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CHUMASH
Parshas Shemini - Chamishi with Rashi
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Even though Aharon and his sons were mourning because Nadav and Avihu passed away, Moshe told them that they need to eat the parts of the korbanos that are for the kohanim.
Elazar and Isamar and Aharon ate those parts of the special korban brought in honor of starting off the avodah in the Mishkan, even though they were in aveilus. But they didn’t think they should eat the meat from the Rosh Chodesh korban. The Rosh Chodesh korban is eaten EVERY Rosh Chodesh, so they didn’t think it should have the same rule as the korbanos of the Yemei Miluim, which were only brought as a one-time thing.
Instead, they followed the usual halacha that tells us what to do if we can’t finish a korban during the right time, and they burned the whole korban on the Mizbeiach.
When Moshe found out about this, he was very upset! The Rosh Chodesh korban asks Hashem to forgive the Yidden, and they shouldn’t do anything that might chas veshalom stop Hashem from forgiving all of the Yidden by not eating it!
Aharon explained the reason why they treated this korban differently. Even though Moshe had given instructions to eat the korbanos even after what happened, they understood that this was a special halacha for the Yemei Miluim, and it only had to do with the korbanos of the Yemei Miluim. Hashem only wanted them to eat from the special korbanos for that day, but not from the korban that is brought for every Rosh Chodesh! When Moshe heard this explanation, he agreed that Aharon was right, and he wasn’t embarrassed to say that he hadn’t realized that difference.
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Did you know that the longest Kapitel (Kuf-Yud-Tes) has 176 pesukim, the longest Parsha in Chumash (Naso) has 176 pesukim, and the longest Gemara (Bava Basra) has 176 dapim? This shows us how the whole Torah is all connected!
Before the beginning of each of the 14 seforim of the Rambam, there is a posuk connected to what we’ll learn in that sefer. Some of those pesukim come from Kapitel Kuf-Yud-Tes!
In the beginning of Sefer Zmanim, which talks about Shabbos and Yom Tov, the Rambam brings a posuk from today’s Tehillim! “Nochalti Eidvosecha Le’olam, Ki Seson Libi Heima” — “I have your mitzvos as a yerusha forever, because they are what brings me happiness!”
The Rebbe explains why this posuk is connected to Shabbos and Yom Tov:
There are many mitzvos, like having emunah in Hashem and davening, that we understand are with us forever, because we do those mitzvos all the time! We would understand if the Rambam used this posuk at the beginning of one of the first two sefarim, which talk about these kinds of mitzvos.
But Shabbos and Yom Tov mitzvos, like bentching licht or making Kiddush on Shabbos, are only mitzvos at a certain time. They aren’t with us all the time!
But the Rambam uses this posuk specifically here, to teach us something! The Rambam is teaching us that even though we only DO these mitzvos at certain times, because we love them, they really are with us all the time! If we love Shabbos and Yom Tov, and think about them every day, these mitzvos will be with us forever, not only on Shabbos and Yom Tov! This way, we will have ALL of the mitzvos with us all the time!
(At the end of Shmoneh Esrei everyone says a posuk that starts with the first and last letter of their name. If your name is Nechama or Nechemya, this could be your posuk, because it starts with a Nun and ends with a Hey!)
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Mem-Beis
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The Alter Rebbe is teaching us how to have Yiras Shomayim. We need to remember that there is an “Ayin Ro’eh Ve’ozen Shoma’as,” “an eye that sees and an ear that hears.” When we think about how Hashem is watching everything we do, we will feel the Yiras Shomayim that is hiding inside of us, from the koach of Moshe Rabbeinu.
When we say “Hashem is watching you,” what do you think that means? Does it mean that Hashem has special glasses to look at you? No! Of course Hashem doesn’t have eyes like we do!
That is just a mashal to make it easier for us to think about. Really Hashem just KNOWS everything that is happening with us!
The whole world is part of Hashem, since Hashem made everything! Hashem knows what happens with everything and everyone, just like we know and feel whatever happens in our whole body!
