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CHUMASH
Parshas Behar-Bechukosai - Sheini with Rashi
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In today’s Chumash, we learn more about Shemitah and Yovel.
In order to have enough food, the Yidden need the year before Shemitah to grow enough for THREE years: that year, the year of Shemitah when we can’t grow anything, and the third year, until the new food grows.
Hashem promises that if we keep Shemitah, enough will grow for three years!
The Torah also starts to teach us the mitzvos about owning land in Eretz Yisroel. We learned before that in the Yovel year the land returns to its original owner. Hashem says that we shouldn’t be upset that we have to give it back, because really the WHOLE land belongs to Hashem! It’s just that certain people are in charge of taking care of it for different amounts of time!
Sometimes a person might be very poor and need to sell his field so he has enough money to live.
If someone sold his part of Eretz Yisrael, it is like it is in Golus! He should try to buy it back, to bring it a “Geulah.”
Starting from two years after he sells it, the person he sold it to HAS to let him buy it back. If he can’t pay enough himself, someone from his family should buy it back, so each part of Eretz Yisroel stays with the right family.
How much does it cost to buy it back? It depends how many years there are until Yovel. He pays the amount that those years are worth.
Even if nobody has money to buy it back, it will still go back in Yovel.
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In kapitel Kuf-Daled (104), there is a posuk “Moh Rabu Maasecha Hashem!” How great are the works of Hashem!
There are many maamorim in Chassidus that explain this posuk. There is a maamar from the Rebbe Rashab that starts with this posuk and explains it — and there is a story behind it!
Once the Rebbe Rashab was learning with the Poltaver Rav, R’ Yaakov Mordechai Bezpalov. The Friediker Rebbe was 3 or 4 years old, and his bed was in the room where they were learning.
R’ Yaakov Mordechai looked over at the sleeping boy, and said that his shining face showed the kedusha that he had!
When the Rebbe Rashab heard that comment, he felt that he wanted to kiss his son. But he stopped himself, and instead wrote a maamar called Moh Rabu Maasecha Hashem. When the Frierdiker Rebbe got older, the Rebbe Rashab gave him the maamar, and told him, “this is a Chassidishe kush!” Years later, he told him the story.
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Nun
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The Alter Rebbe has been showing us, over the last perakim, different ways to have Ahava and Yirah — what to think about to make us feel a love for Hashem so we will want to learn Torah and do mitzvos.
For example, we can think about how Hashem gives us life, and that Hashem is our father Who takes care of all of our needs. We can think about how Hashem loves the Yidden so much that He chose us to be so close to Him, and we love Hashem back. We show our love by learning Hashem’s Torah and doing Hashem’s mitzvos!
One thing is the same in all of these ways of loving Hashem: We feel what Hashem does FOR US, what He gives TO US, and that makes us love Hashem.
Today the Alter Rebbe tells us about a different kind of love for Hashem — a kind of love that has nothing to do with us! In fact, when a Yid has this kind of love for Hashem, he doesn’t want anything for himself — he wants his neshama to become one with Hashem, even though that means he won’t have any chayus or any of the things that Hashem usually gives to people!
When the Alter Rebbe came to the Maggid, the Alter Rebbe would learn with the Maggid’s son, R’ Avraham der Malach. For three hours the Alter Rebbe would share his knowledge in Nigla, and for three hours R’ Avraham would share his knowledge in Chassidus.
One time, after learning some very deep Chassidus, R’ Avraham saw the Alter Rebbe eating a bagel and butter. He was surprised, and asked why. The Alter Rebbe explained that after learning the deep secrets of the Torah, his neshama so much wanted to connect to Hashem that it was almost ready to leave his body! This is called Klos Hanefesh. So he ate a bagel with butter to keep his neshama connected to his body! (See Likutei Sichos chelek Chof-Zayin, p. 273)
The kind of love in this story shows this second kind of ahava. It’s not thinking about what Hashem does for you to make you special, it’s just thinking about Hashem and wanting to be together with Hashem!
(We know from Chumash that Nadav and Avihu also had this kind of love for Hashem, which caused them to become close to Hashem, and their neshamos left their bodies.)
