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CHUMASH
Parshas Matos-Masei - Shlishi with Rashi
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The Shevatim of Gad and Reuven make a deal with Moshe that they can live in the land of the Emori, across the Yarden.
Some Shevatim want to live on the other side of the Yarden: The Shevatim of Reuven and Gad loved the mahn! They were happy to eat a food that was so ruchnius’dik. Even though the other Shevatim sometimes shechted their animals to eat meat, these Shevatim never did. So they had a LOT of animals left, more than the other Shevatim.
They saw that the land of the Emori, that they had captured, had lots of fields where animals could eat. They knew that this land would be part of Eretz Yisroel later, and they thought it would make sense to live there right away — then maybe it would become part of Eretz Yisroel sooner!
So they asked Moshe if they could stay on the other side of the Yarden, instead of going into Eretz Yisroel.
A compromise: Moshe was worried: Is it right for all of the Yidden to fight, and Reuven and Gad will just stay in their houses? Maybe the other Yidden will think that Reuven and Gad are afraid to fight, and they will get scared too. When the Meraglim scared the Yidden, the Yidden had to stay in the Midbar for 40 years! Will Hashem make the Yidden stay in the Midbar now for even LONGER?
Reuven and Gad told Moshe not to worry. They will build pens for their sheep and cities for their families, and then they will go fight FIRST, in front of all of the Yidden! The soldiers of Reuven and Gad won’t go home until ALL of the Yidden have their places to live. (That’s what they later did! It took 7 years to fight, and then 7 years to divide up Eretz Yisroel, so Reuven and Gad came home 14 years later.)
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Today’s Tehillim is the second half of the longest kapitel in the whole Tehillim! In Aramaic, this kapitel is called Tamnya Api — the eight faces, because there are eight pesukim that start with each letter of the Alef-Beis! Today we are saying the pesukim starting with Mem, all the way until Sof.
One of the pesukim is “Taan Leshoni Imrasecha” — “My tongue repeats Your words.”
Chassidus explains on this posuk that when a Yid learns Torah, Hashem is learning Torah together with him!
How is this?
The words of the Torah we are learning were not made up by Moshe Rabbeinu, the Tannaim, Amoraim or Tzadikim. These are words of Hashem that they said! When we say these words, we are repeating those same words, and Hashem is saying them with us! This gives a tremendous koach to our neshama, and weakens our Yetzer Hara.
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TANYA
Igeres Hateshuvah Perek Yud
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Before we learn today’s Tanya, let’s review what we learned before: It can happen chas veshalom that a Yid does an aveira. For all aveiros, no matter what kind, the teshuvah that a person needs to do is to decide that he will not again do something that is against what Hashem wants! Then we learned that through tzedakah (which is like giving a korban in the times of the Beis Hamikdash, or later like fasting), he can become reconnected to Hashem, just like before the aveira was done.
We also explained that when a Yid does an aveira, the neshama gets chayus from Tumah. When a Yid does Teshuvah, the neshama goes back to only getting chayus from Kedusha!
The Alter Rebbe taught us some ways to make sure our Teshuvah lasts, and that we never do an aveira again! This is called Teshuvah Tata’ah.
Finally, when we learn Torah and do mitzvos with EXTRA chayus, then he is also doing Teshuvah Ila’ah! This kind of Teshuvah is a kapara from some aveiros that even Teshuvah Tata’ah can’t forgive.
Today the Alter Rebbe tells us that davening with a special kavana and chayus is ALSO part of Teshuvah Ila’ah! We should daven with an extra-special kavana (especially in Shema and Pesukei DeZimra) along with learning Torah and doing mitzvos with extra chayus too. This way, we are serving Hashem with the special chayus of Teshuvah Ila’ah in all three ways of serving Hashem — Torah, Avodah (davening), and Gemilus Chasadim (mitzvos)!
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Sometimes we could think that the most important thing is to learn Torah — because we learn Hashem’s Torah and we understand new things! But when we daven, we don’t learn anything new!
