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CHUMASH
Parshas Shemos - Shlishi with Rashi
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In today’s Chumash, we will learn how Moshe Rabbeinu starts to get involved with the Yidden, but is forced to escape to Midyan. There, he gets married to Tziporah. We will see how the Yidden cry out to Hashem when the tzaros in Mitzrayim become very hard, and them Hashem is ready to start the process of the Geulah.
Before we learn the details of today’s Chumash, let’s review: In the beginning of the parsha we learn how the Yidden were tricked into slavery, and the Golus of Mitzrayim began. There was a gezeira against the Jewish boys, that they should be thrown into the water. So when Moshe, from the family of Levi, was born, he had to be hidden in the water in a basket. Basya, Paraoh’s daughter, found him there. Since he wouldn’t nurse from a non-Jewish woman, Basya had Moshe nursed by a Jewish woman, who was his real mother Yocheved, until he was old enough to live in the palace with her.
Now let’s see the details of today’s Chumash:
Moshe came to live in the palace with Basya, who treated him like a son. Basya asked her father Paraoh to put him in charge of the palace, and he did.
At that time, Moshe went out of the palace to see what was happening with the Yidden. He realized how terribly his fellow Yidden were being treated, and he was very hurt by it.
Moshe saw that one of the Mitzriyim was hitting a Yid very hard! Through Ruach Hakodesh, he saw why the Mitzri was hitting this man. What happened was that this wicked Mitzri woke up the Yid, then snuck into the Yid’s house and took his wife. After the Yid came back from work, he found out what happened, and the Mitzri starting beating the Yid.
Moshe also saw through Ruach Hakodesh that none of the people from this Mitzri’s family would become Yidden. He made sure nobody was looking, and said a certain name of Hashem so the Mitzri would die. Then he buried the Mitzri in the sand.
The next day, Moshe saw two Yidden, Dasan and Aviram, arguing with each other. One of them picked up his hand to hit the other one! Moshe said, “Why are you going to hit him?!” (The Torah calls this person a rasha. From here we learn that if someone even just picks up his hand to hit another person, he is called a rasha.)
These two Yidden had seen what Moshe did the day before. The one who picked up his hand asked, “Who made you in charge of us? Are you going to kill me like you killed the Mitzri?”
When Moshe heard this he was afraid for a few reasons. He was afraid that Paraoh would hear what he did and punish him. He was also afraid that since there were Yidden that were speaking Lashon Hara and Rechilus, maybe they didn’t DESERVE for Hashem to take them out of Mitzrayim.
Dasan and Aviram did tell Paraoh, and Paraoh wanted to kill Moshe. But Hashem saved Moshe, and he was able to escape.
Moshe escaped to Midyan. While he was living there, he sat by the well. He said to himself, if Yaakov Avinu found his shidduch by the well, maybe I will find my shidduch there too.
The Torah tells us that Yisro was an important person in Midyan. At first, he used to serve Avodah Zarah, but he decided to stop. Because of this, people stopped treating him like part of the community.
Yisro had seven daughters. They used to come to the well and fill up the troughs for the sheep to drink. But the shepherds would chase them away, because their father wasn’t serving Avodah Zarah like them anymore.
When Moshe saw what was happening to Yisro’s daughters, and that they were being chased away by the shepherds, he saved them and helped them give water to the sheep.
When the girls came home, their father Yisro asked why they came back so early that day. They explained that someone from Mitzrayim saved them from the shepherds and helped them give water to the sheep. They also told him that the water came up towards Moshe.
Yisro knew that this was something that happened to the children of Yaakov. He realized that this must be a Yid, and asked, “So where is this man? Why did you leave him there? He might be a good husband for one of you!”
Moshe met with Yisro and agreed to live with him. He promised that he wouldn’t leave unless Yisro gave him permission. Yisro then gave his daughter Tziporah as a wife for Moshe.