Just like in the story with the Alter Rebbe and R’ Avraham der Malach, the Alter Rebbe will show us what we need to do to make sure that we have a “bagel with butter” so our neshama will stay inside of us and help us do mitzvos! It is called shuv, and we will be learning more about it tomorrow IY”H!
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Today is thirty-six days of the Omer!
Today’s Hayom Yom teaches us something that every Yid needs to know:
Hashem gives each of us a very important shlichus: To do mitzvos and strengthen Yiddishkeit and Torah wherever we are.
And part of giving us that shlichus is that with Hashgacha Protis, Hashem makes sure we have whatever we need in order to actually DO that shlichus!
But it is up to us. We need to actually DO it, and then we will see that we have everything we need in order to do the mitzvos and bring the light of Yiddishkeit and Torah to the place where we are!
The Rebbe once said this to the Shluchim: Before a shliach goes to a place, Hashem sets up that all of the things he will need to have hatzlacha will all be there. All the shliach needs to do is go there, and the people to help him and give money for his programs will all be there — the shliach just needs to do his job to make it happen, and he will see all of the brachos!
The same is true for the shlichus we ALL have: The brachos are all there to make us have hatzlacha, we just need to use the kochos Hashem gives us and we will see that it will happen!
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In today’s Sefer Hamitzvos, we have two more mitzvos about a mashkon, something that you use to show you will pay back a loan — one is a Mitzvas Asei (a mitzvah we do) and the other one is a Mitzvas Lo Saasei (a mitzvah of something we don’t do).
1) (Mitzvas Asei #199) You have to let the person use the mashkon at the time that he needs it. If the mashkon is something he uses at night, like a pillow, you need to give it back to him at night. If it’s something he works with during the day, you need to give it back to him during the day.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Ki Seitzei: הָשֵׁב תָּשִׁיב לוֹ אֶת הָעֲבוֹט כְּבוֹא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ
The details are explained in Perek Tes of Mesechta Bava Metziah.
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #240) This is the matching Mitzvas Lo Saasei: You can’t keep the mashkon at the time when the person needs it.
This mitzvah is also learned from a posuk in Parshas Ki Seitzei: לֹא תִשְׁכַּב בַּעֲבֹטוֹ
And the details are also explained in Perek Tes of Mesechta Bava Metziah.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more about loans.
Perek Yud teaches us the halachos of borrowing food. We have to be careful when borrowing food, because it might be worth more when it is paid back, which would be like taking interest.
Perek Yud-Alef teaches us the difference between a loan made without a shtar (contract), and a loan made with a shtar.
We also start to learn about how orphans pay back a loan that their parents took.
In Perek Yud-Beis, we learn more about how a loan is paid back with money inherited by orphans.
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Today we learn the last perek of Hilchos Maachalos Asuros! In this perek, the Rambam tells us about MANY important inyanim we need to know about kashrus! Here are some of them:
- Ben Yomo — if a pot was used on that same day to cook non-kosher food
- Toiveling dishes
- We don’t need to kasher a dish only used for cold non-kosher food
- Kashering pots and dishes that were used for non-kosher hot food (hagalah)
- The special halachos of kashering knives
- Bishul Akum (food cooked by a non-Jew) - Pas Akum (bread baked by a non-Jew)
- Aino Oleh Al Shulchan Melachim — food that a king wouldn’t serve at his table doesn’t need to be Bishul Yisroel
We also learn about the issur of “Bal Teshaktzu,” not doing things that are disgusting, like eating from dirty dishes. This issur also includes that if a person needs to go to the bathroom, he HAS to take care of it right away!
The Rambam finishes this set of halachos by reminding us that these things are what make us holy, to be like Hashem!
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This week in Sefiras Haomer, we are working on our midah of Yesod. Chassidus teaches that Yesod is Hiskashrus.
What is hiskashrus?
In the town of Premishlan, there lived a Tzadik called R’ Meir of Premishlan. Premishlan was a town that wasn’t right by the river, but just over the mountain there was a special spring that they used for a Mikvah every day.
During the summer, it didn’t take too long to get to the mikvah. The men would go on the road right over the mountain. But in the winter, it took much, much longer! The road was just too slippery in the snow and ice! The men would need to walk on a long road that went around the mountain so they could use the mikvah before davening.
