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CHUMASH
Parshas Tazria-Metzora - Shvi'i with Rashi
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Today we learn about more ways that a person’s body can make him tomei:
Yesterday we learned about Zav, which is a tumah which can happen when the body is not healthy. Today we learn about two kinds of tumah that happen when a body is working just the way it should!
A healthy man can become tomei from something that comes from his body, called Tumas Zera, and a healthy woman can become tomei from something that comes from her body, called Tumas Nidah.
We learn how to become tahor from all of these kinds of tumah!
The Torah also tells us about how a woman can become tamei in a certain way that is called Zavah when her body isn’t healthy. Whatever she touches when she is tamei can also become tamei.
If she waits eight days and goes to the mikvah, she doesn’t make things tomei anymore, but she isn’t completely tahor and still can’t go inside the Beis Hamikdash.
For a Zavah to become completely tahor, she also has to bring two birds to Hashem as korbanos.
Now we have learned how a person can become tahor from tumah that comes from the body!
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In the last perek of today’s Tehillim, Dovid Hamelech tells us “Sur Me’Ra, Va’asei Tov, Bakeish Shalom Verodfeihu” — “stay away from bad, and do good, and try to make shalom.”
The Baal Shem Tov explains that in every gashmius’dike thing in this world, there’s a part which is good and a part which is bad. The part that’s bad is the selfish feelings (taava) that a person has for the thing. The good part is the chayus of Hashem that we get from the Gashmius.
This is what the Tehillim is saying: Stay away from the selfish part, and look for the GOOD part, the chayus from Hashem!
Then, we have to make shalom between the Gashmiyus and the Ruchnius (the chayus of Hashem). This way, you’ll feel Hashem’s chayus even when you’re using the Gashmius.
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Mem-Daled
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In Tanya, the Alter Rebbe is teaching us how every Yid is able, with the koach of Moach Shalit Al Halev, to win over his Yetzer Hara and make his mitzvos more pure and Ruchnius’dik!
First we learned how to win over the Yetzer Hara by bringing out the koach of Mesiras Nefesh we have inside of ourselves.
Now we are learning how to use our mind to think about our connection with Hashem, which will help us have Yiras Hashem and Ahavas Hashem to make our mitzvos more aidel and Ruchnius’dik.
First we learned what to think so we will have Yiras Hashem. Then we learned two ways of thinking to help us feel Ahavas Hashem, that can work for everyone!
If we think about these two things, we can feel our ahava for Hashem:
1) To love Hashem because He is our neshama and our chayus
2) To love Hashem because He is our true Tatte.
These two kinds of love for Hashem really also have Yiras Hashem together with them:
1) We are afraid to do an aveira which will separate us from our true chayus
2) We are afraid to do an aveira which will take us away from our true Tatte, Hashem.
When we remind ourselves about this, we wake up the love for Hashem we have inside of ourselves. This makes our mitzvos more Ruchnius’dik, and able to go up to Olam HaYetzirah, the olam of feeling!
But if we think even more about how we love Hashem in this way, and how we are afraid to become separate from Hashem chas veshalom, then we are using our own minds, not just the love that’s hidden inside of us. Since it comes from our understanding, our mitzvos can go even HIGHER! They go up to the olam of Beriyah, the olam of understanding!
In fact, this ahava also includes Ahava Rabbah, a level of ahava which connects our mitzvos even with the world of Atzilus!
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Today is twenty days of the Omer!
Why do you think a neshama comes into the world? Why is a baby born, with a neshama, to live for 70 or 80 years?
It is because the neshama has a special shlichus to do here.
What is this shlichus?
Here’s what the Alter Rebbe heard from R’ Mordechai (one of the Baal Shem Tov’s talmidim), who heard the following from the Baal Shem Tov:
The neshama’s special shlichus in the world is to help another Yid in what he needs: In Gashmius — like to make sure they are happy or have food, and especially in Ruchnius — to help another Yid be closer to Hashem.
Of course that doesn’t mean that all of the other Torah and mitzvos a Yid does don’t count! They are all there to help make this Shlichus complete.
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #245) is the very same mitzvah again! Do you know it by heart yet? When we buy things or sell things, we need to follow the Torah rules for doing it.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Shluchim VeShutfim
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In today’s Rambam, we are learning more about sending someone else to do something for you (a shliach) and about partners working together (a shutaf).
One of the things we learn in Perek Beis is that someone who is under a certain age can’t be a shliach. If someone sends a kid as a shliach, it’s his own fault if something gets broken or lost!
Of course, even a kid can be a shliach of the Rebbe!
Perek Gimmel teaches us about how a person can send a shliach to argue for him in Beis Din. (That’s like a lawyer.)
In Perek Daled we start learning about how people can become partners in business.
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Today we start to learn a new set of halachos — about keeping ourselves holy, through only eating kosher! The food that we eat is very important, because it becomes part of us.
In today’s Rambam we learn about kosher and non-kosher animals and birds. Do you know what signs a kosher animal has to have?
- it chews its cud (swallows its food, but then goes back and chews it again and again)
- it has split hooves (hard feet that are split in half)
The Torah tells us the names of 24 birds that are not kosher, all other kinds of birds are kosher. But if you don’t know all of these birds and what they look like, you can only eat a kind of bird that you KNOW is kosher.
