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CHUMASH
Parshas Vaeira - Shishi with Rashi
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Paraoh ignored the warning, and Hashem made the makah of Arov. Paraoh still didn’t let the Yidden go, and Hashem had to send two more makos — Dever and Shechin. Paraoh’s magicians realized it was a neis from Hashem, but Paraoh was still stubborn.
Makas Arov (wild animals) continued:
We started to learn yesterday about the fourth makah, Makas Arov.
Paraoh didn’t listen to Moshe’s warning, so Hashem had to send the wild animals, the makah of Arov. They went all over Mitzrayim and hurt people and broke things — but they didn’t go into Goshen, where the Yidden lived.
Paraoh was very scared and he was almost ready to let the Yidden go bring korbanos to Hashem in the Midbar like Moshe and Aharon told him to. But once Moshe davened for the wild animals to disappear, he changed his mind again and wouldn’t let the Yidden go.
5: Makas Dever (animal epidemic)
Hashem told Moshe to warn Paraoh that if he doesn’t free the Yidden, there would be another makah — that all the animals outside would get sick and die.
Paraoh ignored the warning, but some Mitzriyim knew by now that they should listen! So they brought their animals inside, so they would be safe from this makah. All of the other animals died — except any animals belonging to Yidden.
Paraoh asked if any of the Yidden’s animals died, and his servants told him that they didn’t. Paraoh STILL decided not to listen to Hashem and let the Yidden go!
6: Makas Shechin (boils)
Moshe and Aharon warned Paraoh that if he didn’t listen to Hashem, he would get another makah, but again Paraoh didn’t want to hear. So Hashem told Moshe and Aharon to each take two handfuls of ashes from an oven, and then have MOSHE hold all of the ashes in one fist. It was a neis that Moshe was able to hold four handfuls in just one fist!
Moshe threw it up to the sky while Paraoh was watching, and it was enough to turn into dust that would spread over the whole Mitzrayim. As it landed on whoever was outside (people or animals), it made a rash that hurt them a lot.
Even though it looked like it might be a magic trick to throw up ashes, what happened now was too big of a neis for it to be magic! Paraoh’s magicians had to admit that it was only Hashem who could do it.
But since Paraoh was still not letting the Yidden go, Hashem hardened Paraoh’s heart.
7: Makas Barad (hail)
Moshe and Aharon didn’t WARN Paraoh this time, they just TOLD him that the next makah was coming. They told Paraoh that Hashem could have killed him in one of the other makos, but he is staying alive so he will have to admit in the end that Hashem is in charge.
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Today’s kapitelach of Tehillim are Yud through Yud-Zayin.
In one of the pesukim in today’s Tehillim, Dovid Hamelech says, “Shivisi Hashem Lenegdi Somid” — “I always place Hashem before me.”
In the first se’if of Shulchan Aruch, the Ramoh brings this posuk. He explains that this is a “Klal Gadol BaTorah,” a basic inyan in Torah. A Yid should always remember that Hashem is in front of him, which will help him have Yiras Shomayim and act the way Hashem wants him to!
The Shulchan Aruch helps us to do that, by showing us how Hashem wants us to act.
What is the Shulchan Aruch and who is the Ramoh that brings this posuk?
The Shulchan Aruch is a sefer that was written to make it clear for a Yid to know the halachos of how to live. That’s why it is called “Shulchan Aruch,” which means a set table. When the table is set, you just need to come and sit down, because everything is ready! In the Shulchan Aruch too, R’ Yosef Caro (also known as the Mechaber which means that put together this sefer) set out all of the halachos in a clear way, so that Yidden would not be confused what they should do.
But the Mechaber was a Sefardi, and there are some differences in halacha for Ashkenazim. There are also many minhagim kept by Ashkenazi Yidden, and some of them became halacha.
R’ Moshe Isserlis, known as the Ramoh, lived in Krakow, Poland. He saw that the Shulchan Aruch was not enough on its own for Ashkenazi Yidden. So he wrote an addition to the Shulchan Aruch, which was called “Mapas Hashulchan,” “the tablecloth.” This showed Yidden what to do whenever there was a difference in halacha between Ashnekazim and Sefardim. It made it possible for every Yid to follow the Shulchan Aruch, together with their minhagim! The Shulchan Aruch together with the Ramoh brought tremendous achdus among Yidden.