Tziporah had a baby boy. Moshe called the baby Gershom, which means “a stranger there,” since Moshe felt like he was a stranger in Midyan.
During the time when Moshe was in Midyan, Paraoh made a terrible decree. Paraoh had a rash on his skin (like tzoraas), and heard that taking a bath in blood would help his rash. He ordered that Jewish children should be killed so he could take a bath in their blood.
This decree made the Yidden all cry out to Hashem to save them. Their cries went up to Hashem, and He remembered the promise he made to the Avos, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, that He would take the Yidden out. Hashem saw how the Yidden were suffering, and He felt their pain.
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Today’s kapitelach are Kuf-Daled and Kuf-Hey.
In today’s Tehillim we have a very interesting posuk: “Al Tig’u Bimeshichoi” — “Do not touch My anointed ones.”
The Chachomim tell us that one of the things “Meshichoi” (My anointed ones) means is Yiddishe children.
The Rebbe tells us that especially children who are educated by Chassidus in our time are called Meshichoi — when you look at them, the first thing you are reminded of is Moshiach!
In the farbrengen of Simchas Torah, Tof-Shin-Nun-Beis, the Rebbe farbrenged very strongly about how children are called Meshichoi, and the pure and strong Emunah they have in the Geulah.
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Yud-Daled
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In today’s Tanya we learn how EVERY Yid should try to become a beinoni!
Every person can behave like a beinoni at any time. Because, what is a beinoni? Not someone who doesn’t have a Yetzer Hara. A beinoni is someone who DOES have a Yetzer Hara and not good desires, but will not let the Yetzer Hara be in charge of the body and do the not-good things it wants to do!
Even when the Yetzer Hara comes up with foolish ideas of things it wants to think about or do, we can stop ourselves and think about something else!
How do we stop ourselves?
The Alter Rebbe gives us something we can think about and tell ourselves, which will stop us from doing an aveira. This way we will be able to act like a beinoni at any time!
We should think about how we are ready to even have Mesiras Nefesh to stay connected to Hashem!
This is what we can say in our mind:
“I don’t want to be separated from Hashem for even one second! I want to serve Hashem and be connected to Hashem always.
“Any aveira, no matter how small, separates the neshama from Hashem.
“I know that really everyone would be ready to even have MESIRAS NEFESH not to separate from Hashem! Even a person who usually lets the Yetzer Hara be in charge would also have Mesiras Nefesh not to do something that he KNOWS will separate him from Hashem. The only reason why he usually lets his Yetzer Hara be in charge is because of a Ruach Shtus, a foolish thought that says that only big aveiros separate a Yid from Hashem, and that his connection to Hashem doesn’t change by doing a little aveira.
“But I know the truth! I know that EVERY aveira separates a Yid from Hashem! I don’t want to be a fool like him, and chas veshalom lose my connection to Hashem for a time by doing this aveira. It’s not worth it!”
By remembering the koach of Mesiras Nefesh which every Yid has, it gives us the power to act like a beinoni at any time!
Not everyone can love Hashem strongly enough to become a tzadik, that is a special gift from Hashem... but every one of us can decide to act like a beinoni at any time!
By telling ourselves that we don’t want to and cannot be separated from Hashem, it will help us do the right thing all the time!
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This story happened when the Rebbe and the Frierdiker Rebbe were walking together. It was Erev Shavuos, and the family was in the city of Landerov for the chasunah of Rebbetzin Shaina on Yud Sivan.
The Frierdiker Rebbe met a water carrier with full buckets of water. He said, “When a person meets up with water, they should say: ‘The Baal Shem Tov says that water is a siman bracha.’”
In a sicha, the Rebbe explains why it’s not enough to just say “Water is a siman bracha,” but we have to say that the Baal Shem Tov says so:
A bracha can be in many different kinds of ways. It can be a bracha in Ruchnius, or in Gashmius, or in Gashmius in a way that we can see the bracha, or many other ways. The Baal Shem Tov was known for brachos from a very high level in Ruchnius, that were able to be seen clearly in Gashmius.