Only one person walked quickly over the mountain: R’ Meir of Premishlan. He never slipped and fell, no matter how windy or icy or snowy it was!
The Yidden in Premishlan were very proud of their Rebbe, and used to tell people how lucky they were to have such a special Rebbe who could do such special nissim.
One day, two young men came to Premishlan. They were a bit chutzpadik, and didn’t believe that what R’ Meir did was so special. “We can also go on the mountain road, just watch!” they said.
The two young men started climbing up the icy mountain. But they didn’t get too far before they slipped and fell down! People came to help them, and they had to rest in bed for a few days because of all of their cuts and bruises.
When they felt better, they went to R’ Meir of Premishlan to say sorry for not treating him with the right kavod. They asked, though, how DID he manage to go up the mountain without falling?
R’ Meir answered: “Ven men iz tzugebunden fun oiben, falt men nisht unten. When we are connected above — when we are connected to Hashem, we don’t fall down here.”
That is one of the meanings of the midah of Yesod, that we are working on this week — to make sure that our connection to Hashem through Yiddishkeit and Torah and mitzvos is very strong!
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The eighth posuk of the Yud-Beis Pesukim is the posuk of Veshinantam. This posuk comes from the Torah, and is a part of the Shema that we say every day!
The posuk means:
Veshinantam Levanecha — You should teach the words of Torah to your children (and your students)
Vedibarta Bam — and discuss it with them
Beshivtecha Beveisecha — when you are sitting in your house,
Uvelechtecha Vaderech — and when you are going on your way,
Uveshachbecha — and when you lie down to go to sleep
Uvekumecha — and when you wake up.
The Yud-Beis Pesukim all have important lessons for us. What is the lesson of Veshinantam?
The Rebbe tells us that kids need to make sure that they are getting what they deserve! Parents and teachers have the achrayus to do Veshinantam Levanecha, to teach their kids and their students Torah! And not just a little bit of Torah — but in a way that we will have Torah with us all the time! Our house should be a Torah house, when we go places it should be in a Torah way, and we should go to sleep with a word of Torah and get up in the morning the way the Torah teaches!
Kids can be very stubborn about things, and this is a GOOD thing to be stubborn about! We should tell our parents that we want to have A LOT of Torah! We want to go to a Jewish camp and a Jewish school, to have the BEST Chinuch, so that we will know Torah and be able to live with it all the time.
See sicha Lag B’Omer Tof-Shin-Lamed-Vov
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We learned in Pirkei Avos perek Gimmel that it is very important to say words of Torah when we sit down to a meal. Those who do not say words of Torah at their meal, it is as if they are eating meat of Avodah Zarah (Zivchei Meisim). But those who sit at a table and DO say words of Torah, it is like they are eating at the table of Hashem (Shulchano Shel Makom)!
Based on this, the halacha is that we should say words of Torah when we are eating a meal.
According to some opinions, if someone isn’t able to say words of Torah, the words of Torah in bentching can be counted. But lechatchilah, whenever we sit down to a meal, we should really say words of Torah besides for the brachos we say during the meal.
See Shulchan Aruch siman Kuf-Ayin, Mishnah Beruruah se’if katan Alef, and Piskei Teshuvos there
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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 tremendous nisim of the Geulah will make us want to praise Hashem! The Navi Yeshaya told his generation about this:
וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא הוֹדוּ לַה׳ קִרְאוּ בִשְׁמוֹ הוֹדִיעוּ בָעַמִּים עֲלִילֹתָיו הַזְכִּירוּ כִּי נִשְׂגָּב שְׁמוֹ
Va’amartem Bayom Hahu — And you will say on that day:
Hodu LaHashem — “Thank Hashem!
Kiru Vishmo — Call out Hashem’s name to praise Him!
Hodiu Vo’amim Alilosav — Let all the nations know what Hashem has done!
Hazkiru Ki Nisgav Shemo — Make sure everyone remembers to praise Hashem’s name, which is so holy!”
This posuk brings comfort to the Yidden and reminds us that the Geulah is coming! It is one of the pesukim we say in Veyitein Lecha, the bracha we give each other at the beginning of the new week, on Motzei Shabbos!
See Yeshaya perek Yud-Beis, posuk daled
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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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