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CHUMASH
Parshas Ki Sisa - Chamishi with Rashi
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We learned before about the Cheit Ha’eigel, the aveira that the Yidden did with the Eigel Hazahav, and how when Moshe Rabbeinu saw what happened, he broke the Luchos that Hashem had given him. Then, Moshe asked Hashem to forgive the Yidden. He also asked that Hashem’s Shechinah should rest only among the Yidden. Hashem agreed to what Moshe asked, and said that He would tell Moshe the Yud-Gimmel Midos HoRachamim.
In today’s Chumash, we learn how Hashem told Moshe to make a new set of Luchos, and Hashem actually teaches him the Yud-Gimmel Midos.
Hashem told Moshe that he did the right thing by breaking the Luchos, but now Moshe needs to make NEW luchos himself. In the ground under Moshe’s tent was sapphire — a very special shiny kind of stone. He should use that stone to make the Luchos. Moshe should also make a box to hold the Luchos until the Aron in the Mishkan will be ready!
The next morning, Moshe should come up on Har Sinai again (for the third time!), but this time, not like by Matan Torah, nobody should be at Har Sinai — some things are better to be done quietly.
Moshe did what Hashem asked, and went up onto Har Sinai on Alef Elul, bringing the Luchos that he made along with him. Hashem appeared to Moshe like a person wearing a Tallis and Tefillin, and told Moshe the Yud-Gimmel Midos HaRachamim.
One of the Midos of the Yud-Gimmel Midos is Emes. The Gemara in Sanhedrin says that when Moshe saw this midah, he fell on his face! In today’s first Hayom Yom, we will learn more about this!
Moshe bowed down when he saw that Hashem revealed Himself to him.
Then Moshe davened to Hashem using the Yud-Gimmel Midos he just learned, asking Hashem to forgive the Yidden. He asked Hashem for all of the things he asked before: That Hashem should come with the Yidden to Eretz Yisroel (and not just a malach), “Vesolachta La’avoneinu Ulechatoseinu Unechaltanu” — to forgive the aveiros done on purpose or by mistake, that the Yidden should be special to Hashem, and Hashem should only dwell among the Yidden.
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At the end of today’s first Kapitel (which we also say in Kabolas Shabbos, and in the Machzor before Kol Nidrei), the posuk says “Ohr Zarua LaTzadik” — “Light is planted for the Tzadik.”
The Medrash teaches that when Hashem created the world, and Hashem said there should be light, it was a very strong Ruchnius light. But it was too hard for the world to be able to handle it! So Hashem hid it for the Tzadikim when Moshiach comes.
But still, the Chachomim tell us that even nowadays there IS somewhere where we can find this light, because Hashem hid it in the Torah!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed-Hey
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The Alter Rebbe is comforting a beinoni. Even though we will have to fight with our Yetzer Hara to stop not-good thoughts all of our lives, we should still not be upset. Because the main thing is to bring the Shechinah down into the world, and together with all the other Yidden, to make a home for Hashem in the world — and that’s just what the beinoni is doing!
Now the Alter Rebbe is explaining how learning Torah and doing mitzvos brings the Shechinah down.
By learning Torah, Hashem’s Shechinah shines on the neshama. And by doing mitzvos, it shines on the guf (the body) also!
Even though when we are doing a mitzvah we are only using a certain part of our body, and we have a Yetzer Hara that might NOT be interested in doing the mitzvah, since the entire body is connected and not stopping us from doing the mitzvah, Hashem’s Shechinah rests on our WHOLE body!
For example, when we stretch out our hand to wash Negel Vasser, our hand makes Hashem’s Shechinah shine not just on our hand, but on the whole body — since the whole body is connected, the whole body is part of doing the mitzvah!
The Alter Rebbe also tells us that even though there are different ways the Shechinah rests (by learning Torah the Shechinah rests on the neshama, and by doing mitzvos it rests on the body), we should know that it is the same Shechinah!
We can understand this from a story in the Gemara:
The Gemara tells us in Mesechta Sanhedrin that a person who didn’t believe in Torah (a min) once came to Rabban Gamliel to make fun of Torah. He said, “You say that whenever ten Jews come together, the Shechinah rests there. How many Shechinahs do you have?” If the Shechinah is with every minyan, there must be a lot of them!
Rabban Gamliel answered him with a mashal of the sun shining through windows.
If you have a house with many windows, the sun shines into each one. If the window is colored, the light is colored. If the window is small, a little light comes through. If the window is big, a lot of light comes in! But it is all light of the same sun!
The same way, even though the Shechinah may rest on us in different ways and different places, it is the same Shechinah shining on us.
