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CHUMASH
Parshas Chukas - Revi'i with Rashi
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The Yidden ask Edom if they can travel through their land on the way to Eretz Yisroel, but Edom says no.
Now the Yidden tried to go further on their way to Eretz Yisroel.
Hashem said that now the Yidden aren’t allowed to fight with Edom, so they had to either ask Edom for permission to go through their land, or else they had to go around it.
Moshe sent messengers to ask them for permission. They told Edom how Hashem had saved the Yidden from Mitzrayim, so that Edom would be scared to say no. They said that the Yidden only want to go through on the roads, and will be very careful not to ruin any fields or eat from anything that is not theirs. Even though they have water and food, they will buy from Edom, so Edom will get a lot of money!
But the king of Edom said NO! The nation of Edom comes from Esav, and the king of Edom was proud of his grandfather, who liked to fight.
The Yidden tried asking again, but Edom said no again, and got an army ready to stop the Yidden in case they would try coming without permission.
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Today’s kapitelach are Lamed-Tes to Mem-Gimmel.
In one of today’s Kapitelach Tehillim, there is a posuk that says “Ach Betzelem Yis’halech Ish.” It means that people don’t understand what to do in the world, it’s like they’re walking in the dark.
The word “tzelem” (darkness) also means image (picture)! So we can translate the posuk as “Only with the picture can a person go.” What picture? A picture of the Rebbe!
We should think about how the Rebbe is our Nasi and picture the Rebbe in our mind. We should know that the Rebbe is watching what we do and has nachas when we make good decisions!
Thinking about the Rebbe will help us do the right thing, and do it with simcha and chayus!
A girl once wrote a letter to the Rebbe, saying that she sometimes feels like she is not interested in doing what she is supposed to do. The Rebbe answered her with a Ksav Yad Kodesh, a handwritten note. The Rebbe told her that when she feels that way, she should look at a picture of the Rebbe. She should remember that since the Rebbe is a true Ro’eh (like a shepherd) that Hashem sends to take care of the needs of the Yidden, when she is looking at the Rebbe’s picture, the Rebbe is looking at her too! This will help her to do what is right.
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TANYA
Shaar Hayichud Veha'emunah Perek Yud-Alef
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Today the Alter Rebbe tells us how even though Hashem’s midos are one with Hashem, still the world looks like it has so many different parts.
The Alter Rebbe is explaining a mistake that some Talmidei Chachomim made. They learned in Kabbalah that Hashem uses Tzimtzum to create the world. They thought that means that Hashem goes away from the world in a certain way (chas veshalom).
Our simple emunah in Hashem doesn’t let us make that mistake — we know that Hashem is everything and everywhere!
Hashem wanted His chayus to be shown in the world in many different ways, but it’s all the same chayus! Just as we can’t understand Hashem, we also can’t understand how it is all one — but we believe with pure emunah that Hashem is one!
Yesterday we learned that even in the different kinds of chayus, there is a hint to see that they are all one: All of the sefiros are connected with each other, and have the other sefiros inside of them!
In today’s Tanya the Alter Rebbe tells us that the same thing is also true with the Asara Maamaros, the ten things Hashem used to create the world.
The Asara Maamaros (the 10 things Hashem said to create the world), express Hashem’s midos in different ways to become each of the things in the world. By saying these Maamaros, Hashem created a world with each of the sefiros. For example, water and light both come from Hashem’s Chesed, but they start looking like separate things through the words of the Asara Maamaros.
Here too, even though they look like separate things to us because of the Asara Maamaros, they are in truth all one with Hashem.
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Today the Rebbe teaches us the importance for a chossid to keep seder.
Even though Chassidus shows that everything is important, still there needs to be seder (order). Even something very important and special needs to be done in the right time and the right way!
The Rebbeim showed us how important seder is. From the beginning, the Baal Shem Tov was a mesudar, and the Maggid was very careful with seder. The Alter Rebbe made sure that the chassidim were also mesudarim, organized. We can see this in his maamarim, in his letters, and in his niggunim!
There were even committees that the Alter Rebbe set up, to make sure there was seder for the Chassidim! Everyone had a set time when he could come to the Rebbe. A chossid wasn’t allowed to change that time without permission from the Rebbe, and he couldn’t get permission unless there was a good reason.
We also see this from the Vaad that the Alter Rebbe set up to take care of the seder by Chassidim, which was run by the Alter Rebbe’s brother the Maharil (R’ Yehuda Leib). There was also a Vaad for the newly married Chassidim, the yungerleit, which was run by the Mitteler Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe’s son.
We see from here how important it was to the Rebbeim for there to be seder, and how important it should be for us!
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Today in Sefer Hamitzvos we review another mitzvah about Shabbos (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #321): On Shabbos we can’t go more than 2,000 amos (about 1 kilometer, or over a half mile) outside of the city — that’s called Techum Shabbos.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Beshalach: אַל יֵצֵא אִישׁ מִמְּקֹמוֹ בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי
This means, “No person should leave his place on the seventh day.”
The Gemara says that this means not to go more than 2,000 amos outside of the city. The Mechilta (a midrash on the Chumash) also teaches that this posuk is talking about not going out of the Techum Shabbos.
