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CHUMASH
Parshas Tetzaveh - Sheini with Rashi
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In this week’s parsha, we are learning all about the clothing of the Kohanim. Today Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu about the Choshen Mishpat.
Yesterday we learned about two stones with the names of the shevatim. These two stones should be put into gold settings, and attached to the two top straps of the Efod. Two golden chains should be attached to the bottom of the gold settings, and the Choshen Mishpat will hang from these chains.
The Choshen Mishpat should be made of the same material as the Efod. It will be a long piece of material that is square when it is folded in half. There should be 12 precious stones attached to it, in gold settings — one specific stone for each Shevet. They will have the names of the Shevatim written on them, and on the first stone it will also say “Avraham Yitzchak Yaakov”, and on the last one it will say “Shivtei Yeshurun.” This way every letter of the Alef-Beis will be on the Choshen.
Inside the fold of the Choshen will be a special piece of parchment with Hashem’s name: This is called the Urim VeTumim. With the Urim VeTumim, Hashem will answer important questions of the Kohen Gadol by making the letters on the stones of the Choshen light up.
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In the end of today’s first Kapitel is the very special niggun Padah Veshalom, which we sing on the Geulah of the Rebbeim.
On this posuk, the Gemara learns that someone who learns Torah, helps others, and davens with a minyan is like he was “Padah” Hashem and the Yidden, like he took them out of Golus!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed-Beis
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The Alter Rebbe is teaching us how we need to love every Yid. By remembering that the neshama is the main thing, and knowing that our neshamos are all one, we can have true Ahavas Yisroel. That’s why Hillel says that Ahavas Yisroel is the whole Torah, because that’s the main point of the whole Torah — to remember that the neshama is the main thing!
In the Gemara, it tells us that sometimes we should hate another Yid — like if you do the mitzvah of Hocheiach Tochiach (the Torah way of rebuking someone for doing an aveira) and he doesn’t listen, you should hate him for going against the Torah.
The Alter Rebbe explains how this Gemara is not a contradiction to what we learned about having Ahavas Yisroel for every Yid.
The Gemara is only talking about someone who usually keeps Torah and mitzvos, not someone who doesn’t know. If someone doesn’t know, or you’re not his friend, you should love him always! By loving him, you will bring him closer to doing mitzvos. And even if he doesn’t do more mitzvos, you still did the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel…
And even when he IS your friend, and you tried to tell him not to do something wrong and he didn’t listen (and the Torah says then you should hate him), you’re only hating the bad things he does, not his neshama! You should have rachmanus on him that he is stuck in the aveira. When you have rachmonus, you will feel bad for him, and the Golus he is in from his aveiros, which will help you love his neshama more.
And this way, we will love EVERY Yid, no matter what.
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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!
Yud Adar Alef
The Rebbe shows us the Chabad nusach of the paragraphs we say before bentching. Now they are printed this way in our siddur and our bentcher!
On a day when we say Tachanun we say Al Naharos Bavel, Lamnatzeiach Binginos and Avarcha.
On a day we don’t say Tachanun, we say Shir Hamaalos, Livnei Korach, and Avarcha.
Then we say “Zeh Cheilek” and do Mayim Achronim. After washing our fingers, we say Vayedabeir Eilai.
Yud Adar Sheini
There was a chossid that was moving with his family from Warsaw to Eretz Yisroel. The Frierdiker Rebbe gave him a bracha, and told him that before he leaves, he should make a Chassidishe farbrengen there.
Before you leave the place you live, make sure to have a farbrengen and get a bracha from your friends!
Like the saying, “Chassidim never leave each other” — “Chassidim Zegenen Zich Nisht.” That’s because wherever we are, we are one family!
Making a farbrengen before we leave will make us feel this in a stronger way. This will help us remember that we have the Chassidishe way of living which keeps Chassidim together wherever we are.
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Today’s mitzvah is the same one again (Mitzvas Asei #98) that we need to know about how food can become tomei, so we can follow all of those halachos.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more about how food and drinks can become tomei. They can only become tomei if they got wet on purpose with one of seven liquids.
