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CHUMASH
Parshas Behaalosecha - Sheini with Rashi
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Yesterday we learned what the Leviim became ready to do the Avodah.
The Torah explains why the Leviim are the ones to do the Avodah: At Makas Bechoros, when Hashem killed the bechorim of Mitzrayim and protected the bechorim of the Yidden, Hashem took the firstborns as a temporary “payment” for protecting them. This lasted until the bechorim did the aveira of the Cheit Ha’egel, when Hashem took the Leviim permanently to serve in the Mishkan.
But the Torah tells us that Hashem took the Leviim on behalf of the bechorim and the entire Bnei Yisroel! Rashi tells us that we see in the posuk that Hashem loves ALL of the Yidden very much! Hashem says the words “Bnei Yisrael” (the Yidden) five times in one posuk, to show that He loves the Yidden as much as He loves the five books of the Torah!
The Torah praises the Yidden, that Moshe and Aharon, the Yidden and the Leviim, did exactly what Hashem told them to do, and nobody complained or protested.
Hashem told Moshe some rules about the Leviim:
- A Levi can work in the Mishkan even if he has something wrong with his body (a mum) even though a Kohen isn’t allowed to.
- A Levi starts learning how to do his job when he is 25 years old.
- He starts to work when he is 30 years old.
- A Levi stops carrying parts of the Mishkan after he is 50.
- He can still do the other jobs of the Leviim when he is older than 50.
What are the other jobs of the Leviim?
- Opening and closing the gates of the Beis Hamikdash
- Playing lighter instruments
- Singing
- Putting things that aren’t heavy onto the wagons
- Keeping people out of the Mishkan who aren’t allowed to be there
- Taking down and putting up the Mishkan
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In one of today’s kapitelach (Ayin-Alef) there are four niggunim! It was the Rebbe’s 70th birthday kapitel and chassidim were so happy that they made many niggunim!
One of them is on the words “Kemofes Hayisi LoRabim, VeAta Machsi Oz.” Dovid Hamelech says, “I was an example to many people, and You give me strength!” When a Yid acts in a way that will be a Dugma Chaya for other people, Hashem gives him special hatzlacha in everything he does!
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TANYA
Shaar Hayichud Veha'emunah Perek Daled
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The Alter Rebbe is explaining how even though everything is part of Hashem’s chayus, it looks like it exists on its own.
The Medrash says that even if everyone in the world would get together and try to figure out how to create even just a little tiny wing of a mosquito (from nothing) and make it alive, they wouldn’t be able to!
This is because only Hashem can create Yeish Me’Ayin, something from absolutely NOTHING. This is something that person cannot do, and cannot even understand. It comes from the koach of Hashem in the name Yud-Kay-Vov-Kay.
Today the Alter Rebbe tells us that the SAME thing is with the way Hashem HIDES in the world, which comes from the name Elokim:
Hashem made everything in such an amazing way! (Even if we only know a little bit about Hashem’s world, we can already see how everything is made exactly the way it needs to be in order to be able to exist!) So just by looking at the world, everyone should be able to figure out right away that Hashem made it all and is giving it chayus every second!
But it is NOT that way. We have to THINK about it to know that Hashem made everything and is the chayus of the world. And still, there are even people who say that the world made itself and there is chas veshalom NO Hashem!
How can this be?
Because the SAME GREAT Hashem who made the world with the SAME GREATNESS hid Himself in the world SO WELL, that nobody will know that He made it! Only when a Yid thinks and uses the kochos of their neshama can they know and feel it.
This hiding is from the name of Hashem called Elokim, while Hashem making the world is with the name Yud- Kay-Vov-Kay.
When we praise Hashem in the beginning of Shemoneh Esrei, we use the words “Hagadol” and “Hagibor,” “great” and “mighty.” This is talking about these two infinite kochos of Hashem of Chesed and Gevurah, the power to create everything from nothing (Hagadol — Chesed), and the power to hide in it, so it looks like it exists on its own (Hagibor — Gevurah).