Even though it is only a mashal, when we think about this, it will help us to be careful with the way we act, knowing that Hashem is watching everything we do.
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Today is the eleventh day of the Omer!
In today’s Hayom Yom, we learn about Avodas HaTefillah according to Chassidus Chabad. First we need to work ourselves to get rid of our not-good habits that are not the way the Torah teaches (mikvah), and then to learn Chassidus and make time to think Chassidus before davening (Bigdei Kodesh).
On Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol needs to change his clothes many times. Every time he puts on different clothes, he needs to go to the Mikvah first.
In our Avodas Hashem, we also need to “go to the Mikvah” when we “change our clothes!”
We learned in Tanya that the neshama has “clothes” (Levushim) — Machshava, Dibur, and Maaseh (what we think, what we say, and what we do).
Chassidim get special clothes for their neshama — thinking Chassidus (machshava), saying words of Chassidus (dibur), and making time before davening to think Chassidus (maaseh).
Before we use these special “clothes”, we need to “go to the mikvah”! How?
We “wash off” the things that we got used to doing, just like water washes us off. We fix up the things that we aren’t doing right yet, so that our neshama is ready to use our special Chassidus clothes! Then we can feel close to Hashem when we daven.
That’s what the Alter Rebbe had Mesiras Nefesh for — so Chassidim can daven in this special way.
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #245) is one that we learned not too long ago! We need to follow the halachos about buying and selling things. If we do, then we’re doing a mitzvah every time!
This section of halachos in Rambam is about getting something from hefker or a gift. It doesn’t have any new mitzvos, but keeping these halachos is connected to this mitzvah about buying and selling. So we review this mitzvah that we learned before.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Behar: וְכִי תִמְכְּרוּ מִמְכָּר לַעֲמִיתֶךָ
The details of this mitzvah are explained in many places in Gemara — Perek Alef of Kiddushin, Perakim Daled and Ches in Bava Metzia, and perakim Gimmel through Zayin of Bava Basra.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Zechiya U'Matana
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In today’s Rambam, we start to learn a new set of halachos, about getting things that are “hefker,” and about giving or getting presents.
Perek Alef teaches us about when something is called hefker, that it has no owner. Fruit that grows in a forest is one example of hefker things. Whoever picks it up first — it belongs to him!
Perek Beis explains how we can show that a hefker field is ours. We need to do something to make the field better, and have in mind that we are doing it to make the field ours!
In Perek Gimmel we learn about presents. When a person gives someone a present, he needs to make sure that the other person understands what belongs to him! If he just says “I’m giving you a field,” the person doesn’t get anything, because we’re not sure which one we’re supposed to give him!
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As part of today’s perek, we learn many halachos about how the Beis Din tries to make sure that the person wants to be a Yid because he wants to do Hashem’s mitzvos, and not for other reasons (like wanting to marry a Jew).
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This week in Sefiras Ha’omer, we are working on the midah of Gevurah.
One of the main differences between the first week of Chesed and this week of Gevurah is that chesed is the way we share of ourselves or what we have with others. Gevurah is the opposite — the way we hold back from something we want to say or do, and DON’T share with others.
One of the ways we show our Gevurah is by being stronger than our Yetzer Hara who might want us to say something, but we hold ourselves back.
Let’s say that a girl named Sarah sees a group of her friends. She wants to tell them that her Morah says her project is the best in the whole class!
But Sarah can “rechen mit a tzveiten,” think about how another person will feel.
She can stop and think: How would I feel if another girl told me that the Morah said it about HER project? I would feel bad that Morah didn’t like MY project more.
Then Sarah will use her Gevurah! She WON’T tell her friends about what her Morah said. She decides that she will tell her parents about it later, since it will make them proud. For now, she will ask her friends to all play with her instead — that way EVERYONE will feel good!
Can you think of a way that you can use the gevurah of your neshama?
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We are learning the meaning of the Twelve Pesukim, which the Rebbe wants every Jewish child to know.
The very first posuk of the Twelve Pesukim starts with the words “Torah Tziva.” As we learned, the Chachomim tell us that this posuk should be the first thing we teach a child as soon as they can talk!
