Yisroel for EVERYONE.
The word “Modeh” means to admit, to say that we agree even if we don’t understand. When we say Modeh Ani, we start off our day saying that we are ready to admit that there might be another way of seeing things. We are ready to admit that Hashem made many ways of thinking, and that more than one of them can be right! We agree that other people might be right too, even if we don’t understand.
This will help us have Ahavas Yisroel all day!
See Sicha of Yud-Gimmel Tishrei 5745, in connection to Lechat’chila Ariber
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There are six mitzvos that we are supposed to keep all the time. These mitzvos keep us always connected to Hashem!
The sixth of these mitzvos is “Velo Sasuru.” This mitzvah comes from the posuk, “Velo Sasuru Acharei Levavchem Ve’acharei Eineichem,” “you shouldn’t turn to follow after your heart and your eyes.” That means that you shouldn’t believe or behave according to ideas that are not the way Torah teaches.
The Chachomim teach us that we should be careful not to read or watch non-Torah ideas, so that we won’t end up following them. This means not to read books or newspapers that are against Torah, and not to look at advertisements or videos that show a way of life that is not right for a Yid.
Part of this mitzvah is also to be careful not to look at or think about things which are not tznius, which can make a person think or do something against Torah.
Any time that we keep ourselves from looking where we shouldn’t look, or thinking what we shouldn’t think, we are keeping this mitzvah!
The reason why this is the last mitzvah is that when we keep the first five mitzvos (1- to believe in Hashem, 2- not to believe in anything else, 3- to know that Hashem is One, 4- to have Yiras Hashem, 5- and have Ahavas Hashem), then it will make it much easier to keep this mitzvah!
We learned before that the best way to be strong in these mitzvos is through learning Chassidus, which shows us how to live according to these mitzvos all the time.
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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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The Navi Yeshaya tells us that before Moshiach comes, Eliyahu Hanavi will let us know the good news!
מַה נָּאווּ עַל הֶהָרִים רַגְלֵי מְבַשֵּׂר מַשְׁמִיעַ שָׁלוֹם מְבַשֵּׂר טוֹב מַשְׁמִיעַ יְשׁוּעָה אֹמֵר לְצִיּוֹן מָלַךְ אֱלֹקָיִךְ
Mah Navu Al Heharim— How beautiful it is to see on the mountains
Raglei Mevaser — The feet of Eliyahu Hanavi!
Mashmia Shalom — He is announcing that we will have shalom
Mevaser Tov — He is telling us good news
Mashmia Yeshua — He is announcing that Hashem will save us!
Omer Letzion — He says to the Yidden
Malach Elokayich — We can see that Hashem rules over the world!
See Yeshaya perek Nun-Beis posuk Zayin
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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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