The Rambam also gives us signs to know what’s a kosher or a non-kosher bird. One way to know that a bird is NOT kosher is if it attacks other birds or animals with its claws and eats them. Can you think why that kind of bird is not kosher?
We also learn the signs of kosher locusts, and kosher fish. Do you know what signs a kosher fish has?
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The Hayom Yom, which was the first published sefer of the Rebbe, is a collection of pieces of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s sichos, maamarim, and letters, arranged so we can learn something connected to each day of the year. It was a calendar made in the year Tof-Shin-Gimmel, but Chassidim took on the minhag to learn it every year, which the Rebbe encouraged.
For the next year, the Rebbe also began to gather more pisgamim from the Frierdiker Rebbe’s Torah, but in the end did not set it up for a year. It was printed after Gimmel Tammuz, in a booklet called Hayom Yom Chelek Sheini, and later also in Reshimas Hayoman.
Here are one of the pisgamim from Hayom Yom Chelek Sheini:
The Baal Shem Tov said that when a Yid gives a krechtz (groan) because of the tzaar of another Yid, it stops any malachim in Shomayim that are trying to say not-good things against the Yidden.
And when a Yid is happy for the good that someone else has and gives him a bracha, Hashem accepts it like the tefilos of R’ Yishmael Kohen Gadol in the Kodesh Hakodoshim on Yom Kippur!
See Toras Menachem Reshimas Hayoman, p. 472
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The second of the Twelve Pesukim is the first line of Shema! We all already know the words of this posuk very well, but we should also know what the posuk means, and what its lesson is for us!
At the end of the posuk we say, Hashem Echod — Hashem is one.
The word Echod shows us HOW Hashem is one! Echod is made of three letters, Alef, Ches, and Daled.
Alef — Alef is the first letter, so the Gematria of Alef is ONE! The Alef is the one Aibershter, the Alufo Shel Olam.
Ches — Ches is the eighth letter of the Alef-Beis, with a Gematria of EIGHT. The Ches reminds us of the seven levels of Shomayim, plus the one earth where we live — eight all together!
Daled — Daled is the fourth letter of the Alef-Beis, so it has a Gematria of FOUR. The Daled reminds us of the Daled Ruchos, the four different directions — north, south, east, and west.
And what letter is first? The Alef, of course!
The word Echod shows us that the heavens and the earth (the Ches), and all four directions (the Daled), are all like nothing on their own. They only exist because they come after the Alef, because Hashem, the Alufo Shel Olam, gives them chayus!
This is something even kids need to know!
When we look around, the world looks very big! There are many exciting things to do and places to go. There are fun trips to take and toys to play with. There are books to read, flowers to smell, and delicious foods to taste. There are so many different things in the heavens and the earth, and in all four directions.
But really, all of these things are like nothing on their own! They only exist because Hashem, the Alufo Shel Olam, gives them chayus! They are only here because Hashem Echod, because the ONE Hashem, wants them to be here!
That will make us realize that we shouldn’t just take our exciting trips or play with our fun toys because WE like them. We will realize that everything we do needs to be for Hashem!
We will want to do things that make Hashem happy all the time! We will want to use all of our trips, all of our toys, and all of our treats to bring us closer to Hashem and fulfill the shlichus Hashem put us in the world to do!
That’s what we say in the paragraph that comes after Shema, Ve’ahavta. We say that we should love Hashem, and that we are ready to use EVERYTHING we have to do what Hashem wants!
See Der Rebbe Redt Tzu Kinder chelek Hey, p. 249
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Even though we can’t move muktza, it is not asur to touch it if it is something that usually doesn’t move. The isur of muktza is only Tiltul Muktza, moving something that is muktza.
For example, a car is definitely muktza. But it won’t move just by touching it, because it is so heavy. So it isn’t a problem to touch it on Shabbos.
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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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According to the Rebbe’s hora’ah to learn Inyonei Geulah U’Moshiach from Torah Shebichsav, Torah Shebaal Peh, and other parts of Torah, we are learning some of the inyonim of Geulah from the Neviim:
The Navi Yeshaya said a lot of nevuos about Moshiach!
The Navi told his generation (Perek Beis) how foolish it would be to try to copy the goyim. Soon Moshiach will come, and the goyim will all be running to serve Hashem! It makes no sense to follow the goyim, when even they will soon see that the truth is in the Torah.
וְהָיָה בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים נָכוֹן יִהְיֶה הַר בֵּית ה׳ בְּרֹאשׁ הֶהָרִים וְנִשָּׂא מִגְּבָעוֹת וְנָהֲרוּ אֵלָיו כָּל הַגּוֹיִם
Vehaya Ba’acharis Hayamim — This nevuah will happen in the end of the days of Golus
Nachon Yihiyeh Har Beis Hashem Berosh Heharim — The house of Hashem, the Beis Hamikdash, will be in its place on the top of the most important mountain
Venisa Mig’vaos — Which will have more nisim done on it than were done on any other mountain or hill, including Har Sinai!
Venaharu Eilav Kol Hagoyim — And all of the nations will be rushing towards it, to serve Hashem there too.
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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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