That’s why we say that the Baal Shem Tov said that water is a siman bracha — it is a siman bracha the way the Baal Shem Tov gave brachos, that the bracha will be the highest bracha in a way that’s clear to see!
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Today in Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn 3 mitzvos about the Korban Pesach.
1) (Mitzvas Asei #57) If someone couldn’t bring the Korban Pesach on time, he should bring it on Pesach Sheini!
We learn this mitzvah from the first half of a posuk in Parshas Behaalosecha: בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בְּאַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם בֵּין הָעַרְבַּיִם יַעֲשׂוּ אֹתוֹ
2) (Mitzvas Asei #56) We need to eat the Korban Pesach on the first night of Pesach, just like the Torah tells us — it needs to be roasted, and we eat it at home, with matzah and maror.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Bo: וְאָכְלוּ אֶת הַבָּשָׂר בַּלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה צְלִי אֵשׁ וּמַצּוֹת עַל מְרֹרִים יֹאכְלֻהוּ
3) (Mitzvas Asei #58) If someone needs to eat the Korban Pesach on Pesach Sheini, he needs to eat it that night, with matzah and maror.
We learn this mitzvah from the second half of the posuk in Parshas Behaalosecha: עַל מַצּוֹת וּמְרֹרִים יֹאכְלֻהוּ
The details of all of these mitzvos are explained in Mesechta Pesachim.
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In today's Rambam, we learn more about the halachos of the Korban Pesach.
In Perek Gimmel and Perek Daled the Rambam tells us what to do if there is a problem with the korban, like if it gets lost or becomes Tomei.
Perek Hey: In this perek, we learn what to do if the PERSON becomes tomei and can’t bring the korban, and when he needs to bring it on Pesach Sheini.
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Today we learn about the witnesses who tell the Beis Din that they saw the new moon. The Beis Din does their best to make sure that there really were true witnesses, but even if they later find out that the witnesses did not tell the truth, once the Beis Din is mekadesh the new month it stays that way!
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Today is the birthday of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka’s youngest sister, Rebbetzin Shaina. She married a chossid named R’ Mendel Horenstein. They were killed by the Nazis yemach shemam, Hashem Yinkom Damam. Rebbetzin Shaina’s yartzeit was set for the second day of Rosh Hashana.
The Rebbe told a certain story about her a number of times, including on her birthday and yartzeit:
When Rebbetzin Shaina was little and still lived in Lubavitch, she was nicknamed Shaindel. When she was little, her family would like to tease her, because she always had cute things to say.
One time while she was very young, her Zaidy the Rebbe Rashab told her to make sure that everything she does on Shabbos should be Lekavod Shabbos, including when she’s eating or taking a walk. She said that she’s ready to do everything Lekavod Shabbos, except for one thing — sleeping. Because when you’re sleeping, you’re asleep, so how can it be Lekavod Shabbos?
The Frierdiker Rebbe told this story to the Rebbe. The Rebbe explained what we can learn from this story, in honor of a group of Baalei Teshuvah who came for a Pegisha to 770:
Chassidus teaches us that if you put effort into davening and learning during the day, you can dream about it at night too! The same is true with thinking about Shabbos. By thinking about Shabbos during everything you do, even your sleep will be Lekavod Shabbos! This is especially true if it will bother you not to have it that way — then Hashem will help us make sure that it will be that way!
See Parshas Shemos 5725
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We are reviewing the Yud-Beis Pesukim, in the order of the sections of Torah where they come from.
First we reviewed the first two pesukim of Torah Shebichsav, the pesukim of Torah Tziva and Shema. The Chachomim say that these pesukim should be the first thing we teach a child, as soon as they learn to talk! The Rebbe strengthened this hora’ah of the Chachomim in our time, by making them the first two of the Yud-Beis Pesukim that every child should know.