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The Hayom Yom was written for a year where there were TWO Adars (a Shana Me’uberes). This year there is only ONE Adar (a Shanah Peshutah), so we learn BOTH Hayom Yoms every day!
Chof Adar Alef
In today’s Chumash, we learned about the Yud-Gimmel Midos Horachamim that were revealed to Moshe Rabbeinu.
The Gemara says that when Hashem said the midah of Emes from these Yud-Gimmel Midos, Moshe fell on his face!
What is Emes?
It doesn’t just mean that a Yid serves Hashem with kavana, so that what he is doing is with Emes. Emes means that there is nothing at all in his life that is not part of this Emes!
The Avodah of Emes needs to reach every part of the person, even the level of the “fingernails,” which are one of the least important parts of the body, but still part of the person! To serve Hashem with Emes, even the least important parts of a person’s life need to be part of their Avodas Hashem — living the way a Yid should.
Chof Adar Sheini
The Alter Rebbe was a Neshama Chadasha, a new neshama that came into the world to reveal Chassidus Chabad to prepare the world for Moshiach. The Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid, who knew about this special shlichus, also knew that there would be many not-good things he would have to deal with in order to fulfill his shlichus. This Hayom Yom is a “Torah” that the Alter Rebbe’s Rebbe, the Maggid, told him to strengthen him in his shlichus.
The Maggid of Mezritch said this short maamar to the Alter Rebbe in Yechidus:
There is a posuk that says, “Eish Tomid Tukad Al Hamizbeiach Lo Sichbeh” — there has to be a fire burning on the Mizbeiach ALL the time, which we are not allowed to put out!
The Maggid explained that in the avodah of a Yid there is also a Ruchnius “mizbeiach,” and the Avodah of a Yid is to bring a “korban” — to give something of ourselves to Hashem.
Even though in the Mishkan a fire came from Hashem to burn the korban, there also always needed to be a fire lit by a person burning on the Mizbeiach, like the posuk says, “Aish Tomid Tukad Al Hamizbeiach.” By bringing a fire from below, that will bring the fire of Hashem from above.
On the Ruchnius Mizbeiach, there also needs to be a Ruchnius fire. Fire is the idea of chayus. The fire is chayus from learning Chassidus, and it also needs to be constantly lit on a Yid’s Mizbeiach!
The Maggid told the Alter Rebbe the maamar TEN TIMES, so it would go into all 10 of the neshama’s kochos. The Maggid told him that he will need to have the chayus of this “fire” all the time, because a lot of people will try to fight against Chassidus!
The Maggid told him: “Just like the fire on the Mizbeiach in the Mishkan needed to burn ALL the time, YOUR fire will need to burn all the time, and “Lo Sichbeh” — it will put out the “lo,” the not-good things trying to get in the way of your shlichus.
Just like in the Gashmius Mishkan first you have to do your part, and then Hashem brings the fire from above, the same thing is here.
“When you will do your part with the chayus of Chassidus burning all the time, to put out the ‘lo,’ Hashem will do His part from above to change the not-good things into good things — to make the ‘lo’ (no) into hein (yes)!”
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Today we finally learn a new mitzvah! Today’s mitzvah, (Mitzvas Asei #109) is about how we can become tahor from the kinds of tumah we were just learning about. Do you know how? By going into (or putting our keilim into) a mikvah!
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Keilim - Mikvaos
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In today’s Rambam, first we finish learning the halachos about which kinds of keilim can become tomei.
Perek Chof-Zayin reviews the rules about tumah, by giving us three examples of many types of keilim, and telling us what the halacha is for each of them. Here’s one example:
There are three kinds of sheets:
1) A sheet that goes on a bed — this can get Midras (the tumah of when a Zav rests on it)
2) A sheet that we hang up like a curtain — this can get Tumas Meis
3) A sheet that has sewing designs on it to teach how to sew — this stays tahor
Perek Chof-Ches explains what happens if tumah touches the outside of a keili — does the inside become tomei? What about if the tumah touched the inside — is the outside tomei? (It depends what the keili is made of.)
Then we start learning the next set of halachos — about the Mikvah, to make all of these things tahor!
Perek Alef explains the general rules about a mikvah — like that a person doesn’t become tahor until nighttime, even if they went to the Mikvah during the day, and that a person can’t have anything between them and the mikvah water (for example, a band-aid) — this is called a chatzitzah.
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In this perek, we learn the halachos about a get that is brought by a shliach to a different place.
