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CHUMASH
Parshas Ki Sisa - Shlishi with Rashi
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After Hashem told Moshe that He would send a malach with the Yidden instead of Hashem Himself, Moshe said that he doesn’t agree! He asked Hashem to please take care of the Yidden Himself.
Hashem said okay, that He would go with the Yidden Himself.
Moshe said, “Yes, that’s what we want — without Hashem coming, we don’t want to go to Eretz Yisroel at all!”
Moshe also asked for another thing: That the Yidden be different (Veniflinu) than any other nations — Hashem should only dwell among the Yidden.
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For today’s Tehillim, we will learn something from the maamar Ve’ata Tetzaveh, which the Rebbe gave out to all Chassidim in 770 — men, women, and children — on Purim Katan in the year Tof-Shin-Nun-Beis, exactly 30 years ago, together with two dollars and a piece of Lekach.
In Kapitel Ayin-Beis (72), there is a posuk “Mi Li Bashamayim Ve’imcha Lo Chofatzti Ba’aretz.” “Do I need Shomayim? And I don’t want what’s with You in the world.” (In the year 5733, Chassidim put these words to the tune of a Niggun Simcha. It starts with the words Yifrach Beyamav Tzadik. In some versions of the niggun, these words are sung in the second half of the song.)
The Tzemach Tzedek said that the Alter Rebbe often would say on this posuk that he doesn’t want what’s WITH Hashem, like Gan Eden or Olam Haba. He just wants Hashem Himself!
In the maamar, the Rebbe tells us that since this became known to all of us, it means that we can feel this way too! Knowing about what the Alter Rebbe wanted gives the koach to every Yid to want the same thing — Gilui Ho’Atzmus, that Hashem Himself should be revealed. And not only that Hashem should be revealed to us, but that Hashem should be revealed in EVERY part of the world!
This will happen completely when Moshiach comes. Until then, we should be upset that we are still in Golus, and every day we should ask Hashem many times to bring the Geulah (which we do in Shemoneh Esrei)! We should use all of the kochos that Hashem gives us to bring Moshiach now, when we there will be Gilui Ho’Atzmus — Hashem Himself will be revealed in the entire world!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Chof-Tes
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We are learning how to get rid of Timtum Halev, so that the light of our neshama can shine in our heart and make us interested and excited about the Elokus we know. The reason for the timtum is the gaava of the Yetzer Hara. Therefore, the eitzah is to think something that will make us feel humble. By thinking about how low the guf is, it won’t be able to block the neshama from its connection with Hashem.
We learned before to think about how the Yetzer Hara is able to do things against the Ratzon of Hashem. And not only CAN it do that, if we think about the past, we will realize that we HAVE let the Yetzer Hara do this! Even if we did teshuvah already, we need to do a higher level of teshuvah.
Today we learn that even if a person didn’t have any serious aveiros from the past to think about, there’s something else that he can think about to make himself feel humble:
Make a Cheshbon Hanefesh about all of the things he thought about, said, or did during his whole life.
It says in Zohar that every time a person thinks about something that is kedusha, his mind is a tool (Merkava) for kedusha, but ANY thought that is NOT kedusha is using his mind to help tumah R”L. Any thought that wasn’t specifically Lesheim Shomayim is automatically a thought connected to tumah — and the same is true with things we say or do.
Thinking about that will make a person humble and take away the chutzpa of the Yetzer Hara.
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We don’t say Tachanun on Purim Katan.
The Rebbe Maharash told the Rebbe Rashab that his father, the Tzemach Tzedek picked the maamarim in Likutei Torah (about 250 of them), from 2,000 maamarim that the Alter Rebbe had said!
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Today we learn two mitzvos about stealing:
1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #244) is that we are not allowed to steal!
We learn this from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim, that says: לֹא תִּגְנֹבוּ
The mitzvah is explained in Perek Zayin of Mesechta Bava Kama.
2) (Mitzvas Asei #239) is that we need to follow the halachos about how to judge and punish a thief. Sometimes the thief needs to pay back double what he stole, or even four or five times what he stole! If a thief doesn’t have enough money to pay back what he stole, he is sold as a slave.
The halachos of this mitzvah are explained in Perek Zayin of Mesechta Bava Kama, Perek Ches of Mesechta Sanhedrin, Perek Gimmel of Bava Metziah, and a few places in Kesubos, Kiddushin, and Shevuos.
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In today’s Rambam, we start learning a new set of halachos, about Geneivah — stealing. There are going to be 9 perakim (so we will be learning this for the next 3 days) and they will teach us about not stealing (the first 6 perakim), cheating (the next 2 perakim), or kidnaping (the last perek). There are 7 mitzvos that Hilchos Geneivah will teach us about.
