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CHUMASH
Parshas Terumah - Chamishi with Rashi
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We are learning the instructions Hashem is giving to Moshe Rabbeinu about how the Mishkan should be built. Today we learn about the curtains.
Hashem tells Moshe how to make the Paroches inside the Mishkan, a curtain to separate between the Kodesh and the Kodesh Hakodoshim. It should match the first cover of the Mishkan, made of colorful threads with the shapes of animals on it.
The Paroches should be hung on four wooden pillars (Amudim) covered in gold, that have gold hooks on them. The hooks should hold a rod for the Paroches. At the bottom of the pillars there should be silver boxes, like there are for the Kerashim of the walls of the Mishkan.
When the Paroches is up, the Aron should be put behind it, in the Kodesh Hakodoshim.
The Shulchan, the Menorah, and Mizbeiach Hazahav (the Mizbeiach Haketores, which we learn about next week) should all be put in the Kodesh section.
There should also be a curtain for the door of the Mishkan, like the Paroches that was between the Kodesh and the Kodesh Hakodoshim. It should hang on a rod attached to five wooden pillars covered with gold, but with a copper box on the bottom, instead of silver like all the other pillars.
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One of the pesukim in Kapitel Lamed-Hey (35, the first of today’s Kapitelach) says “Kol Atzmosai Tomarna, Hashem Mi Kamocha?” “All of my bones say, Hashem, who is like You?”
We learn from this posuk that a person should shuckle when they daven or listen to the Torah being leined, and also when they’re learning.
The Baal Shem Tov gave a moshol for this: When a person is Chas Veshalom drowning, they move as much as they can to save themselves.
When we daven, we are trying to save our neshama from drowning in the Golus of the Guf. That’s one of the reasons why we shuckle!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed-Alef
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In today’s Tanya, we learn the next part of the hisbonenus we have been learning about for the last two perakim of Tanya. By following this thought process, a person can break his Yetzer Hara’s pride so he can serve Hashem properly and with simcha!
After we think about all the things that make us feel humble, we realize that we are very far from Hashem and from the way we should be. But we also realize that that’s only from the Guf and the Nefesh Habehamis!
We are Yidden! Inside each of us is a neshama, a part of Hashem! We have Rachmonus on our neshama that it is stuck inside this low guf.
We feel so bad for our neshama, we want to do something to help it! We make it our goal to help the neshama connect to Hashem the way it was before it came into the guf, by learning Torah and doing mitzvos — and especially davening with kavana, because during davening the neshama is able to go out of its Golus in the guf!
This brings us to have tremendous simcha, that we have the opportunity to connect our neshama to Hashem through Torah and Avodah!
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Since the Hayom Yom was written in a year where there were TWO Adars (a Shana Me’uberes), and this year there is only ONE Adar, we learn BOTH Hayom Yoms every day!
Vov Adar Alef
The Rebbe Rashab said: It is a very special thing when Hashem makes someone able to really FEEL that they want to do something nice and care for another person — even more than they care about themselves!
Because for ourselves, we realize that we may sometimes not deserve things to be easier or better; but we can never say that about another person — we want them to ALWAYS have the best!
Vov Adar Sheini
There are two nuscha’os explaining how the Tanya was made:
1) The Alter Rebbe gave eitzos to Chassidim in Yechidus for 10 years, and then he wrote the Tanya. People made copies, but they made mistakes, so the Alter Rebbe had the Tanya printed.
2) The Alter Rebbe spent 20 years writing the Tanya, making sure every word was perfect, and only then he let it be copied so people could learn it. When he saw that the people copying it made mistakes, the Alter Rebbe sent the Tanya to be printed.
The Tzemach Tzedek said that the first Rosh Hashana of his life, the Alter Rebbe said a maamar which is what we learn in the first 3 perakim of Tanya!
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #98) is called Tumas Ochalin. We need to follow the halachos about how food and drink can become tomei, and what to do about it.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn about how food and drinks become Tomei.
Perek Alef: Only a food that once got wet with certain kinds of liquids can become Tomei:
1) Water
2) Dew
3) Oil
4) Wine
5) Milk
6) Blood
7) Honey
The Rambam teaches us what kinds of things aren’t counted as a food or a drink, and can’t become tomei — like spices.
Perek Beis: One of the things this perek explains the halachos about a plant or an animal becoming tomei: While a plant is growing, it can’t become tomei, and while an animal is alive, its meat is not mekabel tumah.
Perek Gimmel: Now we learn about Kavana — like if we DECIDED that something was going to be food, and changed our minds (and decided to use it to feed the animals instead), can it still become tomei?
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Today we learn more halachos about an Almanah, a woman whose husband passed away.
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In the beginning of Perek Vov, the Megillah tells us how Achashveirosh couldn’t sleep, and asked to hear the royal history book! This led to rewarding Mordechai for saving the king’s life from Bigsan and Seresh, and the beginning of Haman’s downfall.
The Medrash says that the words “Balayla Hahu, Nadeda Shnas Hamelech” (that night, the King’s sleep was bothered) are also talking about Hashem: On that night, Hashem couldn’t “sleep.”
What does this mean?
When the Yidden don’t live the way they should, sometimes Hashem will act in a similar way to Yidden, and it will seem like Hashem “is sleeping.” That’s how Haman was able to make a gezeira.