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Giving Shmurah matzah to Yidden who wouldn’t otherwise have it is one of the Rebbe’s mivtzoyim — Mivtza Matzah! Here are some things to keep in mind, from the Rebbe’s letters about this mivtza:
The Rebbe tells us to make sure and ask Hashem to help us have hatzlacha in doing this mivtza. We always ask Hashem to have hatzlacha in the things we do for ourselves. We should ask Hashem even more since we’re trying to help other people — we need EXTRA hatzlacha!
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In a letter, the Rebbe writes that giving Shmurah Matzah is like giving tzedakah:
The Medrash says, “Yoser Mimah Shebaal Habayis Oseh Im Ho’oni, Ho’oni Oseh Im Baal Habayis” — when someone gives tzedakah, what the poor person gives him is worth even more than what he gave to the poor person!
It’s the same thing with giving Shmurah Matzah! Matzah brings special brachos to a Yid, like Emunah and health. When we help other Yidden with the mitzvah of matzah, we get even MORE of those brachos for ourselves!
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The Frierdiker Rebbe told the following story:
The Baal Shem Tov once saw that there was a terrible decree on a certain community of Yidden. He discussed with the holy talmidim what they should do. The Baal Shem Tov and the talmidim fasted, but they could not take away the gezeira.
They went to the Rav of the city, and convinced him to make a taanis. The Rav didn’t know about this decree in Shomayim, but he agreed anyway.
During the fast, the community gathered in shul to say Tehillim. During the hours of Tehillim, when the men and women were crying out to Hashem, the Baal Shem Tov saw that the gezeira wasn’t changing at all.
But afterwards, the Baal Shem Tov shared good news with his talmid R’ Nachum Horadonke: The gezeira was gone! All of the talmidim were very happy to hear that this community was no longer in danger.
Later, the Baal Shem Tov sat with his talmidim and told them what had taken away the gezeira in the end. The Baal Shem Tov told them that it was because of the tefillah of a simple woman.
This woman sat in the Ezras Noshim together with all of the other women. Most of them were crying and saying Tehillim, but this simple woman couldn’t even say these holy words.
She said, “Ribono Shel Olam! You are our Father! Your children are crying in front of You! Ribono Shel Olam, I have five children. When they all scream, I can’t handle it! And You, Hashem, have so many children! Even if You have a heart of stone, You must answer them! Please, Father in Shomayim, answer Your children!”
The Frierdiker Rebbe ended off, saying that this story teaches us how much the word of a Yid can make a difference. It shows us how precious is a kapitel of Tehillim. Even if the Yid is sitting on the other side of the world saying a word of Torah or a kapitel Tehillim, it has the koach to bring parnasa for Klal Yisroel.
From Likutei Diburim
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One of the things we need to do before Pesach is to make sure we have keilim to use on Pesach!
It used to be that getting new dishes and pots would be very expensive! People wouldn’t be able to buy new ones to use just for Pesach. So what would they do?
Halacha teaches us how to kasher things so they aren’t chometz’dik anymore!
Once a keili was used for hot chometz, the chometz becomes a part of the keili. The way to take it out is to use heat WITHOUT chometz, like plain boiling water or the flame of a blowtorch.
For example, most silverware can be kashered for Pesach using hagolah, dropping it into a pot of boiling water. There are many halachos about which kinds of dishes and silverware can be kashered, and how to do it.
Even today, most families kasher their sinks, stoves and counters for Pesach.
Before kashering, one very important halacha is to make sure that the keili is fully clean, so that the heat can reach every part of it!
It is important to learn how to kasher properly, and ask a Rav when we aren’t sure about something. To learn more about the halachos of kashering things for Pesach, see the halacha newsletters put out in different areas. Here is the halacha newsletter put together by Rabbi Lesches of Melbourne.
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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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During the times of the previous Rebbeim, they didn’t talk very often about how every Yid’s mitzvah can bring Moshiach. Even when the Rebbe first became Rebbe, it wasn’t talked about so much.
But now, the Rebbe is talking about Moshiach all the time! And the Rebbe is talking about Sheva Mitzvos Bnei Noach too! Why the change?
The Rebbe explained that it used to be that the Rebbe of each time felt the achrayus to bring Moshiach, and by the Chassidim having hiskashrus, they helped the Rebbe do the job.
But nowadays we don’t have as much hiskashrus as Chassidim used to have. So now it’s not enough for just the Rebbe to feel the achrayus, EVERY Yid has to feel the responsibility to bring the Geulah!
We all need to remember what the Rambam paskens, that every mitzvah we do helps not only the Yid who is doing it, but can tip the scale for the whole world and bring Moshiach!
See Purim 5747
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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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