On Rosh Chodesh Iyar, the Rebbe taught us the first six pesukim of the Yud-Beis Pesukim, starting with Torah Tziva and Shema. Then, on Lag B’omer, the Rebbe taught us another six, also starting with two pesukim from Torah Shebichsav — Bereishis and Veshinantam.
Today we will review the posuk of Veshinantam, and see how the second posuk the Rebbe taught on Lag B’omer is a continuation of the second posuk of the Yud-Beis Pesukim which the Rebbe taught on Rosh Chodesh Iyar!
As we learned yesterday, the first posuk of the Yud-Beis Pesukim is Torah Tziva, which shows us how special Torah is. Then the first posuk of the second set of pesukim is Bereishis, where we actually start to learn the first posuk of the Torah!
The second posuk of the Yud-Beis Pesukim is Shema.
The posuk of Shema tells us about Achdus Hashem, that Hashem is one and there is nothing aside for Hashem! When we KNOW that, it brings us to FEEL what it says in the next part of the parsha of Shema, to love Hashem with our whole heart! So this way, inside of our mind and heart, we will be connected to Hashem.
This will bring us to want to DO something to show our connection to Hashem and keep it strong!
How do we do that? By what it says next in the parsha of Shema, learning and teaching and keeping the Torah, wherever we go. As the posuk says, “Veshinantam” — we should learn Torah very well!
When we learn Torah in order to keep it and to teach it, in a way of Veshinantam, we are actually doing something about the connection to Hashem that we decided to have because of the posuk of Shema!
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One of the reasons we wash Negel Vasser in the morning is because of the Ruach Hatumah which comes into us when we are sleeping at night, and stays on our hands when we wake up in the morning.
That’s why when we wash Negel Vasser, we are careful to wash the entire hand until the wrist. We do this since the Ruach Hatumah spreads until the wrist.
Someone once asked the Rebbe, if this is the reason, how come on Tisha B’Av and Yom Kippur we only wash our fingers and not our whole hand?
Really, we aren’t allowed to wash our hands at all on these days. The only reason we do is because of the halacha that we need to wash off this Ruach Hatumah. But if the tumah goes until the wrist, by washing just our fingers we didn’t take off the Ruach Hatumah anyway, and we may as well not wash at all!
The Rebbe explained that this is because of the way the Ruach Hatumah works. It wants to go to places that are holy, to get chayus from kedusha. That’s why it comes into the guf kadosh, the holy body of a Yid. But on Tisha B’Av, the kedusha is on a lower level because we are sad. The Ruach Hatumah doesn’t have as much of a taava for that kedusha, so it only spreads until the fingers.
On Yom Kippur, it is just the opposite! We are like malochim on Yom Kippur, on a much higher level of kedusha. Even if the Ruach Hatumah WANTS to spread past the fingers, it can’t! That’s why we only need to wash until our fingers.
Once the regular level of kedusha comes back, after Tisha B’Av and Yom Kippur, we need to wash our hands completely right away.
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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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When Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu to tell the Yidden that it was time for their Geulah, Moshe said he didn’t think the Yidden would believe him. Even though they knew about Hashem’s promise, they were in Golus already for so many years! Moshe Rabbeinu thought that by now, they wouldn’t be so ready to believe that the Golus was actually ending.
But Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu to tell the Yidden anyway, and that the Yidden WILL believe him! Here is why:
Every morning, a Yid’s neshama comes back to him, refreshed and new. So the neshama is always higher than Mitzrayim — it was never in Golus! The Golus is something new for it today. The neshama is not used to being in Golus, it is something new that just started! So of course the neshama is ready to believe that the Geulah is here!
The Rebbeim tell us today that Higiya Zeman Geulaschem — the Geulah is almost here.
The same is true with us today! Our bodies might have been in Golus for many years, but for our neshama, the Golus is a new thing every day. For our neshama we are VERY ready to hear that the time of our Geulah is here, Higiya Zeman Geulaschem!
See Sefer Hasichos 5751, Parshas Shemos
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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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