So some people used to think that it wasn’t worth spending time on davening — just say the words and go learn Torah!
Today the Rebbe tells us how special davening really is.
When a Yid learns Torah, he is learning and understanding something. His feeling is like someone who is learning from his teacher.
But davening has something that is more special. When a Yid davens, he is thinking about Hashem in a way that is HIGHER than anything he can understand! And he feels close to Hashem more than a student to his teacher — he feels like a child talking to his father.
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #5) is the same mitzvah again: That a Yid has to serve Hashem through davening.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: וַעֲבַדְתֶּם אֵת ה׳ אֱלֹקֵיכֶם
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Perek Hey: In today’s Rambam, we learn more halachos about davening. We learn 8 things a person should try to do (lechatchilah) when they daven Shmoneh Esrei, the main part of davening:
1) We should be standing up
2) We should face the Beis Hamikdash (for most of us, that’s Mizrach)
3) Our body should be clean for davening
4) Our clothes should be neat, and we should wear shoes
5) We should prepare a proper place, for example to always daven in the same place
6) We say Shmoneh Esrei quietly
7) We bow in certain places in Shmoneh Esrei
8) We bow after Shmoneh Esrei when we say Tachanun
Perek Vov: The Rambam teaches us to make sure we don’t miss davening at the right time, by not starting other things at the time of davening (like eating a meal or getting a haircut).
Perek Zayin: We learn the brachos we say at other times of the day, like Kriyas Shema She’al Hamita, and morning brachos.
The Rambam tells us that we should say 100 brachos every day! (If you daven Shacharis, Mincha, and Maariv, and wear Tallis and Tefillin, you will already have most of the brachos. If you wash for bread and bentch, then you have even more. So it shouldn’t be too hard to say 100 brachos every weekday!)
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Today we learn more about Kilei Hakerem: We learn what is considered a Kerem (vineyard) according to halacha, and what is considered just a single vine, which is less strict than a full Kerem.
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Just like the Yidden needed Moshe AND Aharon to come out of Mitzrayim, we need Torah and mitzvos (the inyan of Moshe), and ALSO Tefillah (the inyan of Aharon) to get the Geulah!
In the Chassidishe Parsha (the maamarim of the parsha in Likutei Torah) of this week, Parshas Masei, there are a few maamarim explaining the 42 travels (masa’os) of the Yidden.
The Yidden had to travel 42 times to get from Mitzrayim to Eretz Yisroel. Chassidus teaches us that we also have 42 travels — from Golus to Geulah!
We can learn a lot about our travels to get to Geulah from seeing how the Yidden traveled in the Midbar.
One of the things it says in the Torah is that these travels were done “Beyad Moshe Ve’Aharon” — they were led by Moshe and Aharon. Why does the Torah need to say this? We already know that Moshe and Aharon were leading the Yidden during their time in the Midbar! Why do we have to specifically say their names here?
The Alter Rebbe explains that the Torah is teaching us that when we go on our own “masa’os” to bring the Geulah, we need to make sure that we are going along with Moshe and Aharon!
Moshe Rabbeinu is the one who gave us the Torah. So going with Moshe means bringing Torah and its mitzvos with us — following the way Hashem tells us to act.
So that sounds perfect! Do we really need anything else?
Yes. The Torah teaches us that we need to go along with Aharon too.
Who is Aharon Hakohen? Aharon is the one who spoke to the Yidden and got them excited to keep the Torah. He helped them love each other and helped them love Hashem. When we go with Aharon, that means getting ourselves excited to do what Hashem wants!
And how do we do that? By davening.
When we wake up in the morning, our neshama is asleep. So only our body is awake, and it’s only thinking about what it wants and needs and likes. But we wake it up by davening! We remind ourselves that really, the whole world is made for a purpose, as we are taught in the Torah, and we’re ready to do whatever Hashem wants! We ask Hashem for the things we need to be successful in doing the shlichus we each have, to fulfill Hashem’s plan.