Perek Alef talks about what it means to steal. We are not allowed to steal ANYTHING, not even a tiny thing, and not from anyone — not from even a little kid! We aren’t allowed to take their things for a joke, or even if we are planning on giving them back later!
Perek Beis explains the halachos of when someone does or doesn’t need to pay the “knas” — double (like if he didn’t tell the truth that he stole) or 5 times as much (like if he stole an animal and killed it).
In Perek Gimmel we learn halachos for the Beis Din, about when a person does something that might make him not have to pay the “knas” — like if he did an even bigger aveira, and needs to be punished for that instead; or if he admitted that he stole, so he doesn’t need to pay back extra; or if he doesn’t have money to pay.
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The Rambam writes about which kinds of things can become tomei. One halacha is that anything from the sea, like something made of fish skin, can’t become Tomei.
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Today is a Yom Tov! In a leap year (like this year) we have TWO Purims — a regular Purim in the second Adar, and Purim Katan in the first Adar.
On the Chassidishe calendar, Purim Katan is a very special day!
Years ago in Russia, there was a law that it was asur to teach Torah to anyone who wasn’t 18 years old yet.
In the year 5687 (Tof-Reish-Pey-Zayin), the Frierdiker Rebbe was traveling in Moscow. A big group of Chassidim gathered to hear a maamar on Purim Katan. During this maamar, the Frierdiker Rebbe talked about how Mordechai Hatzadik had Mesiras Nefesh for chinuch, especially to teach children Torah! And now, just like in the time of Purim, the chassidim have to be ready to have Mesiras Nefesh for this too! (You can read more about this amazing maamar in the Adar Alef volume of the Chassidishe Derher, 5774: https://derher.org/archive/archive-5774/)
The Friediker Rebbe knew that people from the government were listening to him when he told the chassidim to do something illegal, but he didn’t care. In fact, this was one of the reasons why the Frierdiker Rebbe was sent to jail.
The Rebbe would talk about this maamar often, and the very last maamar the Rebbe gave out, called “Ve’ata Tetzaveh,” was based on this maamar. The Rebbe would remind us that we don’t need to have the same kind of Mesiras Nefesh for chinuch today as we needed to have in Russia, but today we need to have a different kind of Mesiras Nefesh!
The Mesiras Nefesh we need today is even though it’s a lot easier than it was then, we need to still remember that we are in Golus and use all of our kochos to bring Moshiach as fast as possible!
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During part of the year, in the second bracha of Shemoneh Esrei, we praise Hashem for rain. We say, “Mashiv Haruach U’morid Hageshem” — Hashem makes the wind blow and makes the rain fall.
We start to say this early in the year, starting on Shemini Atzeres, even though we don’t ask for rain until later. On Sukkos, Hashem judges the world for water, deciding how much rain will fall that year. So starting Shemini Atzeres, we praise Hashem Who has the koach to make rain fall in the world, as a preparation for the time we will later ask for it.
The Gemara says that we praise Hashem for rain in the bracha of Techiyas Hameisim, this second bracha of Shemoneh Esrei which ends with the words “Mechayeh Hameisim.” That is because rain and Techiyas Hameisim are the same in a way — they both bring life to the world!
We praise Hashem for rain right before saying the words Mechalkel Chayim Bechesed, that Hashem takes care of the parnasa of the world with chesed. Rain is very connected to parnasa, because everyone who sells or buys food needs the rain to fall so the food will grow!
See Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch siman Kuf-Yud-Daled se’if Alef and Zayin
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In Shulchan Aruch, there is a discussion on how we celebrate Purim Katan. We don’t say Tachanun, but should we have a Purim Seudah? The Rama (who paskens the halachos for the Ashkenazim) says that it’s not our minhag to have a seudah, but it’s good to have a little bit of a fancier meal, to fulfill the opinions that say we should have a seudah.
And then, the Rama writes (the very last words in the whole Sefer Orach Chayim!), “Tov Leiv Mishteh Tamid” — a person who has a good heart always looks for reasons to celebrate!
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Purim Katan is also 30 days before Purim, so now is a good time to make sure to plan well for all of your Purim mivtzoyim!
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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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Right now, the Golus feels REALLY long.
But when Moshiach comes, we will see how short it really was!
In the Navi Yeshaya, it says, “BeRega Katon Azavtich, Uverachamim Gedolim Akabtzeich.” Hashem says, “I have left you for a small moment, and with much Rachamim I will gather you.”
Once we feel Hashem’s tremendous Rachmonus when He gathers us together in the time of the Geulah, we will realize that the time Hashem left us in Golus was only a Rega Katon, a short moment.
See Otzar Pisgomei Chabad p. 412
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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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