But when the Yiddishe children learned Torah with Mordechai, and the Yidden started to do teshuvah, and act in a way of Mesirus Nefesh, that is what made the neis happen! Instead of Hashem acting in a way that looked like sleeping, instead Hashem acted with the Yidden like someone who is awake and active, and saved the Yidden from the terrible gezeira!
That’s why Hashem made Achashveirosh wake up, because this was to show that also in Shomayim, the gezeira was over and the neis would start to unfold!
Nowadays too, there is a gezeira, this very hard Golus which we are in. We also have the koach to make the neis happen, so Hashem will act in an “awake” and active way! When Yidden — especially Yiddishe kinderlach — learn Torah and show their parents and others around them an example of what it means to learn and have chayus in Hashem’s Torah and mitzvos, Hashem will save us from this terrible Golus, and bring Moshiach now!
See Sichas Purim 5732
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The Rebbe told over this story many times during farbrengens — more than ten times throughout the years!
The Rebbe heard this story from the Frierdiker Rebbe, who said it in the name of the Rebbe Rashab, about his father-in-law, the son of the Tzemach Tzedek, whom the Frierdiker Rebbe was named after:
HoRav HaTzadik R’ Yosef Yitzchok, the son of the Tzemach Tzedek, was married to the daughter of R’ Yaakov Yisroel Cherkasser (who was not a Chabad chossid). While Chabad Chassidim daven for a long time, with a lot of hisbonenus, other types of Chassidim did not follow this derech. They would just daven together with the minyan, however long that took.
When R’ Yaakov Yisroel Cherkasser asked R’ Yosef Yitzchok about his derech in davening, R’ Yosef Yitzchok answered that he davens “Betzibur.” (This usually means davening with a minyan.) R’ Yaakov Yisroel was happy to hear that his son-in-law followed the same derech as him!
Once, however, R’ Yaakov Yisroel sent someone to call his son-in-law, and the messenger saw that he was still davening! R’ Yaakov Yisroel wondered why he was still davening, because the minyan had already finished!
A little while later, he sent his servant again, and he saw that R’ Yosef Yitzchok was still davening!
This happened a few times until R’ Yosef Yitzchok was finally finished davening, which took a long time. R’
Yaakov Yisroel Cherkasser asked his son-in-law, “Didn’t you say that you try to daven Betzibur?”
He answered that he heard from his father the Tzemach Tzedek, in the name of the Alter Rebbe, that the word “tzibur” comes from the word “Litzbor,” to gather. We gather together all of the ten kochos of the neshama, and all of the sparks of kedusha that we came in contact with, when we daven. That takes a long time!
See Likutei Sichos Chelek Beis p.477
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On Purim, we add a special part to davening and bentching, called “Ve’Al Hanisim.” It has a paragraph that starts “Bimei Mordechai,” which talks about the incredible nissim Hashem did for us at the time of Purim!
In Shemoneh Esrei, we say Ve’Al Hanisim after the paragraph that starts Modim, and in bentching it is after the paragraph of Nodeh. (Both of these are the paragraphs where we thank Hashem, hoda’ah!)
If we forget to say Ve’Al Hanisim in Shemoneh Esrei, we only go back to say it if we realize right away, before saying Hashem’s name in the bracha right after. If we remember only after saying Hashem’s name there, we do not say it at all in that Shemoneh Esrei.
If we forget during bentching, it depends. If we realize before saying Hashem’s name in the bracha at the end of the next paragraph (before the words “Al Ha’aretz Ve’al Hamazon”), we should go back and say Ve’Al Hanisim. If we realize after that, we should add a special Horachaman in the place we add for Shabbos and Yom Tov (“Horachaman Hu Yaaseh Lanu Nisim Kemo She’asa La’avoseinu Bayomim Haheim Bizman Hazeh”), say Bimei Mordechai, and then go back to “Horachaman Hu Yezakeinu” and finish bentching.
See Shevach Hamoadim, Halachos of Purim
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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 we learn the parshios in the Torah about the Mishkan, we also add in learning from Torah Shebaal Peh where the Chachomim explain more about what we are learning in Chumash. The Rebbe teaches us that this helps bring Moshiach faster!
Today we learn about the way the keilim were set up in the Kodesh.
The Shulchan should be placed on the Tzafon side (on the right), the Menorah on the Darom side (on the left), and the Mizbeiach between them, but closer to the Mizrach entrance to the Kodesh. Which means that the first thing you see when you go into the Kodesh will be the Mizbeiach Haketores.
Now let’s see what is the inyan of each of these keilim in the Ruchnius’dike Mishkan of every Yid:
- Shulchan: This is our involvement in Gashmius, and using it for mitzvos and Gemilus Chassadim
- Menorah: Our Ruchnius, especially learning Torah
- Mizbeiach Haketores: Tefillah, which is compared to bringing Ketores
Just like in the Mishkan, the first thing you approach is the Mizbeiach, the same thing is with the Mishkan of every Yid: First thing every morning, we need to daven! Only after that do we do the rest of our avodah to create a Mishkan for Hashem, through the Gashmius and Ruchnius we are involved with during the day.
See Reshimas Hamenorah; Hamaor ShebaTorah p. 482
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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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