And then, with Moshe and Aharon leading us, we are able to travel through the Golus until we reach the final stop, when we are ready to go into Eretz Yisroel, with the Geulah Sheleimah, may it be very soon, Amen!
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In Biur Tefillah, we are reviewing the brachos we say in the morning, called Birchos Hashachar. We learned that as soon as we wake up, even though we can’t even make a bracha yet, we thank Hashem right away for giving us back our neshama.
We learned about the bracha that we make after we wash our hands, when we are like a kohen, getting ready to serve Hashem during the entire day.
We learned how we thank Hashem for our healthy guf in Asher Yatzar, and how, once we are able to make a bracha, we say a proper bracha with Hashem’s name to thank Hashem for our neshama.
We learned what the words of the bracha mean, that Hashem is with us and gives us the koach to fulfill our shlichus in the world.
That should be enough, right? We said how Hashem is with us, we thanked Hashem for our neshama and our guf — that should be enough to get our day started!
So why do we need the rest of Birchos Hashachar?
In the next part of Birchos Hashachar, we say many detailed brachos about specific things that Hashem gives us every day.
The Chachomim teach us that a Yid should say 100 brachos every day, which will help us love and fear Hashem.
Dovid Hamelech found a hint for this in a posuk: The Torah says, “Mah Hashem Elokecha Shoel Mimecha, Ki Im Leyirah!” “What does Hashem ask from you? Only to fear Hashem!”
The word “mah” (what) is similar to the word “me’ah,” meaning a hundred. Then we can translate the posuk as “A hundred (brachos) is what Hashem is asking from you, so that you will fear Hashem!”
By saying many brachos during the day, we will be reminded about Hashem all the time. That will help us have Ahavas Hashem, and Yiras Shomayim.
The next group of 15 brachos in Birchos Hashachar make it much easier for us to reach 100 brachos throughout the day!
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According to halacha, there is a question if women and children need to say 100 brachos every day. Still, everyone should try to say as many as they can, because it isn’t so hard for anyone to reach 100 brachos!
Every time we say a bracha, we are speaking directly to Hashem! We say “Baruch ATA,” “Blessed are YOU, Hashem!” This reminds us that Hashem is always right here with us. So we should try to say many brachos during the day!
The Rebbe says that we should even help young children, even if they’re too young to understand why, to say many brachos. We can give them nosh and treats so that they will say more brachos to Hashem during the day!
See Shulchan Menachem p. 22
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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 Rebbe spoke to us about how important it is to learn about building the Beis Hamikdash, especially during the Three Weeks! The Rebbe told us that we should learn about the Beis Hamikdash the way it is in Torah Shebichsav, Torah Shebaal Peh, and halacha.
In halacha, we have the Rambam’s Hilchos Beis Habechirah, which explains the second Beis Hamikdash in a way that is clear and easy to understand.
In Torah Shebaal Peh, we have Mesechta Midos, a Mishnayos which tells us the sizes of all of the parts of the second Beis Hamikdash.
And in Torah Shebichsav, we have the nevuah of Yechezkel. In this nevuah, Yechezkel saw a malach measuring the Beis Hamikdash, and we see the details in a few perakim of his sefer (perakim Mem to Mem-Gimmel). The meforshim tell us that this is talking about the third Beis Hamikdash!
The Rambam writes about Yechezkel’s nevuah that it is “Aino Mefurash Umevuar” — it isn’t explained properly that we can understand it.
The Radak, one of the meforshim on Yechezkel, says that there are three parts of the Beis Hamikdash that Yechezkel talks about that we really don’t understand at all. He uses the expression of the Gemara, “Asid Eliyahu Ledarsha” — Eliyahu Hanavi will need to come explain, because we won’t be able to figure it out on our own!
But even though we can’t understand it completely, and won’t until Moshiach comes, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t learn it — as we will IY”H see tomorrow!
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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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