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The Tzemach Tzedek would make many niggunim! He used to sing while he would learn Torah, and sometimes would stop learning or writing to sing a niggun.
The Rebbe Maharash said that the Tzemach Tzedek’s niggunim were connected to what he was learning — he could tell what the Tzemach Tzedek was learning by what niggun he sang.
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SEFER HAMITZVOS
Shiur #319 - Mitzvas Lo Saasei #280, Asei #177, Lo Saasei #276, #274
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In Sefer Hamitzvos, we are learning more mitzvos for a Beis Din to follow, to make sure they are judging fairly. Today we have four mitzvos:
1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #280) A judge can’t judge unfairly against a widow or orphan. (Of course, it is asur to judge ANYONE unfairly, but it is an extra aveira if it is against a widow or orphan.)
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Ki Seitzei: לֹא תַטֶּה מִשְׁפַּט גֵּר יָתוֹם
2) (Mitzvas Asei #177) A judge needs to treat both sides of a case equally. He needs to give each one a chance to explain their side, and not rush one of them.
This mitzvah includes other things also. One of them is that if two people who are arguing agree to come to a Talmid Chochom and not a Beis Din, he has a mitzvah to judge them fairly.
Another one is that if any person does something which could be understood in different ways, we should try to understand it as something good, and judge them favorably — Dan Lekaf Zechus.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: בְּצֶדֶק תִּשְׁפֹּט עֲמִיתֶךָ
The details of this mitzvah are explained in places throughout the Talmud.
3) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #276) A judge isn’t allowed to be afraid of anyone! He isn’t allowed to be scared and think, “If I pasken against him, he will take revenge and ruin my field!”
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Devarim: לֹא תָגוּרוּ מִפְּנֵי אִישׁ
4) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #274) A judge isn’t allowed to take a bribe or even a present from anyone who comes to Beis Din, EVEN if he thinks he will pasken the same way anyhow.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: וְשֹׁחַד לֹא תִקָּח
The details of this mitzvah are explained in many places in Mesechta Sanhedrin
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In Perek Yud-Tes, we learn a long list of aveiros that a Beis Din gives Malkos (lashes) for. There are 207 aveiros where a Beis Din would need to give Malkos!
In Perek Chof, we learn about judging fairly. If no witnesses SAW the person doing the aveira, even if it’s obvious that he did it, we can’t punish him. And if someone was forced to do an aveira, he can’t get punished by the Beis Din either. But we shouldn’t have rachmonus on someone and not punish him if he deserves it!
Perek Chof-Alef has more halachos about being fair when we judge. One halacha is about what to do if two people come to Beis Din because they are arguing about something, and one of them is dressed in fancy clothes, and one is dressed in not nice ones. The Beis Din tells the people they need to either both wear not nice clothes, or both wear fancy clothes, because it’s hard to treat both people equally otherwise!
If someone comes to Beis Din who only speaks Portuguese, the judge isn’t allowed to get someone to come and translate what the person is saying. He needs to understand Portuguese himself! (But if he understands it, and doesn’t speak so well, he is allowed to get a person to translate the psak.)
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Today we learn halachos about different false promises that a person makes in Beis Din, saying that he doesn’t owe something that he really does.
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Today is the first day after the Yemei Tashlumin to bring Korbanos for Shavuos. That means that the whole Yom Tov of Shavuos is over.
The Rebbe explains to us that there is something very special about this day!
Why?
A Yid has an mitzvah to always add more in kedusha — Maalin Bakodesh!
How can we add MORE in kedusha when we just finished such a special Yom Tov?
The answer is that the main point of Torah is to USE it to live the way Hashem wants. We learn a lot of Torah, and we learn from it how we should act. The lesson of the day after Shavuos is to take all of the Torah we learned and got, and make it part of how we live!
The chayus of Shavuos and the days afterwards made us want to make hachlatos in learning and teaching Torah. Now is our chance to start keeping these hachlatos, even on a regular weekday! That is true Maalin Bakodesh, and that’s what’s special about Yud-Gimmel Sivan!