In today’s perakim, Perakim Yud-Gimmel, Yud-Daled, and Tes-Vov, we learn many different cases to see when something is considered having gotten wet on purpose, which means that the person wanted the water to fall on the food. Sometimes we know that the person wanted it if he is happy it got wet, even if he didn’t do anything to make it wet! Then the food is Muchshar Lekabel Tumah, able to become tomei.
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This perek teaches us halachos about things that belong to a woman. In some cases, it is like they belong to her husband automatically.
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The story of Purim actually starts 57 years earlier, in Eretz Yisrael, with the churban of the first Beis Hamikdash. The Navi Yirmiyahu promised it would be rebuilt 70 years after Golus Bavel.
King Achashverosh made his feast to celebrate that 70 years of the Golus had passed and the Beis Hamikdash still hadn’t been rebuilt. He calculated the 70 years from the time when Yechuniah Melech Yehudah was brought into Golus, which was before the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed.
The neis of Purim happened 10 years after this feast, and three years after that, Esther’s son Daryavesh gave permission for the Yidden to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash again, exactly 70 years after the churban! Daryavesh asked to put a picture of Shushan in the Beis Hamikdash. A picture of Shushan was engraved and hung up on one of the gates of the Beis Hamikdash, which they called Shaar Shushan. This is the gate that is used during the burning of the Parah Adumah, which we will IY”H need to use so we can all go into the Beis Hamikdash when Moshiach comes!
During the second half of this party, Achashverosh invited everyone in Shushan, including the Yidden. At this party, he asked that it be “Kirtzon Ish Va’ish” — the way each person wants. Achashverosh asked that there should be kosher food for the Yidden, so they could eat at the feast.
Of course, a non-Jewish party celebrating that the Beis Hamikdash was not rebuilt is NOT the right place for a Jew to be! The Yidden were punished for going and enjoying that feast, with the decree of Haman HaRasha.
Still, the Rebbe teaches us, there is an important lesson we can learn from Achashverosh’s instructions, since they are written in the Megillah, and everything in the Megillah has a lesson for us!
Hashem made Yidden just a small part of all of the people in the world. We sometimes might feel that we shouldn’t be so careful with some mitzvos, since it might bother other people or make us stick out.
But we can learn from the Megillah that we shouldn’t think that way! Hashem gave Achashverosh the idea to have kosher food for the Yidden, and so too, Hashem will make sure the rest of the world HELPS us to act as a Yid. When we show that we are ready to stand strong in our Yiddishkeit, Hashem will make sure that all of the nations of the world help us to behave the way the Torah teaches us.
See Hisvaaduyos 5742, p. 950; Megillas Esther with the Rebbe’s explanations p. 87
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Every day we daven (at least) three tefillos — Shacharis, Mincha, and Maariv. The shortest one is Mincha, which doesn’t even have Shema and its brachos!
Still, in a way it is MORE special than all of the other tefillos throughout the day!
In the Gemara, it says “Le’olam Yehei Adam Zahir BeTefillas HaMincha,” “A person should always be careful about davening Mincha.” That’s because Eliyahu Hanavi was only answered by Hashem at Mincha time!
At the times of King Achav and his wicked non-Jewish wife Izevel, many of the Yidden worshiped an Avodah Zarah called Bal. Eliyahu Hanavi warned the king that if he didn’t stop encouraging them to worship Avodah Zarah, then rain won’t fall and there will be a famine. Achav was chutzpa’dik, and said that Moshe Rabbeinu already said that but there was no famine! Eliyahu Hanavi was very upset, and from that day on, no rain fell.
After three years of the famine, Hashem told Eliyahu to go back to Achav and tell him that now is the time to show the Yidden who is the true Aibershter. All of the Yidden, together with 850 fake “Neviim” of the Avodah Zarah all gathered at Har HaCarmel.