The Gemara in Mesechta Eiruvin teaches us the halachos about this mitzvah, and tells us that if someone does go outside of the Techum Shabbos, they get Malkos.
We are doing this mitzvah again, since the Rambam is about Eiruvin, which is Miderabanan — it doesn’t have a mitzvah from the Torah of its own. So during this set of halachos, we are reviewing some of the mitzvos of Shabbos.
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In Perek Vov, Zayin, and Ches, we learn about an Eruv Techumin. This means that if a person puts some food in a place which is outside of the Techum Shabbos before Shabbos starts, it is counted as if he is there, and it makes his Techum Shabbos only start from 2,000 amos past that place. There are many halachos connected to this, explaining how and when a person can make such an eruv.
To help understand this, the Rambam teaches us how to find out where the Techum Shabbos ends. It needs to be measured from where the city ends. The houses in a city have to be close together. If the houses are too far apart, it might not be counted as a city. In some small towns, the houses are so far apart that a person isn’t allowed to even go more than 2000 amos past his own house!
Now we finish the halachos about Eiruvin, and tomorrow we will IY”H start to learn about the Yomim Tovim!
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The Rambam teaches us the halachos about when something is hurt or broken because of an animal eating.
One halacha in this perek is that if someone’s animal ate food that another person brought there, the owner of the food is responsible if it made that animal sick!
The Rambam brings an example from a story in the Gemara: Once a woman came to make bread in her neighbor’s house, and the neighbor went away so he wouldn’t look at her when she was kneading and baking the dough, because of tznius. The neighbor’s goat ate some of the raw dough and died! The Beis Din made the woman pay for the goat, because she shouldn’t have let the goat eat the dough, and the neighbor wasn’t there to keep the goat away.
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There is a story told about the Baal Shem Tov, that he used to give a lot of tzedakah — more than he could afford.
In Usha (one of the places where there was a big yeshiva), there was a takana made that you shouldn’t be mevazvez (spend) more than 1/5th of your wealth on tzedakah.
The Baal Shem Tov was asked, how can you give more than the amount the Chachomim told you to?
The Baal Shem Tov answered, “Mevazvez comes from the word ‘biza,’ the spoils of a war. With a person who has to fight with himself to give, he shouldn’t give more than a chomeish, 1/5th.
“But if someone enjoys giving, why is tzedakah different than any other pleasure, where a person can spend as much as he wants or needs?”
The Rebbe adds to this story, that this is even more true when we remember Hashem’s promise, that we can test Him with tzedakah. This will bring even more simcha and taanug into our giving, and we can give as much tzedakah as we want!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Alef, p. 169
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In the Arizal’s nusach for the siddur, we say Tachanun in Kriyas Shema She’al Hamitah. This is based on the Zohar, which explains that it is important to make a Cheshbon Hanefesh before returning our neshama to Hashem at night. When we say Tachanun, and admit the things we did wrong, this is a type of Cheshbon Hanefesh.
In the Hayom Yom for Vov Kislev, the Rebbe tells us about the inyan of Kriyas Shema She’al Hamita according to Chassidus:
The Rebbe Rashab once said that Kriyas Shema She’al Hamitah is similar to the Vidui that a person says before passing away.
But there is one main difference: When a person is about to pass away, he is completely finished his avodah in the world. When we say Tachanun at night, we still have another day tomorrow to do more.
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On Shabbos, we don’t say Tachanun in davening, or in Kriyas Shema. So do we say Tachanun in Shema on Motzei Shabbos, when part of the kedusha of Shabbos is still in the world?
The Rebbe wrote about this to a few different people. The Rebbe said that if a person is saying Kriyas Shema She’al Hamitah before Chatzos on Motzei Shabbos, they don’t say Tachanun. But if they say Shema after Chatzos, they should say Tachanun.
(We do something similar when we say Selichos. The first night of Selichos is always Motzei Shabbos, and we wait until after Chatzos to start. This is because Selichos is Tachanun, and we don’t say Tachanun before Chatzos on Motzei Shabbos.)
See Shulchan Menachem chelek alef, p. 377
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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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Even though most of the nevuos of Yirmiyah are about the Churban, there are also some beautiful nevuos about Moshiach! In this posuk, the Navi tells us about how the goyim will all see that Hashem will gather together all of the Yidden!
שִׁמְעוּ דְבַר ה׳ גּוֹיִם וְהַגִּידוּ בָאִיִּים מִמֶּרְחָק וְאִמְרוּ מְזָרֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל יְקַבְּצֶנּוּ וּשְׁמָרוֹ כְּרֹעֶה עֶדְרוֹ
Shimu Dvar Hashem Goyim — Goyim, listen to the word of Hashem!
Vehagidu Va’iyim Mi’merchak — Talk about it on the islands from far away.
Ve’imru — Say:
Mezarei Yisrael Yekabtzenu — Hashem will gather together the Yidden that He sent into Golus all over
U’Shmaro Ke’roeh Edro — And guard them like a shepherd guards his sheep.
See Yirmiyah perek Lamed-Alef posuk Yud
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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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