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CHUMASH
Parshas Kedoshim - Shishi with Rashi
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Today we learn about the punishments for some of the mitzvos we learned before:
- Someone who curses his parents is killed by the Beis Din.
- If a man marries someone who is ALREADY married to someone else, both of them are killed by Beis Din.
- If a man marries his mother or stepmother, both of them are killed by Beis Din.
- If a man marries his daughter-in-law, both of them are killed by Beis Din.
- If a man marries another man, both of them are killed by Beis Din.
- If a man marries a woman and her daughter, all of them are killed by Beis Din.
- If a man marries an animal, he is killed by Beis Din, and the animal is killed too.
- If a woman marries an animal, they are killed by Beis Din.
- If a man marries his sister or stepsister, they will get a kind of Kareis — they won’t have children.
- If a man marries his aunt, they will get a kind of Kareis — they won’t have children.
- If a man marries his brother’s wife, they will get a kind of Kareis — they won’t have children.
We need to listen to all of the mitzvos Hashem gave us, so that Eretz Yisroel won’t spit us out! Hashem gave us Eretz Yisroel because we are different from the Goyim that did all of these aveiros.
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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-Vov
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The Alter Rebbe is giving us a way that will make it very easy for us to bring out a feeling of love for Hashem. First he gives us a mashal so we can understand it:
Let’s close our eyes and imagine a very very poor person, that everyone laughs at and makes fun of. He doesn’t even have a house, he just sits in the garbage dump, all by himself.
Now imagine that a great king hears about this person. He calls his officers to bring his royal carriage, and goes by himself down to the garbage dump! He brings that poor man into the palace, into the rooms that NOBODY is allowed to go into! The king hugs the poor man, and kisses him, and tells him that he loves him!
Can you imagine how much the poor person will love the king? Even if he isn’t a very emotional person, who has a lot of feelings, he will still feel a very strong love for the king!
Soon we’re going to learn how this is a mashal — that really WE are like the poor person in the story!
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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 Lo Saasei #285) is that it is asur for a person to say not-true eidus. This is one of the Aseres Hadibros!
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Yisro: לֹא תַעֲנֶה בְרֵעֲךָ עֵד שָׁקֶר
The mitzvah is repeated in Parshas Vaeschanan: עֵד שָׁוְא
The Torah uses the words “Eid Sheker” about this mitzvah in the Aseres Hadibros, and then different words, “Eid Shav” when Moshe Rabbeinu repeats the Aseres Hadibros in Parshas Vaeschanan.
People who say not-true eidus (with certain conditions) are called Eidim Zomemim, and whatever their eidus would cause the other person to be punished with becomes THEIR punishment — so if their eidus would have made the person chayav to get malkos, the Eidim Zomemim each get malkos. (Giving this punishment is tomorrow’s mitzvah.)
The details of this mitzvah are explained in the beginning of Mesechta Makos.
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In today’s Rambam we learn the halachos of today’s mitzvah, about not saying not-true eidus.
Today’s perakim of Rambam are Perakim Yud-Zayin, Yud-Ches, and Yud-Tes.
When we learn about not-true eidus, we see certain halachos that are much stricter than any other mitzvah!
1) Before eidim say their eidus, the Beis Din gives them a very strong warning, saying that if their eidus is not true, they will be embarrassed in this world and in Olam Haba!
2) If someone asked another person to just STAND there, without even saying anything, so a person will think that there are two eidim, it is still asur.
3) We also see by Eidim Zomemim, that the Beis Din makes an announcement about it in all the cities so everyone will know.
In the farbrengen of Purim Katan Tof-Shin-Mem-Vov, the Rebbe explained why the Torah is so strict with Eidus Sheker: Most mitzvos are DETAILS in how a person does his shlichus in the world, but this mitzvah is the GENERAL shlichus of a Yid in the world. The Navi calls Yidden Eidim (witnesses) of Hashem, because when people see how a Yid behaves, it is like an eid — showing the world that Hashem is here! But if a person is chas veshalom an Eid Sheker, he is making a Chillul Hashem and going against his whole shlichus! That is why these halachos are so strict.
This shows us how important it is to behave in a way that will make a Kiddush Hashem!
That farbrengen, which was about today’s shiur in Rambam, was about two weeks before the Siyum HoRambam. The Rebbe encouraged everyone to be involved in making and going to the siyumim!
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In this perek we learn more cases of a sofek about Tumah in a Reshus Hayochid. When it is with a person we can ask about it, and it is still a sofek, we say that they are probably tomei. When it s with an object that can’t answer questions, we say they are probably tahor.
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During Sefiras Haomer, we work on our midos — they way we think and the way we behave. One of the things we work on is Nahagu Kavod Zeh Bozeh, to have respect for each other. The Gemara says that during this period of time, the talmidim of Rabbi Akiva passed away because they didn’t have the level of respect for each other that was expected for talmidim like them. Here is something which the Rebbe explains that helps us have kavod for each other, even though we are so different:
If you look around at trees in a forest, you will see that no two trees are exactly alike.
If you look around at people, you will see the same thing — we all look very different.
Guess what? We all ARE different inside, too! People don’t all think the same way. Some people think faster or slower, come up with different ideas, or get worried about different things. One person might think that seeing something is funny, and another person might think it is scary!
Can you think of some things that you think about differently than your friend or sibling?
Hashem made us that way, on purpose! Hashem WANTS that “Ein Deiyoseihem Shavos,” that people shouldn’t think the same way. Every person has a different shlichus, and they understand things according to what they need for this shlichus. Hashem also wants us to share our different ideas with each other, and that will help us understand the Torah and mitzvos even better!
Since that’s the way Hashem wants it, there are two things we need to know:
1) We shouldn’t feel like we need to think the same as everyone else! Hashem created us in a way that we each have our own way of understanding things.
2) On the other hand, we shouldn’t think that we are always right! Even if we feel very strongly about something, we should still respect another person’s opinion. Just like Hashem created us to think strongly in our own way, Hashem also created the other person in a way that he thinks strongly in his own way, which he needs for HIS shlichus!
Even more, there may be something we can learn in our own shlichus from hearing what someone else has to say!
Only when we all work together in our own different ways of understanding will we be able to finish the main shlichus of all Yidden, to bring the Geulah!
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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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Right before the beginning of Hayom Yom, the Rebbe put in a part of a letter from the Frierdiker Rebbe.
This letter was written at a time when many of the Yidden were suffering terribly in Golus. The Frierdiker Rebbe writes:
In this time of “Haras Olam,” the world is shaking! It is shaking because of the Chevlei Moshiach, the pain that comes right before Moshiach comes. Hashem set on fire the walls of Golus!
...Now it is the achrayus of every Jew, man and woman, old and young, to ask themselves this question:
What have I already done, and what am I doing now, to make the Chevlei Moshiach easier? What am I doing to be zoche to the Geulah Sheleimah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu?
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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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