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We are reviewing the Yud-Beis Pesukim, in the order of the sections of Torah where they come from.
First we reviewed the first two pesukim of Torah Shebichsav, the pesukim of Torah Tziva and Shema. The Chachomim say that these pesukim should be the first thing we teach a child, as soon as they learn to talk! The Rebbe strengthened this hora’ah of the Chachomim in our time, by making them the first two of the Yud-Beis Pesukim that every child should know.
On Rosh Chodesh Iyar, the Rebbe taught us the first six pesukim of the Yud-Beis Pesukim, starting with Torah Tziva and Shema. Then, on Lag B’omer, the Rebbe taught us another six, also starting with two pesukim from Torah Shebichsav — Bereishis and Veshinantam.
Today we will review the posuk of Veshinantam, and see how the second posuk the Rebbe taught on Lag B’omer is a continuation of the second posuk of the Yud-Beis Pesukim which the Rebbe taught on Rosh Chodesh Iyar!
As we learned yesterday, the first posuk of the Yud-Beis Pesukim is Torah Tziva, which shows us how special Torah is. Then the first posuk of the second set of pesukim is Bereishis, where we actually start to learn the first posuk of the Torah!
The second posuk of the Yud-Beis Pesukim is Shema.
The posuk of Shema tells us about Achdus Hashem, that Hashem is one and there is nothing aside for Hashem! When we KNOW that, it brings us to FEEL what it says in the next part of the parsha of Shema, to love Hashem with our whole heart! So this way, inside of our mind and heart, we will be connected to Hashem.
This will bring us to want to DO something to show our connection to Hashem and keep it strong!
How do we do that? By what it says next in the parsha of Shema, learning and teaching and keeping the Torah, wherever we go. As the posuk says, “Veshinantam” — we should learn Torah very well!
When we learn Torah in order to keep it and to teach it, in a way of Veshinantam, we are actually doing something about the connection to Hashem that we decided to have because of the posuk of Shema!
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The best way to daven Shemoneh Esrei is to say the words quietly, but in a way that we can hear it ourselves.
Still, if someone said the words of Shemoneh Esrei so quietly that only their lips were moving, and they couldn’t hear the words, they are still yotzei.
But if someone just THOUGHT the words without saying them at all, it is not counted as davening.
In Tanya, the Alter Rebbe explains why saying words is so important:
The reason the neshama came into the world was not to make itself holy, but to make the body and the world holy, by using them for kedusha. Thinking does use the body, but not in a way that we can see. To do most mitzvos, we are supposed to actually say words or do things, which use Gashmius in a way that can easily be seen. That’s why even with the mitzvah of davening, where the main thing is kavana, it is very important to actually SAY the words using at least our lips. This way the neshama is able to use the guf for kedusha, which is the reason it came down into a guf.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Kuf-Alef and Tanya Perek Lamed-Ches
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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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At the end of last week’s parsha, Parshas Naso, we learned that the Leviim carried the kelim of the Mishkan in the Midbar. The Navi Yeshaya says that when Moshiach comes, they will have Techiyas Hameisim, and will need to make themselves tahor to do their avodah! This is what will be said to the Leviim at that time:
סוּרוּ סוּרוּ צְאוּ מִשָּׁם טָמֵא אַל תִּגָּעוּ צְאוּ מִתּוֹכָהּ הִבָּרוּ נֹשְׂאֵי כְּלֵי ה׳
Suru Suru — Turn away, turn away!
Tze’u Misham — As you go away from there,
Tamei Al Tiga’u — Don’t touch anything tamei.
Tze’u Mitocha — When you go out of the Golus,
Hibaru Nosei Klei Hashem — Make yourself tahor, Kohanim and Leviim who carried Hashem’s keilim in the Midbar!
The Kohanim and Leviim will have to become tahor, because they will need to do the Avodah in the Beis Hamikdash Hashlishi!
See Yeshaya perek Nun-Beis posuk Yud-Alef and Pirush Rashi
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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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