In the first se’if of Shulchan Aruch, we learn that “Shivisi Hashem Lenegdi Somid,” a posuk from today’s Tehillim, is a Klal Gadol BaTorah..
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Yud-Tes
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In today’s Tanya, we are learning more about the inyan of the Ahava Mesuteres, the “hidden” love for Hashem that every single Yid has, which is passed down to us from the Avos.
This Ahava Mesuteres is part of our neshama. The posuk says about the neshama of at Yid that “Ner Hashem Nishmas Adam” — the neshama is like a candle of Hashem.
The neshama is like the flame on a candle. You can see that a flame ALWAYS wants to go up. It looks like it wants to jump off the candle and fly up to Shomayim! Of course, if the flame could let go, it wouldn’t be able to burn anymore down here, and Shomayim is the source of the light, and it wouldn’t be noticed there. But still, that’s what the fire wants!
A Yid’s neshama is like that, too. Our neshama always wants to go up to Hashem, even though next to Hashem, the neshama would not be noticed as anything special! Even though it doesn’t make sense that the neshama would want to not be noticed anymore, this is still the nature of the neshama, what the neshama always wants.
This is connected with what we learned in yesterday’s Tanya, that the hidden love of the neshama (Ahava Mesuteres) comes from Chochma part of the Neshama. In the Chochma of the neshama, Hashem is the most revealed. That’s why it gives us this natural desire to connect to Hashem, even if it will mean that the neshama will not be noticed as anything special on its own.
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In today’s Hayom Yom, we learn about the maamar “Der Frumer Va’eira.”
The Alter Rebbe used to say a certain maamar every three years, on Parshas Va’eira. Each time, it was said almost exactly the same. The Chassidim would call it “Der Frumer Va’eira” — because it made them want to do teshuvah and become more frum.
The Tzemach Tzedek (who heard these maamarim from the Alter Rebbe) said that every time it was something new!
The Rebbe Maharash explained that even though the words were the same, since the Alter Rebbe was teaching it, every time he said the maamar it was something new.
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #72) is that a person who does certain aveiros needs to bring a Korban Oleh V’Yored — a kind of Korban that could either be worth MORE (Oleh) like an animal, or worth LESS (Yored) like a korban of a bird or flour — depending on how rich the person is.
These are the aveiros that a person needs to bring a Korban Oleh V’Yored for:
- Someone who was Tomei and came into the Beis Hamikdash by mistake
- Someone who was Tomei and by mistake ate meat from a Korban
- Someone who made a Shevuah not to do something and by mistake did it
- Someone who was supposed to be a witness in Beis Din and lied that he didn’t have anything to say, whether it was by mistake or on purpose.
This mitzvah is explained in Mesechta Krisus and Mesechta Shevuos.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn about when a Sanhedrin makes a mistake in their psak and Yidden do an aveira because of what they said. Sometimes, the SANHEDRIN need to bring a Korban, and sometimes EACH YID who did the aveira needs to.
Perek Yud-Beis: Depending on what kind of aveira the Sanhedrin made people do, they need to bring a different kind of korban. If it was an aveira of Avodah Zara, they bring a korban called Se’irei Avodah Zarah. For other aveiros, they bring a korban called Par Helem Davar Shel Tzibur.
Perek Yud-Gimmel and Yud-Daled: The Rambam teaches us the conditions that need to be there for the Sanhedrin to need to bring this korban. If those conditions are not there, then every single Yid who did the aveira needs to bring a korban.
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Today we learn about the path of the sun around the earth. By knowing how long it is, we can figure out where it should be at any minute!
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In today’s Hayom Yom, we learned about the maamar of the Alter Rebbe called the “Frumer Va’eira.”
The Rebbe spoke about the Frumer Va’eira in a sicha of Parshas Va’eira Tof-Shin-Yud-Beis. The Rebbe said that since the maamar was only printed once, and it was printed with some mistakes, he would chazer it for the chassidim. The Rebbe said the maamar, and cried a lot while saying it.
One of the main points of the “Frumer Va’eira” is that we need to use EVERY SINGLE chance Hashem gives us to connect to Hashem through Torah and mitzvos. When we realize how important this is, we will never miss a chance!. We will also do a proper teshuvah for any chance we missed in the past so that our lives are complete.