Why is this posuk so important for even little kids?
We learn that the Torah is “Toras Chayim,” a Torah of life! The Torah shows us how to have the BEST kind of life.
Torah is also called “Toras Emes,” a Torah that shows us emes! It shows us the emes, the truth of the way things really are in the world — it shows us that everything is here to help our neshama to do a special shlichus in the world!
The Yetzer Hara can come to little kids and try to make a child think, “What does Torah have to do with ME? It’s very nice that Torah can give us the best kind of life, or show us how to use everything to do our shlichus. But I’m just a kid! When I get older, when I’m an adult, that’s when I’ll see what the Torah says!”
The posuk Torah Tziva shows us that what the Yetzer Hara is saying is NOT TRUE!
The Torah is “Morasha,” an inheritance, that belongs to EVERY Jewish person. Something that we get in a way of yerusha belongs to us even if we are just a baby! So the Torah belongs to ALL of us, even if we are still little!
And even while we are young, the Torah is already for us! We can already have the best kind of life, a Torah life, by learning Torah and keeping its mitzvos. We can already treasure the Torah which “Tziva Lanu Moshe,” that Moshe Rabbeinu gave to all of the Yidden as a yerusha, “Morasha Kehilas Yaakov.”
From a children’s rally, Tes-Zayin Menachem Av 5744
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The Chachomim made a takana called Muktza, which is things we aren’t allowed to move or carry, even inside of our own houses!
There are three reasons for this takana:
1) Shabbos is a day of rest. But if we can carry around whatever we want to in our homes, it won’t be very restful! We will be busy all day moving things around from one place to the next. So the Chachomim made the takana of muktza, so we won’t be able to be busy with all of these things, and will rest on Shabbos.
2) Muktza helps keep us from making a mistake and doing Hotza’ah on Shabbos, carrying outside of a Reshus Hayochid.
If we could just carry whatever we wanted all the time on Shabbos, even things we’re carrying for no reason, we would forget and carry things outside! That is the melacha of Hotza’ah, and the takana of muktza helps keep us from accidentally doing it.
3) The third reason why the Chachomim made the takana of muktza is to make sure that Shabbos feels different and Shabbos’dik for EVERY type of Yid.
Some Yidden don’t do much melacha during the week. If the only thing different on Shabbos was melacha, there wouldn’t be much different on Shabbos for them! It would feel just like a weekday.
The takana of muktza makes sure that Shabbos feels very different for EVERYBODY.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Shin-Ches, se’if Alef
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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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The Navi in Yeshaya (part of the Haftora of Acharon Shel Pesach) tells us about the qualities of Moshiach:
וַהֲרִיחוֹ בְּיִרְאַת ה׳ וְלֹא לְמַרְאֵה עֵינָיו יִשְׁפּוֹט וְלֹא לְמִשְׁמַע אָזְנָיו יוֹכִיחַ
Veharicho BeYiras Hashem — Moshiach will be so filled with Yiras Hashem
Velo Lemareh Einav Yishpot — That he will not need to judge based on what he sees
Velo Lemishma Aznav Yochiach — And he will not need to prove things based on what he hears.
The Chachomim, in Gemara Sanhedrin, connect the word “Veharicho” (and he will be filled) with the word “Reiach” (smell). They tell us that Moshiach will judge by “smell!” Usually a judge has to decide things based on what he sees and hears, but Moshiach will be so filled with the Chochma of Hashem that he will be able to judge by “smelling” what is right and what is wrong.
Fifty years after the Churban of the second Beis Hamikdash, a great man named Bar-Kochba, who fought for the Yidden against the Romans, came and said that he was Moshiach and would bring the Yidden back to Eretz Yisroel and rebuild the Beis Hamikdash. The Chachomim tested him based on this posuk: They checked to see if he could judge by “smell,” knowing who is right because of the Chochma of Hashem inside of him. When he couldn’t do this, the Chachomim knew that he was not really Moshiach.
But Moshiach will have this special koach to judge directly with the Chochma of Hashem!
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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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