Eliyahu Hanavi spoke to the Yidden. He asked, “How long are you going to keep changing your minds? You worship Avodah Zarah, but you cry to Hashem when you need help. If you know that Hashem is in charge, why don’t you listen to Hashem’s mitzvos? And if you believe in Bal, let the Bal help you!”
Eliyahu Hanavi did something to show the Yidden the truth once and for all. Eliyahu Hanavi and the false Neviim of Bal each took an animal that was exactly the same to bring as a korban.
First the “Neviim” of Bal tried to bring their korban. They tried all day to do their Avodah Zarah, but of course no fire came down to burn up their korban!
At Mincha time, Eliyahu Hanavi built his Mizbeiach. He poured water all over his korban, and davened to Hashem to show everyone that there is only true Aibershter. Right away, a flame of fire came down from Shomayim and burned up the korban, the Mizbeiach, and even the water! All of the Yidden called out together, “Hashem Hu Ha’Elokim! Hashem is the Aibershter!” They chased the false Neviim of Bal and killed them.
After this, Eliyahu Hanavi davened for rain, and the famine finally ended.
Since Eliyahu Hanavi was answered at the time of Mincha, the Gemara tells us we should be careful with davening Mincha, because it is a special time for Hashem to answer us!
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There are many different levels in fulfilling mitzvos. The lowest level is the way the mitzvah is kept beshaas hadchak (in hard circumstances) or bedieved (after the fact), then there is lechat’chila (the ideal way to do it), then being yotzei lechol hadeios (fulfilling the mitzvah in a lechat’chila way according to all opinions), then mehadrin, and the highest level is mehadrin min hamehadrin.
As Chassidim, we try to keep all mitzvos behidur, in the most beautiful way. Part of that hiddur is to make sure that as many Yidden as possible keep the mitzvos (even if THEY can’t do it in the best possible way), especially the mitzvos the Rebbe set up as mivtzoyim!
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For Matanos La’evyonim, we should try to give as much as we can. The minimum we need to give is at least one penny to at least two poor people.
According to halacha, the minimum needs to be at least one perutah for each, and the smallest definition of perutah is one penny. Other opinions say that we need to give at least a nickel or a dime, and there are other opinions that we need to give up to fifty cents.
Other Chachomim say that you should give the worth of a meal to the poor people. There are also opinions on how much money that would be, starting from $2.50 and going up to $7.00.
If we live in a place where we can give the money directly to the poor people, or where an organization can give the money for us on Purim, that is the best way. If we can’t, we can give the money before Purim to an organization that will give it out on Purim, or we can put it aside (like in a pushka) for when we will be able to give it to the poor.
Matanos La’evyonim is done during Purim day, after the Megillah.
From all of the mitzvos of Purim, this is the one we should increase in the most, because there is no greater simcha for Hashem than to bring joy to the people who need it most!
Shalach Manos and Matanos La’evyonim are very easy mitzvos to fulfill, so every man, woman, boy and girl should keep this mitzvah. We should help as many Yidden as possible fulfill the mitzvah on Purim! One practical idea is to bring coins and a pushka with us on mivtzoyim.
See Shevach Hamoadim p. 152, Halachos Uminhagei Chabad p.150-151, farbrengen Chai Elul 5737
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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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Today we learned about the Choshen Mishpat. There were two parts of the Choshen:
1) The Choshen was one of the Bigdei Kehunah, the clothing of the Kohanim. Even though some of the special parts of the Beis Hamikdash were missing during the time of the second Beis Hamikdash, the Choshen was always there, as part of the clothing of the Kohen Gadol.
2) Inside of the Choshen there was a piece of parchment which had Hashem’s holy name written on it. It is what made the letters of the Choshen Mishpat light up with answers from Hashem, so the Yidden would know what to do. This part was missing during the second Beis Hamikdash.
When Moshiach comes, we will again have the full Choshen Mishpat, the way it is supposed to be!
See Rashi in today’s Chumash, and Likutei Sichos chelek Yud-Alef, parshas Tetzaveh
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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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