A month later the Rebbe spoke more about this inyan in a very famous maamar, called “Lo Sihiyeh Meshakeilah.” In the middle of saying this maamar, the Rebbe put his head down on the table and cried for a long time. The Rebbe spoke about how busy we need to be with our shlichus, and treasure every moment.
See the Frumer Vaeira (English translation), and maamar Lo Sihiyeh Meshakeilah online, in Hebrew or English
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▼ Jump to Coloring Books & Downloads ▼
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When the Frierdiker Rebbe lived in Russia, he was sent to jail many times for Ahavas Yisroel and spreading Yiddishkeit. The seventh time he was in jail (the story of Yud-Beis Tammuz) was especially hard. The Frierdiker Rebbe wrote down what happened in prison in his diary (Reshimas Hamaaser, printed in Prince in Prison).
In the introduction, the Frierdiker Rebbe tells us a lesson that we need to learn in Avodas Hashem from being in jail:
Jail is a mashal used to describe how the neshama feels when it is stuck inside of a body that only cares about Gashmius. The neshama feels like it is stuck in prison, and it suffers very much. In truth, it is much worse than the suffering of a person in jail, because jail is just used as a mashal, and a mashal can never show how strong the nimshal, the real inyan is.
When we think about that, we will feel very bad for our poor neshama!
One main time that our neshama is allowed to feel free from its “prison,” and can go speak to Hashem is the time of davening! When we daven, our neshama goes and cries to Hashem. It says, “It is so hard to be in the guf! I want to be close to You, Hashem, and I am stuck in this body and in the world which has so many distractions and hardships!”
Through the words of davening, the neshama is reminded that it is in the body for a very important reason: To serve Hashem and to fulfill its shlichus! The words of davening comfort the neshama, and give it a chance to feel close to Hashem! Davening is a time when the neshama can make good hachlatos to do the shlichus that Hashem gave it, even though it can be very hard.
There are times when the jail is even harder than usual, when things happen to us or in the world which make our shlichus even harder and more painful. In those times, we especially could use the time of davening to give our neshama extra kochos to overcome the hardships!
The Frierdiker Rebbe himself showed an example for this. In the times when he was in prison, he would spend many more hours on Avodas Hatefillah.
See also Tanya Perek Lamed-Alef
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There are many mitzvos it’s easy to learn just by watching other people do them. For example, it’s not hard to learn how to shake the Lulav and Esrog properly.
But other mitzvos are complicated. Unless a person actually learns the halachos about them, he will probably not always be doing them right.
For example, we know that we are not allowed to talk during davening. But what if we hear thunder in the middle of Ashrei — do we stop and say the bracha? Or what if we are davening Shema slowly and we hear the Chazan starting to repeat Shemoneh Esrei — can we answer Amen? The answer to these questions are part of the halachos of Hefsek BeTefillah, when we can interrupt our davening.
We know that pens and markers are muktza on Shabbos. But what do we do if we find a pen in the box of mentchies? And what do we do if we picked up a pen by mistake? This is part of the halachos of muktza, and you won’t always know what to do unless you learn these halachos!
The Rebbe wanted everyone to learn the halachos that we need to live properly as a Yid. Starting from the youngest grades, all the way up to kollel and in the shuls, everyone should have daily shiurim in these halachos.
See in detail Shulchan Menachem vol. 4, p. 238 ff
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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 Micha says: Kimei Tzeischa Me’Eretz Mitzrayim, Arenu Niflaos! At the time of the Geulah, Hashem promises to show us nisim like He did in the times of Yetziyas Mitzrayim!
This teaches us that Yetziyas Mitzrayim is very connected to the Geulah — it is like a mashal that helps us understand how the Geulah will be!
For example, as we will see in Parshas Bo which we start to lein in Mincha on Shabbos, one of the things the Yidden did that helped them deserve the Geulah was the Korban Pesach. The Yidden took the Avodah Zarah of Mitzrayim, and went to do what Hashem asked them to. They ignored whatever the Mitzriyim said, and did the mitzvah proudly.
This is also how we can deserve the Geulah: By being strong and proud with our Yiddishkeit, not worrying what other people say, Hashem will see that we are ready to do whatever He asks us to! Then we will be ready to have Moshiach now!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Alef parshas Bo
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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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