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CHUMASH
Parshas Vezos Habracha - Shlishi with Rashi
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Moshe is asking Hashem for certain brachos for the Shevatim on the day he will pass away. Now he gives the bracha to Yosef:
Yosef: Moshe gives Shevet Yosef TEN brachos! The first eight brachos are for their part of Eretz Yisroel, that it should grow the best food. In fact, Yosef’s portion of Eretz Yisroel was the best for growing things of the entire land!
The last two brachos are for the great tzadikim who will come from Shevet Yosef, who will win over the goyim who live in Eretz Yisroel and conquer the land. This will happen first through Yehoshua (who comes from Efrayim) and for Gideon (who comes from Menashe) who will have tremendous hatzlacha in fighting the enemies of the Yidden in Eretz Yisroel in later times.
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Today’s Tehillim is kapitelach Kuf-Vov and Kuf-Zayin.
In the second posuk of today’s Tehillim, Dovid Hamelech says “Mi Yemalel Gevuros Hashem, Yashmia Kol Tehilaso?” “Who is able to say the greatness of Hashem, to say all the special things about Hashem?”
In a maamar, the Alter Rebbe tells over a vort from the Baal Shem Tov:
The word Yemalel (to say) can also mean “to break,” and Gevuros (the greatness) can also mean “the strictness”. So the posuk is asking, “Who can break the strictness of Hashem” — so Hashem doesn’t have to be strict with us? The answer is, “Yashmia Kol Tehilaso” — the one who makes us hear the special things about Hashem. The word Tehilaso (the special things about Him) can also mean Tehillim, so the answer is “Someone who says the whole Tehillim.”
So besides for all of the other good things about saying Tehillim, it also has a special koach to help that Hashem shouldn’t have to be strict with us!
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Chof-Gimmel
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When a minyan of Yidden come together, there is such an amazing chayus from Hashem that it is even impossible to feel it in this world!
It is very sad that when a minyan is together in Shul, after davening, people waste their time and talk about shtus. That time should only be used for holy things that will make Hashem comfortable and proud!
When we don’t use that time right, it is like pushing Hashem away Chas Veshalom! It keeps the Shechinah in Golus longer — and we don’t want that — we want Moshiach now! So we need to use all of our time in Shul for learning Torah, so we will bring Moshiach faster!
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Every mitzvah can do something special in Ruchnius. Every Yom Tov also has a special Ruchnius kavana and meaning. We learn about these especially in Kabbalah and Chassidus.
The Yom Tov of Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah, and of Rosh Hashana, have Kavanos that are almost the same! What we do in Ruchnius on Rosh Hashana by being very serious, is the same thing we do in Ruchnius on Simchas Torah by being happy!
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In today’s Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn two mitzvos:
1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #248) A Yid is not allowed to say that he doesn’t owe money when he really does, or that he doesn’t have something he is watching when he really does. This is an aveira even if he doesn’t make a shevuah about it.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim, וְלֹא תְכַחֲשׁוּ
The Gemara discusses the details of this mitzvah in many places in Mesechta Shevuos.
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #249) If a person DOES make a shevuah that he doesn’t owe the money or have the thing he was watching, when he really does, he is also going against another mitzvah: A Yid is not allowed to make a non-true promise in Beis Din to say that he doesn’t owe money when he really does.
We learn this mitzvah from the same posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: וְלֹא תְשַׁקְּרוּ אִישׁ בַּעֲמִיתוֹ
The halachos of this mitzvah are in Perek Hey of Mesechta Shevuos.
There is a different mitzvah for making ANY kind of non-true promise, which we learned about two days ago in Sefer Hamitzvos. But when it is a non-true promise denying that you owe money, then the person gets another aveira.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn halachos about different types of non-true promises.
In Perek Zayin and Ches, we learn the halachos about Shevuas HaPikadon (which is today’s second mitzvah in Sefer Hamitzvos), and in Perek Tes we start to learn the halachos of Shevuas Ha’eidus. This is a kind of false shevuah where someone promises that he didn’t see or know about something he really could be an Eid (witness) about.
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The Beis Hamikdash was on a mountain, and some parts of the Beis Hamikdash were higher up. We also learn how the Sanhedrin was able to expand the Kedusha of the Beis Hamikdash and of Yerushalayim to a place that didn’t have it before.
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At the end of Ata Horeisa, we say the posuk “Vehaya Zaracha” three times.
We have a minhag to go on Tahalucha, to make other Yidden happy on Yom Tov before we do our own Hakafos. The Rebbe would always talk about the special brachos Hashem gives to people who go on Tahalucha, and that walking to very far places is a Segulah for healthy feet!
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In Musaf of Shemini Atzeres, we say a special tefillah asking Hashem to give us enough rain this year to make everything grow properly!
We aren’t ready to start ASKING for rain yet, because we want any Yidden who traveled to Yerushalayim for Yom Tov to get home first. Still, since it is now the rainy season, we MENTION it by praising Hashem for making the wind blow and the rain fall, so that we all have the food we need. We start saying Mashiv HaRuach U’Morid Hageshem instead of Morid HaTal.
We praise Hashem for rain at the beginning of Shemoneh Esrei, in the second bracha where we praise Hashem for His koach to give life (the bracha of Mechayeh Hameisim)!
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Today is Erev Simchas Torah, when we finally get to lein Parshas Vezos Habracha from the Torah! So today is like Erev Shabbos, when we review the parsha with the translation of Onkelos (Maavir Sedra, also called Shnayim Mikra V’Echad Targum).
Today we are Maavir Sedra for Parshas Vezos Habracha, reading each posuk twice, and once in Targum Onkelos.
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Every Yom Tov has a mitzvah of the day. On Rosh Hashana the main mitzvah is the Shofar, on Yom Kippur it is fasting, on Sukkos it is eating in the Sukkah, making the bracha on the Lulav and Esrog, and Simcha.
On Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah, there is one main mitzvah — Simcha! The mitzvah is to sing and dance and celebrate with other Yidden, with Hashem, and with the Torah! From the Yom Tov of Sukkos, and especially Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah, we get simcha for the whole year!
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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 the year Tof-Reish-Nun-Beis, the Rebbe Rashab said a sicha on Simchas Torah. He said that on this day, the Yechidah of the neshama comes out and shines! The Yechidah is the part of the neshama that always sees Hashem, even when it is inside of a body.
This is a taste of the way things will be when Moshiach comes, when Yidden will all be able to understand Hashem, without needing a teacher!
The Rebbe spoke about this 100 years later, in Tof-Shin-Nun-Beis. The Rebbe told us how we can see that Simchas Torah is a taste of Moshiach: On Simchas Torah, we see that we don’t learn Torah, we dance with the Torah. And we have EVERYONE dance with the Torah, especially children! This is a taste of the way it will be when Moshiach comes, as the Navi says, EVERYONE will know Hashem, from young children to old people!
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